Jan 23, 2017
Time Codes:
- 00:00:24 - Introduction
- 00:02:38 - Setup of interview
- 00:04:00 - Interview with Joe Ollmann
- 01:21:27 - Wrap up
- 01:22:58 - Contact us
Of Human Bondage
On this interview
episode, Andy and Derek talk with Doug Wright Award-winner Joe
Ollmann, whose new book, The Abominable Mr. Seabrook, comes out
this week from Drawn and Quarterly. Joe starts off by
introducing William Seabrook and his writings, since this is a
historical literary figure that most listeners have probably never
heard of 
before. In fact, the guys spend
a good bit of time discussing the ups and downs of Seabrook's
career and speculating on why he's not more notable than he is.
With a background in yellow journalism, Seabrook became a
famed adventurer and travel writer who befriended a who's who
of early twentieth-century literati, including Thomas Mann,
Aldous Huxley, Gertrude Stein, Sinclair Lewis, Man Ray, Jean
Cocteau, Salvador Dali, and Aleister Crowley. As Joe points out, he
was famously known at the time, not only as a writer, but as a
cultural progressive, a cannibal, a bondage enthusiast, and the man
who popularized zombies. What fascinates Ollmann most about this
colorful figure is Seabrook's upfront attitudes about himself,
refusing to hide the more salacious sides of his personality.
At the same time, this cavalier manner may have contributed to his
notorious alcoholism, tragically revealed in
his memoir, Asylum, and a condition that stifled
his career and helped lead to his eventual death. The guys
have a great time talking with Joe about his 10+ years in
researching and writing this biography, the differences between
writing this book and his previous ones (all fictions), and the
dynamics of visually narrating the life of such a controversial and
conflicted character.
Joe is also writing about his experiences with The Abominable Mr. Seabrook on The Paris Review!
And read Derek's previous interview with Joe Ollmann for The Comics Alternative blog.
Check out The Abominable Mr. Seabrook as well as other works by Joe Ollmann: