Hebdomeros Mailbag

loiusdad1819@___ asks:

I like the quote you use on your profile. What is it?

It's time I come clean. This will be really hard to admit, but here it goes.

Hebdomeros is not my real name.

I know, I know. You all feel ripped off. You feel lied to. You might even be thinking, "If he lies about his name, what else could he be lying about? Why I bought Alex Garland's The Coma solely because of his review, and now I may not read it! Damn you, Hebdomeros!".

To make it worse, I ripped it off.

Hebdomeros is a pretty kick-ass novel by Giorgio De Chirico. Best known as a painter and somewhat of a precursor to Surrealism, De Chirico's novel tells the story of Hebdomeros as he wanders through a very imaginative and confusing landscape. From a Surrealist point of view, it's a brilliant book and one of the few novels they officially supported (they disliked most fiction of their day for being too realistic and preferred poetry over any other written form). Although not the easiest of reads, it's worth the effort for De Chirico's unique descriptions and bizarre sense of prose.

I picked the name for a variety of reasons. I'm a fan of both De Chirico and Surrealism, there are many links between my interests and the novel, and it's obscure enough that I didn't think anyone else would be using it. Probably most important, I just like the way it sounds.

Hebdomeros.

Hebdomeros.

Say it loud, say it often.

Hebdomeros.

Back to the question.

The quote comes directly from the novel, and I like the attitude behind it. Thanks for asking.

On a completely other note, I'm pulling together some tentative ideas for some regular features here. We'll see how much people (including me) like them, and if they are even worthwhile.

Excelsior.