Review – Wilder Bloom
I wrote Wilder Bloom quickly as I was under a time crunch. I wrote this short story for the second volume of The Longest Night Watch. And all of the proceeds go to the Alzheimer’s Association.
So with the (at the time) very recent death of actor Gene Wilder to Alzheimer’s, the participants decided to honor his memory. So this was much as the original volume was to honor Sir Terry Pratchett.
The story is a simple one. Wilder – called by his real name, Jerome Silberman, cycles through his many roles as he loses his true sense of self. And so the reader, by definition, sees his roles as essential facets of his personality.
Wilder Bloom: Background
With Wilder’s death, it became imperative to me to commemorate him in some fashion. But how? And then it came to me. Since I know Alzheimer’s often affects your short-term memory first, longer term memory would work for my purposes. But what would a long-term actor remember?
Their roles.
Plot
So much like in Props, Mr. Silberman is in a nursing home where he is slowly and not so slowly losing himself. But while in Props the main character plotted her escape, Silberman instead relives his biggest roles. No longer able to distinguish fantasy from reality, he becomes his characters again.
And so, the story essentially turned into countless Easter eggs.
The following films get shout outs:
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- The Producers
- Silver Streak
- Blazing Saddles
- Young Frankenstein
I went with these as they are, more or less, his best-known film roles. And I also decided on these because the characters are so indelible. I felt that they would resonate with Mr. Silberman and, by extension, with the reader.
Characters
The only character is an unnamed nurse who observes Mr. Silberman. Through her, the reader learns about Mr. Silberman (Wilder).
Memorable Quotes from Wilder Bloom
He said his second wife – perhaps she was his third – she was a comedienne who died young, of ovarian cancer. He did not speak about her much, but it was always with great affection.
Rating
This story has a K rating.
Upshot
The anthology is stalled in developmental hell. Sad, really.
A wilder Bloom there never was. #amwriting