"HE IS BASIC AND PRIMAL BUT HE'S NOT STUPID": BUSTER'S GEORGE PELECANOS

In Buster, George Pelecanos takes a look at a human microcosm in Washington D.C. through the eyes of a boxer dog. As Buster goes from owner to owner, with stints in "jail" and out in the streets, we get to see urban humanity in all forms. Mr. Pelecanos was kind enough to talk about Buster with us.

SCOTT MONTGOMERY: How did the idea of Buster come about?

GEORGE PELECANOS: I had written a novel called Drama City about twenty years ago that dealt with a guy who came of prison and got a job as a Humane Society Enforcement Officer (“dog police”) in D.C.  I was very involved in the street research of that one and rode with dog police.  This was at the time of the dogfighting craze in D.C.  I ended up adopting two abused dogs afterwards.  It made me think quite a about the inner lives and thoughts of dogs.  Then, about five years later, I wrote the first chapter of Buster, a novel in progress written in the voice of a dog, a book intended for a juvenile/young adult audience.  My publisher rejected it when I sent them the chapter, which taught me a lesson: never send one chapter “up to New York,” because a novel isn’t a novel until it’s finished.  About a year ago I picked up what I had written and decided to give it a go as a novella.  It became something else, as fictions often do in the course of the writing.  It’s now a book for adults.

S.M.: How did you develop Buster’s voice?

G.P.: I set up some rules in the beginning.  He learns language from watching TV, but his mastery of language is limited.  He discovers things as he lives his life.  So his voice is very simple and direct.  He knows for example, that when his abusive master, Grange, drinks alcohol, he gets angry and mean, but Buster doesn’t describe the drink of choice as Jack Daniels, because he wouldn’t know that.  He simply says that Grange is drinking “amber liquid.”  But Buster can intuit many things.  He is basic and primal but he’s not stupid.

S.M.: What made you choose a Boxer as a breed?

G.P.: I’ve always adopted strays and pound dogs.  I’ve never owned a purebred dog.  But I do admire the proud look and stance of a Boxer.  It’s a strong, beautiful animal.  In the book, Buster’s tail and ears are not cropped, which makes him less desirable as an adoptee when he’s in the shelter.  I did this deliberately.  The various people who adopt him, with one exception, do so out of love, not out of the pride of owning a purebred.  In fact, there is a question as to his lineage.  Buster will never know his father.

S.M.:: What did you want to portray in his various caretakers?

G.P.: I wanted his caretakers to represent the panorama of D.C. residents, from various racial and socio-economic backgrounds.  His first owner is a mother who lives in a public housing complex .  Obviously, her means are limited but there is a great deal of love in that house.  One of his owners is a major marijuana dealer in the city, and this young man, Top, treats Buster like a king.  Mostly I used the various caretakers as a way for Buster to learn things about human nature and, ultimately, about his own mortality and the mystery of the passage of time.  Though it is a very different kind of book, Steinbeck’s The Red Pony comes to mind a signpost.

S.M.: Why did you choose the novella form with this?

G.P.: I couldn’t sustain it as a full novel.  It wouldn’t have been as effective if I had padded it out.  I just wrote it without regard for length .

S.M.:You have been with large publishers in the past.  Why did you choose the known boutique Akashic?

G.P.: My large publisher turned the book down twice.  I understand.  It’s just business.  But I thought the book deserved a home and after a conversation with my agent, Sloan Harris, we went out to Johnny Temple at Akashic.  I edited two noir compilations with Johnny and he’s an ethical guy who came out of the Positive Force movement when he played in bands in D.C.  I’m very happy to be with Akashic on this.  They did a beautiful job with the cover and treatment.  The book itself is like an object of art.  I often buy books just because of the way they are presented.  This is one of those kinds of books.