Ingram
Author: Louis C.K.
ISBN-13: 978-1637747902
Publisher: Benbella Books
Guideline Price: £24.99
Having ridden higher than any other comedian, Louis CK became a pariah to mainstream culture after admitting allegations of sexual misconduct were true in 2017. Now he has written a novel. Cue ill-wishers on X laughing derisively at the quote-tweeted opening paragraphs of his debut.
He hasn’t done himself any favours by collecting a cheque from the murderous Saudi regime at the Riyadh comedy festival, something many will justifiably feel is inexcusable.
Still, among the “cancelled” comedians, he’s refreshing because he has no illusions about clawing back mainstream favour and accepts he screwed up.
Rather than being self-pitying, CK’s novel seems preoccupied with the hardness of marginalised lives. However, hearing him on Theo Von’s podcast describe his protagonist entering his mind unbidden makes one wonder if the book is an unwitting piece of inner-child therapy.
Its period somewhat indeterminate, Ingram is a Bildungsroman about a simple-minded yet dogged boy who is born into poverty so abject his ailing mother sends him off alone, convinced he will fare better solo. His familial life is so brutal that these early sections are almost poverty porn. The neglected nine-year-old’s ignorance is so total as to be implausible. You may initially dismiss Ingram’s voice as cutesy ventriloquism in the mould of Forrest Gump and feel the snides on X have a point.
But as Ingram’s journey through Texas picks up, the sheer force of CK’s empathy renders him a living, breathing character. The misery is leavened by how Ingram, through stages of development and picaresque encounters, comes into his own and makes simple joyous discoveries such as drinking Coca-Cola. Ingram’s Martian-like unfamiliarity with the world lets us see it anew through his eyes.
CK’s comic sensibility – looking at things so simply that we see them afresh – is a good fit for a child’s voice, but while the book isn’t completely devoid of humour thanks to Ingram’s misunderstandings, one wonders if CK is straining for worthiness by keeping things largely po-faced.
[ Louis CK: an unwelcome return from a short exileOpens in new window ]
Laughter may be in short supply, but it is movingly explored as crucial to social bonding – “It was a new sweet sort of feeling (…) to be laughing along with someone else.”
Ingram is about a youth forced to take responsibility in lieu of guidance, though some might wish its author had let his irresponsible side off the leash more. Nevertheless, it’s an accomplished, deeply felt debut.