CH 24: The Dust Magi Backstory
It is with some relief, and more than a little sadness, I write this “last” of the Chapter Backstories. I say “last” because I probably won’t be able to resist writing more of these as I think of them, but at least we can say we now have a complete set. And there is the Epilogue – I’ll have a special provision for that (to protect its secrets from inadvertent disclosure).
As I think I’ve mentioned elsewhere in the blogs, most of the chapters were conceived and written on the fly with little or no pre-planning. There were a few I had vague notions of during the previous chapter, but generally this was not the case, and The Dust Magi was no exception. The fact is, I was a little worried I wouldn’t be able to figure out a suitable end to provide sufficient closure for the narrative. Considering the structure of the book was so, well, unstructured and open-ended, this was particularly difficult. What, exactly, was there to close, other than everything?
The morning gloaming from the Grand Canyon at Desert View Station. Courtesy me!
Given this situation I began considering some of the big questions left open in the story. Mulling over where Signal and Noise left off (set at age 18), I decided two things: this chapter should occur near the end of his life and should be set at the Grand Canyon. I also thought the chapter should afford some opportunity for recapitulation of some of the characters that had populated McGhee’s life and some reflection.
The age 86 has no particular meaning to me other than McGhee is closer to the end of his life than the beginning, and represents the extreme of the timeline used in the novel. That said, it did beg the question of what happened to everyone else, and the natural conclusion was that many of his associates had probably passed away. This in turn led to the lump-in-throat realization he had just lost Kate, and how that could motivate the story. So when I started writing the chapter, this is about all I had. I knew he’d fly into Flagstaff, drive up to the canyon, and do something.
As I started in with that premise it seemed like he needed to have a real purpose going there, which in turn led to spreading Kate’s ashes. That seemed fine for a couple pages, but as I wrote I realized he was far more agitated than that. Again, I had a lump-in-throat moment wondering if he’d jump. For reasons I can’t explain just yet, I knew he wouldn’t actually do it, so I wondered, “Why not?”
This is how writing works, at least for me. It’s a series of problem solving exercises in storytelling format, and I learn what’s happening about the same time my fingers type it. Sounds crazy, right? That might be overstating it a bit – I do have an agenda and some notions of what needs to happen – but substantially it feels like the story is telling itself. So about the time I was wondering why not, it occurred to me there was a big thing I’d never shown in the narrative so far, which was paying back all the mentoring McGhee had received through the years. To bring the cycle full circle, which is a nice way to achieve closure, he needed to do that. And what better intervention could there be than a despondent young man needing some advice. Thusly, in steps Lenny.
The lodge at Grand Canyon, El Tovar.
You get the idea: the rest followed from this setup, the constraints of the story which had arisen organically through the novel, and the need to pull it together in a neat if not entirely tidy closed ending. By tying the payback to early in the story we can all feel a bit of relief and that it all makes a kind of open-ended sense. At least that’s how I hope the reader feels.
As for the title, I, myself, sit here wondering where it came from. As usual, I didn't have the title when I started writing, and only thought of it a few pages from the end. Yes, it has to do with the “handful of dust” from T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland – that much is clear. More curious is the word “Magi.” The most obvious connotation is the wise men from the New Testament’s nativity story. They were members of a Persian priest-caste. The bigger question is, why call them that (yes it’s plural)? And who is the them in question? – surely that doesn’t include Lenny, does it? These are all good questions for which I have few solid answers. As I noted, I wonder at the title myself, though I remain confident it’s the correct one.
This confidence goes back to a theme I’ve mentioned many times in this blog: serendipity. Many of the elements of this story relied upon luck. Others might say it’s divine inspiration, but I don’t go that far. I do share, however, a profound reverence for the human mind and fascination with the human condition. As it turns out, age can bestow (but not always) wisdom to those receptive to it. Throughout the novel McGhee relied upon this resource time and again from those he met. Based upon his speech to Lenny, I think we might infer McGhee had absorbed some of it. So as I think of it, again, I guess I’ve convinced myself (again) that McGhee was one of the wise men, by virtue of his long journey, with insight into questions of mortality. Further exposition of that sentiment at this exact moment would be imprudent.
Now a couple final comments:
First, I’d like to encourage you to consider not reading the epilogue. You have a complete novel at this point. You don’t need to read the epilogue to enjoy the novel (I hope), and you might be disturbed by it if you do. I doubt anyone will do that (with the buildup I’ve given it and the incessant hints about it), but you are welcome to stop.
Second, I hope you found these backstories interesting. I always wonder myself at storytelling and how it happens. If some events might be true, or how the story was built. I like to envelope myself in a story and enjoy it from within, and then I like to step out of it and admire its construction. To this last point I’ve spent a lot of words in these blogs trying to provide some insight into how I wrote this thing. Perhaps this is more interesting to young readers or aspiring writers, so thank you for indulging my impulse to do that.
Third and last, feel free to use this website and participate in the discussion on the book club section entitled, The Margin. I’ve had a couple book clubs choose MITG as a selection, and at least one college course use it as a primary text (Spring 2017). I like the idea of creating an interactive and modern reading experience for my audience. I participate in The Margin, too, so it’s a forum to ask questions and comment directly to me. Feel free to do that. I enjoy the contact and feedback. Writing can be a bit of a lonely enterprise, so I like the chance to see the effect of my words directly. And like McGhee himself, I’ve found as an observer that it’s necessary to participate in the enterprise, if only from my place in the margin.
