I was given Gary Indiana's book Horse Crazy as a gift. I think the guy who gave it to me was trying to make some kind of point, but since I've never taken advantage of him or been addicted to Heroin, I'm not sure what that point was. Anyways, the guy never really talked to me much after that. But I'm veering from my point.
As I began reading the book I was skeptical that I'd be able to finish it. I was impatient with Gary's writing style. It was imperfect and frustrating. Sentences went on for pages -- long, run-on sentences that didn't give me a chance to breath, taking on multiple ideas and concepts.
I kept reading, though. The more I read the closer I felt to the author. Looking past the writing style, the frantic retelling of the story gives you a view into the tortured mind and heart of Gary Indiana. Throughout his books you're never sure if he's telling you a true story about himself, or if he's retelling a story he heard from a close friend, or if the story is entirely fictional.
Horse Crazy is told from the perspective of the narrator and details his relationship with a foolish boy who claims to be an artist. The author gives the boy money and moral support for his works which are simplistic and show not much devotion or passion.
Throughout the book it's never outright stated but it is implied that the narrator suspects the boy is just putting together the mosaic magazine clipping works of art as a cover for spending the money he's given on drugs (hence the title of the book, Horse Crazy, a euphemism for being addicted to Heroin).
Gary separates himself from the reader, keeping them at arms length, but tells his stories unabashedly, holding nothing back.
Horse Crazy is one of those books that makes you feel like you're recalling a lost love whenever you see it sitting on your shelf and remember turning the pages. It starts out a little frustrating, but it gets better, then when it's over you wish you could go back and re-live it but you know that reading it again would never have the same effect.
The way Gary Indiana writes, you feel concern for both him and the characters in his stories.
