Fear Sweeney

A Novel

In November, 2002, I was one of 13,500 people who participated in NaNoWriMo, and one of 2,100 who managed to complete a 50,000 word novel in thirty days. I say "complete"; that's a very strong word. It took me another three years to turn that first draft into something I was prepared to call complete. The final draft (I lost count of exactly how many drafts there were—let's say seven, because Truth is an Odd Number) is 68,000 words.

The story can be seen as a light-hearted look at the difficult choices every twenty-something must make between Good and Evil, except that in this case the choice is much more than an academic one. Jonathon Alistair Trellis, called "Jal" by just about everyone, considers himself a thoroughly typical underemployed young Irish-American would-be writer. What he doesn't know is that the charming gentleman who lives next door is actually a Pooka, or an Irish trickster spirit, and that the sock monkey his girlfriend bought him for their anniversary is actually an Avenging Angel in disguise, much less that his soul is a vital component of the ongoing conflict between Good and Evil.

Equal parts a humorous fantasy and a semi-autobiographical allegory, Fear Sweeney follows Jal and his friends over the course of a week, as they deal not just with supernatural incursions but also romantic entanglements, parental issues, and everything else life feels like throwing at them. It is literate but silly, and a conversation about the theological ramifications of cutting a peanut butter and jelly sandwich diagonally rather than longitudinally is not an atypical occurence.

In some ways, it can be called a "sequel" of sorts to Flann O'Brien's classic novel At Swim-Two-Birds (recently selected by TIME magazine as one of the hundred best English-language novel published since TIME was founded). In the book, O'Brien's narrator claimed that it was wasteful to create new characters when other authors had already created characters that would work perfectly well, and as such several of Fear Sweeney's characters are characters (or the children of characters) borrowed from At Swim-Two-Birds, a few of which were in turn borrowed from elsewhere. The story is not the same, nor the setting, and certainly not the inimitable style(s).

All pictures on this page are from a drawing by a friend of mine, Katherine Nehring.

Jal Trellis is the protagonist of Fear Sweeney.

Dramatis Personae:

The Humans:

• Jonathon Alistair Trellis, or Jal as everyone calls him, is a 24 year old, born in Dublin, raised in Baltimore. He works part-time as a receptionist, and is trying with mixed success to write a novel.
• Sarah Inga Anne Dalkey is Jal's girlfriend of four years.
• Travis LaFayette Frisby has been Jal's best friend since high school. The two now share an apartment.
• Seamus Ronan Sweeney is a musician (and video rental clerk) who lives next door to Jal and Travis.
• Todd Fear is Seamus's shy and retiring roommate.
• Orlick Trellis is Jal's father. After his wife and other son died in a car accident in 1982, Orlick raised his surviving son on his own.

The Supernaturals:

• The Pooka Fergus MacPhellimey is the Pooka of Leinster, one of the Foor Pookas of Ireland. He is representing Evil in the dispute over Jal's soul.
• Necessary Consequence, known as the Consequences Monkey, the Third of the Five Thrones of Vengeance, or Avenging Angels. It is trying to acquire Jal's soul for Good.

Stories and Excerpts from Fear Sweeney:

Sarah Dalkey speaks German fluently, even if I don't.

Fear Sweeney by Numbers:

Official Unofficial Soundtrack:

The Pixies song "Monkey Gone to Heaven" does a remarkably good job of encapsulating Fear Sweeney for a song that is intentionally meaningless—which I hope doesn't say anything about my writing style. It even hints at the fact that Truth is an Odd Number. This is a coincidence (both the Monkey and the numerology have separate origins), but a coincidence that makes me happy.

Travis Frisby blogs Bright Eyes lyrics when depressed.

Several other songs are mentioned or quoted in the text. In order, they are:

• Bright Eyes—"Lover I Don't Have to Love"
• Tom Jones and Mousse T—"Sex Bomb"
• Pixies—"La La Love You"
• Johann Sebastian Bach—"Ich bins, ich sollte büßen" (from the Matthäuspassion)
• Tears for Fears—"Mad World"2
• Mory Kanté—"Yéké Yéké (Hard Floor Mix)"
• Toots and the Maytals—"Monkey Man"

The Flogging Molly album Drunken Lullabies is purchased on page 157 and listened to ten pages later, though it isn't actually named at any point. And no official unofficial soundtrack would be complete without "Céilídh Cowboy" by The Popes (as Paul Shanahan's theme), nor without Flogging Molly's "Devil's Dance Floor" for the opening.