Imagine a staid accountant from Chicago with a beige life forced to live in the attic of a diner owned by a man with questionable hygiene who has a prom carnation (and possibly Walt Disney) in his freezer, then reluctantly falling in with the local theater group (at least one of whom would spell it "theatre") after his wife falls for another man and empties his bank account. Weeping Willow follows Lee Harris, who desperately tries to make some sense of a new life that seems perversely committed to thwarting his efforts. It also follows the "writers", Geoff (the man with the world's largest head) and Steve (who thinks Othello is a board game), who banter, argue and comment throughout the narrative.
Reader quotes from the Weeping Willow discussion board:
"It's really nice to know that the internet is being used as it was intended - to unite inherently strange people with inherently strange fans of strange people. Thanks, guys. I can't wait to pretend to work while I read the next bit."
- Stardwarf
"What a cereal!! When will I9 be posted? Will I have to wait long? Who is responsible for Steve's medication? How many angels looking homeward will fit on the head of a pin?"
- Basil
"Ratchet him! Get him in the stink spot! Face him with your rugged determination and choda, sparker!"
- Manus McDoody
"I love the way you guys put in those little details of things people actually do that are never spoken of in books - in this installment it was Beverly and Lee shredding napkins and making little piles of the pieces. I do that kind of stuff all the time and I've certainly never seen it mentioned in a story! Whenever I get the Weeping Willow e-mail, it just makes my day!"
- jessica
The path of Weeping Willow all the way from the minds of two warped individuals through the vast miasma of the Internet and into a book is a long and convoluted one (just like this sentence), but Geoff Hoff and Steve Mancini are doggedly determined. They met while writing for an episodic stage play that won Best Cabaret in L.A. in Los Angeles Magazine in 1999. Their individual styles are distinct: They both love word play, but Hoff's sense of humor leans toward complex, obscure references and strange juxtaposition of imagery, while Mancini has an earthier, darker sense of humor. Even they, though, sometimes find it difficult to tell who came up with what. Mancini said, "The secret to long life is celibacy, but then, what's the point." Hoff wrote, "What is an olay and how do you extract oil from it?" Neither remembers who originated, "Thank you for calling me a sycophant."
Frustrated by trying to get anyone in the industry to read their work, they decided to take it directly to the public and formed the company Joseph Coaler Productions, created the web site JosephCoaler.com and posted the first installment of Weeping Willow on January 1, 2001. "We have no one but ourselves to answer to," Hoff says, to which Mancini replies, "I'm sorry, what? I was watching the bald man with the headphones."
They continue to write Weeping Willow and are working on other writing and production projects. "Steve keeps coming up with ideas," Hoff says. "I hate that about him."
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
