Zeroville - Steve Erickson

Zeroville comes as some relief after the impenetrable stream-of-consciousness of Our Ecstatic Days, and surprisingly just so happens to be Steve Erickson's most accessible book yet. That's providing you are well-versed in classic Hollywood and international cinema. If so, you're in for a treat.

Vikar is a troubled young man who arrives in Los Angeles in the late sixties, bearing a tattoo of his favourite film on his shaven head, trying to escape from a strict religious upbringing and an oppressive father through his love of movies. Through his relationships with maverick characters in the movie industry, his obsession with movies and an encounter with a mysterious bit-part actress who may just be the unacknowledged daughter of Luis Buñuel, Vikar delves into the mythology of Hollywood filmmaking and, as a film editor, starts to formulate and put into practice his own unique vision of the world as a movie.

Not quite as hallucinatory or visionary as the author's best work, Zeroville is nevertheless consistent with Erickson's past novels - there's a direct reference in particular to Days Between Stations here - and his unique treatment of time (time as a loop, all time periods co-existing) takes on another quality when applied to filmmaking. And like the best Hollywood films, Zeroville is both art and entertainment.

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