DAVID LYNCH'S INFLUENCE BEYOND HOLLYWOOD EXAMINED IN NEW ACADEMIC BOOK: "HIS ARTISTIC SIGNATURE IS UNMISTAKABLE"

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A forthcoming book on David Lynch's musical and literary influences is topping Amazon's Comparative Literature book chart following the news of the iconic filmmaker's death at age 78.

The legendary writer-director was known for his cult hits including Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet and The Elephant Man, sparking a genre of movies and TV series that revealed the dark undertones of outwardly idyllic America and inspiring generations of artists beyond Hollywood. That's the subject of author Mike Miley's David Lynch's American Dreamscape: Music, Literature, Cinema, out on Feb. 6 on Bloomsbury Academic.

The 288-page book "broadens the interpretive horizons of Lynch's filmography, calling for a new approach to Lynch's films that goes beyond cinema and visual art to explore how Lynch's work engages with literary and musical works that have shaped the American imagination," per the synopsis. The academic title examines how Grammy-nominated singer Lana Del Rey, late writer David Foster Wallace and other creatives "[grafted] Lynch's affiliative, cinematic sensibility onto their own projects." The author released a trailer for the tome on Jan. 8 on YouTube.

'David Lynch's American Dreamscape: Music, Literature, Cinema' by Mike Miley

The Hollywood Reporte reached out to Miley on Thursday morning following the news of Lynch's passing. Acknowledging the release date's timing (it was set months ago), he says, "I'm deeply sad for his family and close collaborators who have lost a very dear friend. I also take a lot of comfort in reflecting on all the work he leaves behind, work that will stay with us for as long as there's cinema. Somewhere in the world tonight someone is going to see one of his films and their world will change and their faith in cinema will be renewed."

Miley is currently a film studies professor at Loyola University New Orleans and teaches literature at Metairie Park Country Day School, and is the author of Truth and Consequences: Game Shows in Fiction and Film and Conversations with Steve Erickson. American Dreamscape has been in the works since 2011, long before Lynch revealed last August that he was diagnosed with emphysema and could no longer leave the house, the writer says. Miley tells THR that the book was born from an article that eventually became the chapter on Lynch's 1990 film, Wild at Heart (starring Laura Dern and Nicholas Cage). Portions of the work were published in 2020 and the rest was completed during the pandemic.

He adds, "David Lynch's work has been a more or less constant part of my life since I was 5 years old and ran screaming from the theater during a showing of Dune. More than any other artist I've been enamored with, Lynch has been the one whose work I've never tired of or grown out of. In fact, it has only gotten better the more time I have spent with it, and his career is a marvelous testament to how someone can grow and change as an artist while remaining wholeheartedly and undeniably themselves. His artistic signature is unmistakable - we even have the word ‘Lynchian' for it - and yet this style inspires others to create a signature of their own and devote themselves fully to what he called ‘The Art Life' in ways big and small.

"It wasn't always the most lucrative path he could have taken, but he pursued his aesthetic vision to the exclusion of all else. Sometimes that meant toiling in relative obscurity with less funding for his projects, other times he found the culture came to him, as it did with Twin Peaks. Perhaps more than any other American filmmaker, he made sound an equal to image in his filmmaking and, along with [Martin] Scorsese, is responsible for the now-ubiquitous trend of repurposing pop songs in dark stories.

"But even more than his artistry, we have in him a beautiful example of someone who saw the world with wonder and acceptance and encouraged others to do the same."

Miley continues, "Lynch's power as a filmmaker is that he had an amazing access to his subconscious and the ability to put that subconscious on film without judging it or overthinking or rationalizing it. Scholars and fans turn to his work again and again because it shows us the things about ourselves that we normally shield from everyday view. If he thought about his ideas the way that we do, these films wouldn't exist, and cinema would be worse off as a result."

In an Instagram post on Thursday morning, Miley previously wrote, "Just got the news. So much to process. One of the greats. Always will be. The world is a fuller, richer, and weirder place because of him."

David Lynch's American Dreamscape is available as a paperback, hardcover and e-book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other retailers. (Many of Lynch's books and films are also on sale at Amazon.)

The soon-to-be-released title (which is unaffiliated with its subject) comes after Lynch's recent musical project, Cellophane Memories, with singer and longtime collaborator Chrystabell, who starred in Twin Peaks season three as Special Agent Tammy Preston. (The 46-year-old artist's 2011 debut album, This Train, was written and produced by the late writer-director.)

Most Lynch movies are available to stream online. Blue Velvet, Dune (1984), Eraserhead, Fire Walk With Me and Inland Empire are on Max; Twin Peaks and its reboot are on Paramount+ with Showtime; Mulholland Dr. is streaming on demand at Criterion Channel or available to buy or rent on Prime Video and Apple TV; and The Straight Story is on Disney+; to name a few.

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2025-01-17T00:53:36Z