If there is a point where author and rock star seamlessly blend together, then Jim Breslin, the Brez, is the poster child. Skin-tight leather pants, shirtless with a frayed denim vest and Dee Snyder make-up—wielding an electric pen forged from steel and rock n’ roll—that’s exactly what comes to mind when I think of the Brez.
Unfortunately everything in my mind is a bit skewed.
In reality, Breslin unassumingly fits in with the flow of life around West Chester. It’s when you sit down and engage him in conversation that you understand the firework of an individual this man truly is.
Founder of the incredibly amazing West Chester Story Slam, all credit goes to the Brez . Accomplished television producer and documentary hotshot, put a check in the box next to Brez. But his latest accomplishment is as the author of Elephant— “twenty-one short stories exploring the soul of suburban life and the struggle to find redemption.” When I sat down with him to discuss his accomplishments and going forward, this literary rock star proved he didn’t need a fret board to make music; his fingers come to life with his keyboard and imagination.
Evan: So how can you best summarize Elephant for me? Is this your first published collection of short stories?
Breslin: Yes, this is my first published compilation of work. Elephant is a collection of 21 short stories and flash fiction pieces. They are about loneliness and hope in suburbia.
He then pauses for a brief moment to take a swill of beer, and collect a thought.
Breslin: They are what I’d call dirty realism, minimalist stories. Some are rather short; there is one story that is only two sentences long. Some are sad, some are funny, but really it’s about people living in suburbia.
Evan: Now I almost get the sense that it’s a bit of a twisted and warped look into a suburban lifestyle almost typical to this area. Is this a tongue-in-cheek approach to highlighting that?
Breslin: Naaa, no, I don’t think it’s really played up West Chester, per se. I think short fiction in general is a zoomed-in approach, and it reveals a character through a slice of life. I think the best short stories are the ones that are kind of warped, augmented, and distorted to the reader.
Evan: How do you take people that are not, or do not, understand short stories and pull them into your work?
Breslin: No doubt short stories are sort of a niche. There is a small niche audience, and that’s really why I published this myself. I ask people to give them a try, but these stories aren’t for everyone. Short story collections aren’t going to become best sellers.
Now I want you to pause on that last sentence . “Not going to become best sellers.” That line by the Brez pretty much goes a long way in revealing just who he is and why he’s successful. Not only does that line show his humble opinion of himself, it reveals something greater in that he still persevered through a three year writing process. The Brez took a risk, to share with his readers and his community, to show that going after your passion is really what it’s really all about.
Breslin: In a novel you can cover such a stretch of time, but with a short story it’s often people in their darkest moments going through a transition.
Evan: What themes do you like to explore?
Breslin: With literary writing there are three main themes: sex, love, and death, and that’s all that really matters. There are a lot of good books for escaping your daily life. But a lot of literature that I like to read, and what I write about, are stories that confront life; they’re not escapist.
Evan: Do you feel like your book rather than resolving anything for the reader, instead allows them to question?
Breslin: Yes . . . There is a genre of short stories called Chekhov or Chekhovian, it’s where the writer distances themselves from the characters and doesn’t make any judgments on their character. In my writing I don’t speak with a moral authority or moral tone.
Jim Breslin is one of those individuals I’m proud to say lives in my community. When he’s not busy tackling the elephant in the room (hence book name), he’s ingraining himself into progressive and insightful happenings all over town. His West Chester Story Slam was started in late 09’ and has grown an eclectic following that you are free to join on the second Tuesday of every month over at Ryan’s Pub. He will also be celebrating the release of Chester County Fiction on Oct. 2, at Baldwin’s Book Barn. The anthology features thirteen distinct writers from around Chester County.
Before you pencil any of that into your calendar, you’re going to want to read Elephant first. You can pick up a paperback copy at Chester County Book Company, Wellington Square Bookshop, Willow On State, or BookPlace. The ebook is available through amazon.com or B&N.com. Keep up with the Brez at JimBreslin.com. And, if we can get enough support through this interview it’s possible I may be able to convince the Brez to toss on those ferocious leather pants and vest, and sign those book copies for ya!
We can only dream . . .
