Bells & whistles, and Charles Bukowski
“Pinball Wizard,” by Michael D. Meloan (IF SF Publishing, 132 pp, $15) by Bondo Wyszpolski Michael Meloan’s short novel doesn’t have anything to do with either Elton John or The Who’s “Tommy,” but early on the protagonist, Ralph Hargraves, is asked this question: Are you the Pinball Wizard or the pinball? The book sort of revolves around that question, which we’ll get back to later on. In that it takes place largely in and around the South Bay, but with some name changes, “Pinball Wizard” reminds me a little of Thomas Pyncheon’s “Inherent Vice,” also set in this neighborhood, so to speak, but there’s a bit of the hard-edged writing that James Elroy is known for, as well as a terse prose style that, unsurprisingly, brings to mind Charles Bukowski. Unsurprising because Bukowski and his wife, Linda, feature prominently in these pages. I’m not sure what year the story takes place. There are several references to 1960s recording artists, for instance, and Hargraves’ girlfriend, Chrissie, works at Linda’s Elysian Fields health food restaurant and performs during open mic nights at Sweetwater. Those two establishments (Elysian Fields was, in actuality, the Dew Drop Inn) are long since…
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