<nettime> The London Times on Q

[Luther Blissett <tom9351@iperbole.bologna.it>]

The Times, 9th March 1999

The name of the footballer cited in literary mystery
FROM RICHARD OWEN IN ROME
A FORMER Watford and England footballer is at the centre of a literary
mystery in Italy involving the novelist Umberto Eco and a group of
anarchists. The group use the collective identity "Luther Blissett" to hide
their identity.
Blissett played - briefly -for AC Milan, but scored only five times in 30
games for the club in 1982, earning him the nickname "Luther Missit" and
giving rise to the gibe that Milan had bought "the wrong black Watford
player". (The "right" player would have been John Barnes.)
In March 1097 four young Italians accused of travelling on a train without
a ticket all answered "Luther Blissett" when asked for their names in
court. It emerged that the loosely organised group of self-styled
anarchists had been struck by Blissett in Italy.
In his latest incarnation, "Luther Blissett" has written Q, a 650-page
novel set in Renaissance times, with a mixture of real and imaginary
characters. It is full of historical and literary allusions in the manner
of Eco, author of The Name of the Rose. Described as "a saga of good and
evil", the novel is set against a background of espionage, the
Inquisition's ruthless struggle to root out heresy, Martin Luther and the
Reformation, holy wars and peasant uprisings.
"Q" is the code name of the
hero, a theological student who becomes the righthand man of Gian Pietro
Carafa, the Neapolitan aristocrat who became the fanatical and
narrow-minded Pope Paul IV (l555-59), clashing with Elizabeth I and
introducing the Index of Forbidden Books.
According to La Repubblica, Q was written by Federico Guglielmi, Luca Di
Meo, Giovanni Catabriga and Fabrizio Belletati. They refuse to give
biographical details, beyond saying they are all between 26 and 35 and are
all from Bologna. II Messaggero said the hook is a "masterful fresco
depicting the struggle of the individual to escape from his preordained
destiny... a metaphor for the united Europe of to-day".
        The authors said they had chosen the 16th century because it "saw
the birth of all that is rotten in modern life: Europe, mass
communications, the police state, financial capital. It took six months to
research the history, another six months to work out the plot, and two
years to write it," they said, speaking "collectively".
        Collective writing was "like a jazz band - some are virtuoso bits,
other parts we play together. Or a video game in which 20 people are
credited as authors. We hope Q will be posted on the Internet. A novel
nowadays is like interactive software . . . this is the future of creative
writing".
        The anarchists said they would end their attempts to cause panic in
the sanctuaries of power" in 2000, "because as Cary Grant said, it's
better to go a minute early, leaving people wanting more. rather than a
minute too late, when people are getting bored".
        The publishers said they were waiving copyright on the hook, in the
spirit of  "Luther Blissett". "Anyone can reprint it." Eco, meanwhile, has
denied that the hook is an elaborate "joke within a joke", and that he is
"Luther Blissett".
        The anarchists - their hoaxes include Naomi Campbell's alleged
cellulite problem and an exhibition of "chimpanzee art" - say "anyone can
use the name to show their anger".
        They chose Blissett because he was "a nice Afro-Caribbean guy who
had problems with the Italian way of playing football and became a target
of racist jokes. The Luther Blissett project is a way of taking revenge on
stupidity."
        Blissett, back on the staff at Watford, said yesterday: "I am not
pleased, but what can you do about it?"


Well, this is grossly superficial and reports things we never said, but...
it's the press, baby!


Next updates:
# 4. The four names - Blissett's most subtle hoax exposed and praised by
comrade General Vo Nguyen Giap 

F.P. Belletati, Bologna, Italy
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