The Sound of Silence
As is indicated with my column each month, I have written a novel that I am currently trying to have published. I am in the process of sending out queries to agents and publishers. So far, the responses have been mostly, “It doesn’t sound right for us.” The reason? I can only assume it’s the same reason that most people give when dealing with the topic of homelessness: the It-Can’t-Happen-to-Me-So-Leave-Me-Alone Syndrome. The novel tells the story of a middle class man from the suburbs who finds himself homeless on the streets of the inner city (am I talking about myself?), and while most people would like to believe it can’t happen to them, the novel makes it quite clear that it could easily happen to far too many people now living in relative comfort and security. The publishers and agents seem to be reacting very much like the people who pass by on the streets and do not know how to react to the sight of homeless people. The topic makes them uncomfortable, and it’s just easier to pass by without taking further notice.
Not all the agents and publishers have passed over me, I must mention. However, at least one person showed enough daring to tell me in plain, simple language that although he admired my attitude, he felt that for the most part, people had an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality about homelessness, that as long as they keep turning away, the problem will not exist, at least for them. That seems to be true about the vast majority of the population. If homelessness does not affect the people themselves, they show little or no interest in dealing with the problem.
We have seen the same sort of mentality here in the District of Columbia. While on the one hand, the Homeless Services Reform Act has brought a new era of dealing with homelessness to the District, the current administration has stated clearly that homelessness is not a priority. Clearly homelessness is not a topic that would give politicians a lot of pleasure because it points out failings of the system, but ignoring the problem does not make it go away.
As the person who expressed his opinion to me said, maybe it would be better if more people could get more verbal and start a movement to get “in the faces of ignorants” (sic). I did not write a novel to start a movement, but the initial reactions have made me wonder if the book would meet with the same sort of reaction as a homeless person on the street. Would a reader glance at it and pass by without looking further just because the story was about a homeless guy?
Whatever the case may be, the novel is written and I will be seeking to have it published regardless. If that means that I’ll be initiating some sort of movement as a result of having it published, so be it. It was not my intention, but I’m not above doing it if it gives some attention to the plight of the homeless in the United States. As the novel tells the story, it’s no fun to be homeless, and the list of broken promises, betrayals and disappointments seems endless as a person hopes to rebuild a life that was shattered. The struggle to rebuild a life is an uphill struggle as well, as too often the case managers and other persons who are supposed to be helping assume that any person who has ended up homeless is too stupid to know what is needed to rebuild his/her life, and so these people turn a deaf ear to any pleas or protests the homeless person may make. The result is quite often less than productive, with the homeless person losing big time.
Maybe a movement is what is needed, but my concern is just to have a novel published. Another book that has been published that I have not yet read but have been told that very effectively captures the essence of the homeless experience is Another Bullshit Night in Suck City: A Memoir, by the poet Nick Flynn, published by W. W. Norton and Company, that tells the story of Flynn’s homeless father on the streets of Boston. Perhaps if more books of this genre make it into print, public awareness will be increased enough to generate positive results. It’s something to hope for at least.
Not all the agents and publishers have passed over me, I must mention. However, at least one person showed enough daring to tell me in plain, simple language that although he admired my attitude, he felt that for the most part, people had an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality about homelessness, that as long as they keep turning away, the problem will not exist, at least for them. That seems to be true about the vast majority of the population. If homelessness does not affect the people themselves, they show little or no interest in dealing with the problem.
We have seen the same sort of mentality here in the District of Columbia. While on the one hand, the Homeless Services Reform Act has brought a new era of dealing with homelessness to the District, the current administration has stated clearly that homelessness is not a priority. Clearly homelessness is not a topic that would give politicians a lot of pleasure because it points out failings of the system, but ignoring the problem does not make it go away.
As the person who expressed his opinion to me said, maybe it would be better if more people could get more verbal and start a movement to get “in the faces of ignorants” (sic). I did not write a novel to start a movement, but the initial reactions have made me wonder if the book would meet with the same sort of reaction as a homeless person on the street. Would a reader glance at it and pass by without looking further just because the story was about a homeless guy?
Whatever the case may be, the novel is written and I will be seeking to have it published regardless. If that means that I’ll be initiating some sort of movement as a result of having it published, so be it. It was not my intention, but I’m not above doing it if it gives some attention to the plight of the homeless in the United States. As the novel tells the story, it’s no fun to be homeless, and the list of broken promises, betrayals and disappointments seems endless as a person hopes to rebuild a life that was shattered. The struggle to rebuild a life is an uphill struggle as well, as too often the case managers and other persons who are supposed to be helping assume that any person who has ended up homeless is too stupid to know what is needed to rebuild his/her life, and so these people turn a deaf ear to any pleas or protests the homeless person may make. The result is quite often less than productive, with the homeless person losing big time.
Maybe a movement is what is needed, but my concern is just to have a novel published. Another book that has been published that I have not yet read but have been told that very effectively captures the essence of the homeless experience is Another Bullshit Night in Suck City: A Memoir, by the poet Nick Flynn, published by W. W. Norton and Company, that tells the story of Flynn’s homeless father on the streets of Boston. Perhaps if more books of this genre make it into print, public awareness will be increased enough to generate positive results. It’s something to hope for at least.
posted by MasterWriter at 3:29 p.m.
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