Libertarian wacko

An interview with C.B. Williams part 2 August 28, 2024

Q: So tell me about why you first started writing lies.

A: It was 1991. The 500th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America was coming up. I knew a lot of predictable stuff was going to be said. Like Columbus was good because he brought civilization to America. Or Columbus was bad because he brought smallpox and genocide to America. All this predictability was annoying to me. I am an avant-gardist. It is my job to seek out the unpredictable and then do it.

Floating around in some obscure corner of my head was the opening line from “Catch 22.” This line somehow highly amused an old college roommate of mine. His name was Mark Reichelderfer. I found myself rewording it to “In 1492 Christopher Columbus landed on Long Island and met Pocahontas. It was love at first sight.” This lie somehow highly amused me. I compulsively started building a story around it, leading to more lies, branches of lies branching off again in different directions, meeting up and interacting with each other, thereby producing new lies, like babies.

So now? Now I still tell lies to make myself laugh. This has become a life and death matter ever since my wife died. Now I have to make myself laugh on a daily basis because it is better than the alternative. The alternative is I want to die.

Q: I am sorry for your loss.

A: Thanks.

Q: Speaking of death, you state in the very beginning of the book that it is a “Tale of sin and redemption in which the Republicans all die.” Is it then safe to assume that you are a Democrat?

A: Hell no!

Q: Ah. So you are a Republican?

A: Hell no! I am a Libertarian wacko.

Q: Oh! A third party! Those people who never win elections!

A: Precisely. Politicians lie to win elections. We Libertarian wackos never win elections, so lying is of no use to us while running for office. So we are free to run for office without telling any lies at all.

Q: And yet you do tell lies…to make yourself laugh in order to stop wanting to die….

A: I tell lies when writing fiction. I do not tell lies while doing politics. Politics and fiction are not the same thing.

Q: I will not touch that one with a 10 foot pole.