Book Review

Jackie Tales By Jackie Torrence
Edited by Peter Bradford,
photographs by Michael Pateman
Avon Books, $25.00 240 pp.
review by Alan Irvine

Jackie Tales arrived in the mail just as we were putting the last pieces of this issue of Works In Progress (Summer 1998) together. "Oh well," I thought, "too late to review it now. We’ll put a short notice in this issue about it and give it a full review next time." I quickly flipped through the book, and put it aside. And a few minutes later, I picked it up and flipped through it some more. And a little while later, there it was, in my hands again. And later that night, I found myself settling in to read one of the stories. And, well, even though I do not normally like to review books I have not read all the way through, this book is just too good to leave it sitting around for a few months.

This is a gorgeous book, and a marvelous work. It is not just a standard collection of stories set down in print. No, Jackie Tales is a print version of actual performance, a glimpse into the work of one of our most important storytellers and a how-to manual on telling her tales. The stories in the book come from 4 10 hour storytelling sessions in Torrence’s home. As she told the stories, Michael Pateman photographed her face and hands, capturing her expressions and gestures in a series of marvelous photos. The sessions were also videotaped so that the photos could be matched with their precise place in the story. The stories were transcribed, but the transcriptions are carefully designed to reflect the rhythm of speech and pause. A variety of typefaces reflect changing tones of voice. Parenthetical notes embedded in the text describe gestures and voices. Photos are inserted next to the appropriate text. Notes on the telling, observations about the story, explanations for artistic choices fill the margins. The result is an incredibly rich experience.

As I read these stories, I feel as if I were indeed watching Torrence perform. No, I feel as if I were studying Torrence perform, for here I am conscious of her every gesture and tone, of what she does and why. In fact, I often find myself starting to imitate gestures and expressions, trying to slip into her skin and tell the story with her. (Of course, the next step is to tell one of the stories her way, then my way, and then compare the two. I expect that will be a fascinating exercise.)

This is definitely a book for storytellers and dedicated fans of storytelling, rather than a general audience. The detailed notes would probably prove distracting to the casual reader just interested in a good story, as, I suspect, would the abundant photos of Torrence (at least one per page, including many, many full page photos.) But it is exactly those notes and photos that make this book so useful for its audience. It is through the notes and photos that we can see just how the stories work (the photos, after all, are not there to show us Torrence, but to document the flow of the story.) This is a book to study, think about, and even argue with. It is also a wonderful tribute to one of finest storytellers.

So far I have only one complaint and one grumble about the book. First the complaint: The final story in the book is "The Monkey’s Paw," an excellent story. But no where in the book is credit given to the original author, W.W. Jacobs, not in Torrence’s notes, not in any of the introductions, not in the acknowledgments, not even on the copyright info page. And it is not as if this story was some obscure piece that could have slipped unnoticed into the folklore realm. "The Monkey’s Paw" is one of the great classics of horror. I can go to my bookshelf and pull down at least two or three anthologies containing this story. So there is no excuse for not crediting the author. The grumble: the photos are almost too high quality, they get marked with fingerprints as easily as any glossy print. So be careful when flipping through this book, you’ll regret any prints marring these fine photos.

My finally judgement? This book is not just recommended, but should be required reading for anyone serious about storytelling. Run down to your local bookstore and demand that they order you a copy right away.

—published in WIP Summer 1998