Book Review : David James Keaton - She Was Found in a Guitar Case (2021)
David James Keaton is one of people you either love or hate. He’s one of these people who absolutely doesn’t give a fuck about what other people think. You either get on with the program or get lost. That’s super awesome in theory, but since David is writing books that are meant to entertain audiences… it gets in the way sometimes. As much as I’d like to sell you on his latest novel She Was Found in a Guitar Case, I’m not sure exactly how to talk about that thing.
She Was Found in a Guitar Case is anything, but straightforward. It tells the story of Dave, a bereaved man who leaves on a spontaneous road trip after learning that his wife was found in… well, a guitar case. Angie was working on a PhD thesis about invisible prisons and Dave is convinced (or not) that it might have something to do with the circumstances of her death. Whether or not Dave is right is both extremely and not at all relevant to the story being told.
It’s complicated. Bear with me.
The Importance of Being Beckett
I have two theories about this novel. The first being that it probably got David James Keaton laughed out of a few pitch meetings. Not that it’s bad or anything. But if people struggle to talk about it in a coherent manner, no one’s going to try to sell it. She Was Found in a Guitar Case probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day if explorers of the weird and crazy Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing hadn’t taken a flier on it. It’s a drinking-and-driving teenager of a novel.
My other theory on She Was Found in a Guitar Case is that it’s mostly a road novel. It might not seem like an Earth-shattering statement, but this novel goes in every direction and gets quite difficult to follow if you let it get to your head. If you keep following the road narrative, you’ll be fine. She Was Found in a Guitar Case fizzles with subplots, digressions and conversations of questionable importance, but it’s all part of David James Keaton’s Beckettian plan to fuck with you.
Because this is a quite Beckettian novel. It’s told in the first person and our narrator Dave (much like Molloy) remains coherent in his own roundabout way. What She Was Found in a Guitar Case is, I believe, is a novel about grief. About a manic protagonist dealing with his emotions in what seems a theoretically horrible manner (running away), but which ends up being kind of constructive and life affirming. A sort of heartfelt, elaborate fuck-you to established knowledge.
Of course, Dave runs away from his grief and investigates about Angie’s death in order not to spend time with his feelings. But time and encounters along the highway eventually heal him and prepare him to face his inevitable pain. The rest is somewhat instrumental to this overarching narrative and will only enable you to experience She Was Found in a Guitar Case differently if you chose to read it again. If there’s better explanation I don’t want to know it.
The Lost Art of the Challenging Read
When I finished reading She Was Found in a Guitar Case, two thoughts immediately came up: 1) That was a lot of fun and 2) I NEVER want to read this book again. It was fun in the same way winning a street fight while losing a pint of blood is fun. If there are little to no books like these anymore, it’s because most publishers are worried about pleasing whoever they believe are buying books and that it’s important not to incite negative emotions in paying customers.
Sure, She Was Found in a Guitar Case is akin to having a travel guide trying to get you lost and mugged in a foreign city. But you’re not in a foreign city and you’re not going to get mugged. You’re inside your brain and all you need to do is to focus and follow along. I’m not sure this book would’ve been more successful in another era because of how utterly hostile it sometimes is to readers, but it would’ve been published by a major company.
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I can’t tell you to read this book with a straight face. She Was Found in a Guitar Case is something you’ll either choose to do or not. Your decision is already taken. I’ll tell you that I had fun reading it, but that I’m fucking crazy. I like black metal and hyperviolent Korean movies. I’ve read Ulysses, for fuck’s sake. I don’t know why you would do this to yourself, but the David James Keaton completist in me is glad that I did. It's a fun, challenging book that will solve nothing for no one.
