This is not a light and fluffy read, although it is gripping and beautifully crafted. Isn’t that all too typical after the multitude of catastrophic shootings we have seen in the past several years? When his limited self-control finally slips, the violence almost feels surreal, no one who knew him was believing him capable. While the vignettes are separate and distinct, there is an underlying commonness to the stories – a lack of solid caretakers or real interest all lead him to avoid ramifications for bad behaviours, while somewhere it comes to the reader that he knows he’s just incidental to the lives that seem to be so ‘perfect’. In a style that is very reminiscent of the southern stortyteller, and invoking a spare and often decidedly masculine voice, this glimpse into a life that is slowly sliding from ‘odd and alienated’ to unreservedly mentally ill and prone to violence. Peter DeMarco manages to do just that with this book, in a series of vignettes that trace the life of Henry.

Occasionally there are books that manage to worm their way into your head and leave you pondering, sometimes even expanding your understanding of issues that are common in the real world. The book has received numerous rave reviews, and one of the stories was nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. The text of BACKGROUND NOISE also includes eight original, fine-line drawings that draw its audience further into the emotionally-intense world of its protagonist. In razor-sharp prose reminiscent of Haruki Murakami, Peter DeMarco startles the mind while touching the heart. The unspoken is felt, and the imagined resonates with reality. The characters are both seductive and repellent. The narrative of BACKGROUND NOISE is deceptively simple. Immersing himself in his past, memories become guilt, guilt becomes obsession, until violence is the only logical response. Henry loses close family members and friends, desperately seeks companionship through unconventional friendships, holds a variety of dead-end jobs, and is a victim of extreme bullying.Īs Henry seeks in vain to find a place for himself in the world, he becomes an outcast in the town that once gave him comfort.

Henry drifts from adolescent confusion to isolated adulthood, encountering one disappointment after another. The tale of Henry Walker is told-loner and eternal victim-whose pain and isolation spur him to embark on a one-man mission to clean up his town, protect his property and identity, and chase fantasies of a better life. The writing is sparse, the imagery stark, and the effect powerful.

BACKGROUND NOISE is a collection of interwoven stories that capture the alienation of suburban life, and take the reader inside the head of a troubled loner.

Background Noise by Peter DeMarco