The Silvya North Story : Jack Whitman's "The Irony of Fake"

by **Siku** » 26 Mar 2014

ctyankee, I thought so too, so, to be sure, I've asked the British Library to look into it.

Here's the email I had from them which includes my enquiry:

Thank you for submitting your enquiry to The British Library Humanities Reference Service. You will receive a reply within 7 working days.
In the meantime, to check on the status of your question, log into your personal account at

http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/servle ... slaw.co.uk
When prompted, please change your password to one you will remember.
Your logon password is: 1OaGmJUH

[Question]: Dear Sir/Madam

I am contacting you in the hope that you can help solve a mystery.

I am currently researching the genealogy of a particular work of fiction, and it has been brought to my attention that the work in question bears striking similarities to a short story by Jack Whitman, The Irony of Fake, which was, apparently, published in Munsey’s Magazine volume 79, number 2, in July 1923. In fact, the similarities are so remarkable that concerns have been raised as to whether The Irony of Fake is a hoax, not least because it is titled ‘Fake’!

In an effort to establish it’s authenticity I, naturally, searched online, but, tantalizingly, online archives of Munsey’s only exist up to 1922. My next idea was to obtain a copy of the original but, again, online searches yielded nothing. It was then that I thought of the British Library which, apocryphally, holds every book and article ever published in this fair isle. I contacted your customer services department and was informed that that you do indeed hold copies of Munsey’s Magazine. It seems your reputation is deserved!

I wonder, therefore, if you would be able to review the copy in your archive and confirm for me whether the story does indeed exist. I am informed that the shelfmark is P.P.6383.AG. If you are able to help I would be extremely grateful, I do hope it won’t take up too much of your valuable time.

Many thanks in advance.

To review the progress of the enquiry, go to:

http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/servle ... slaw.co.uk

Password: Sylvia North

by **KyleOrKyla** » 27 Mar 2014

Oh, this is delightful, full of delight.

As someone who has one or two pulp magazines full of once-only-published authors, the obscurity...("obscuricity?", like "historicity"?) of plucking one of these people to make the thematic backbone of something byzantine is just darling.

(even/especially(?) if its a hoax - based on a real author but a piece from a pulp that can't be verified.. Now I'm trying to deconstruct the name into meaning..."Whit-man", off the top of my head I'd bet it doesn't become "Wit" per say, it's a homonym then we're looking at the etimology of "whit".. "Jack" is, more formally, John?, etc etc..)

Siku wrote:Seems a shame that the board is so quiet at the moment when something like this has been uncovered.

Well, happy to randomly be here to throw some more logs on the fire. I was stopping by, partially cuz I had another of those "here's something that's supposedly Twin Peaks but the events are different" dreams a few nights ago*

*: -begin irrelevant sidebar- the most noteworthy scene in this dream-TP involved a character (Bob? Laura? Ben Horne?) having a dream/vision that was supposed to explain "it" -- but it could only be explained to an observer in the gym basement who sat with their back to a window staring at a moonlit spot on the floor. And the explain-er explained by acting "it" out by casting shadows from outside the window.

by **Siku** » 02 Apr 2014

It's real, according to the British Library:

British Library Reference Services
Library Question - Answer [Question #9447370]

Thank you for your query regarding the Munsey’s Magazine. As you rightly stated we have this in our collection.

We only have this in microfilm format and not in hard copy. The article appears in our holdings of the July issue of Munsey. Are you planning to visit the Library, let me know?

With best wishes.

Kathleen Rowe
Humanities Reference Service
AskALibrarian@oclc.org; on behalf of; humanities-enquiries@bl.uk

http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/servle ... slaw.co.uk

Password: Sylvia North

Click on the bold blue text of the question to see answer and records.

by **outofthewoods** » 02 Apr 2014

Great work, Siku! That was so cool of you to make the inquiry. Now if only this board was more active. :( My intrest in MD was recently re-ignited once again and there's no one around to discuss it with other than those nutjobs over at the IMDB. :P

by **KyleOrKyla** » 03 Apr 2014

outofthewoods wrote:Great work, Siku! That was so cool of you to make the inquiry.

I agree -- it's awesome that there's information which is still out-of-reach of the internet, but reachable through historical/archival means.

outofthewoods wrote:Now if only this board was more active. :( My intrest in MD was recently re-ignited once again and there's no one around to discuss it with other than those nutjobs over at the IMDB. :P

I just stumbled back here recently, but I think I'm not in-depth enough for most of the fun... I don't keep the entire web/mandala of the movie spread out in my head, nor would I particularly want to--

I remember the dozens and dozens of individual scenes with immense visceral impact, and when someone mentions a new theory or way of looking at things, I like to string together a few of the scenes that relate to that theory and see how they hang together/what new ideas that makes me think of -- that's the level of analytical-ness that I find fun.

by **Siku** » 03 Apr 2014

Thanks guys! :up:

It is cool to go behind the web to such an old-school institution!

KyleOrKyla wrote:I don't keep the entire web/mandala of the movie spread out in my head

I don't think that's even possible! At least, not at any one moment..

by **outofthewoods** » 03 Apr 2014

KyleOrKyla wrote:I don't keep the entire web/mandala of the movie spread out in my head, nor would I particularly want to--

I've been obsessing over it for long enough that I pretty much memorized every scene and in their proper sequence. I know what scene came before and after each scene, and I also know the many different special effects that mark the transitions between many key scenes (when scenes cross-fade and dissolve into each other as opposed to sharp cuts, etc). I know all the special sound effects and their cues, and when they are repeated. Not that I'm trying to brag or anything.... ;) But yeah all those things help immensely when pondering the many connections and their meanings. When new ideas come, it becomes much easier to see how they might relate to ALL the other elements, as opposed to only the few you can think of at the time.

by **Siku** » 03 Apr 2014

Impressive!

But I meant not just that but also every theory, all the connections and contradictions between them, the evidence for or against, the uncertainties and controversies, the intertextual references to other films, Lynch films, classics, myth, the paratextual clues... Everything! That's a set of information that includes nebulous things, feelings and ideas, and it's many orders of magnitude bigger than all the technical stuff.

(Still impressed though)

by **KyleOrKyla** » 06 Apr 2014

I'm more of the school of thought that "prefers to remember things my own way -- not necessarily the way they happened."

by **outofthewoods** » 06 Apr 2014

KyleOrKyla wrote:I'm more of the school of thought that "prefers to remember things my own way -- not necessarily the way they happened."

I appreciate that sentiment.

But I don't trust my memory. I will swear I remember it correctly, but when I go back and check, find I was wrong. Personally nothing has led to more new ideas than simply watching the film and catching all these details I never noticed before, and pondering what they could possibly mean.

However, when it comes to the different emotions that are felt, those memories I feel are always easy to remember accurately. :) Maybe that is even at the core of what you're saying by "remembering things your own way?"

Sorry for getting off topic. I'll have to read these Jack Whitman stories sometime.

by **Erskine** » 11 Apr 2014

Fascinating. I had not visited Club Silencio in a while. I recently just got my first smart phone (I'm old tech) and was sitting on the crapper and thought I would pass the time perusing Lost on Mulholland Dr. and Club Silencio and look what I found! By Jorge I think we got somehting here!

by **derekfnord** » 11 May 2014

Terrific find and verification, luckyboy and siku! Looking forward to reading the story. :up:

The Silvya North Story : Jack Whitman's "The Irony of Fake"

Re: The Silvya North Story : Jack Whitman's "The Irony of F

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Re: The Silvya North Story : Jack Whitman's "The Irony of F

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