Hancock Boys (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781976069239)

That flap copy for The Hancock Boys, written by the publicity department at Bantam and reprinted here, is an interesting but entirely unsatisfying take on this wild, cynical novel. Flap copy is meant to pique your interest, get you to open the book, peruse a few pages. But this copy doesn't even scratch the surface of the ride ahead. Sure, The Hancock Boys is about twin brothers who marry the same gal and after awhile their crazy scheme starts to go awry. But in reality this psycho romp is about the bizarre cast of characters hacking and flailing their way through these pages. I have used identical twins frequently in my work. There are identical twin brothers in This Way Madness Lies and identical twin sisters in A Brief History of Women in America. But The Hancock Boys takes identical twins to a new level. The whole premise of the absurdist plot is predicated on John and Will being perfect mirror images of one another. Identical twins interest me because I see so many different, and often opposing, traits within myself. Identical twins present to the world the same face, the same mannerisms, often times even the same persona, but in truth they are two wholly separate beings. So what would happen, I wondered, if two people-two identical twin brothers-shared one life? That question led to the creation of The Hancock Boys. At the same time I was under pressure to write something fully commercial, something that would make my publisher, and hopefully myself, some serious jing. Unfortunately, my writing is by and large spontaneous, impulsive, unstructured. I often conceive my stories in a single instant of inspiration. Calculation plays but a very small role. I had good intentions to maintain control over the Hancock boys, keep them in line, but all too soon, as inevitably happens in my stories, they, and their supporting cast, took the reins. All I could do was sit back and watch. A good, well disciplined commercial novelist knows how to run roughshod over his characters, how to get them to do what his readers expect. I do not possess this talent. I get up in the morning, make my espresso, flex my fingers, and allow the whims of fancy to blow me where they will. The Hancock Boys took me on a wild and chaotic ride. I think most writers write because it gives them a sense of control. They create perfect little worlds with place, plot, and character. I write to give up control, set myself free, allow my creativity and emotion to pour forth unabated.