Glimpses by Lewis Shiner
"Glimpses" is a narrative exploring the intertwining lives of music, imagination, and personal growth through the experiences of Ray Shackleford, a stereo repairman with a vivid imagination. Throughout the story, Ray envisions legendary recording sessions with iconic musicians, including the Beatles, Doors, and Beach Boys, using his creative abilities to alter their musical histories. As he engages with these artists in his mind, he grapples with his own past, relationships, and a strained marriage to Elizabeth.
The plot unfolds as Ray's journey takes him from Los Angeles to Cozumel, where he confronts the unresolved issues surrounding his father's death and his own fears about music and creativity. As Ray interacts with figures like Brian Wilson and Jimi Hendrix, he experiences pivotal moments that challenge his perceptions of success, failure, and personal legacy. The narrative culminates in Ray's near-death experience, prompting reflections on love, loss, and the importance of letting go. Ultimately, "Glimpses" presents a poignant exploration of how art can shape lives, influence relationships, and provide a means for individuals to find clarity and redemption.
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Subject Terms
Glimpses
First published: 1993
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy—inner space
Time of work: 1988-1990
Locale: Primarily Texas and Los Angeles, California
The Plot
While in the studio that he uses for his stereo repair business, Ray Shackleford imagines the Beatles recording “The Long and Winding Road.” He discovers that he can put the music from his imagination on tape. Ray meets with Los Angeles music producer Graham Hudson and creates another version of the song for him. Graham suggests that Ray try to create Celebration of the Lizard, an album on which the Doors were working when lead singer Jim Morrison died.
When Ray imagines a Doors recording session, Morrison is too drunk to perform properly. Ray sobers up Morrison by picturing him killing a pedestrian in a car accident. That slows Morrisons drinking and allows him to record the title cut, then the rest of the album.
Graham asks Ray to work next on Smile, a Beach Boys album. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys envisioned Smile as an artistic masterpiece. It was never completed because the other band members thought he should stick with the Beach Boys formula. Ray agrees to create Smile when he learns that Wilsons father was never satisfied with his sons work, much like Rays father had never appreciated him.
Ray returns to Los Angeles to do research on Wilson. While there, he thinks often of Alex, his girlfriend before he met his wife-to-be, Elizabeth. He goes to Wilsons house and imagines interacting with Wilson and the Beach Boys. Wilson records the album while Ray is with him. Ray wakes up in the hospital, having been unconscious in his car for several days. He creates the Smile album he had helped Wilson record, then goes to Cozumel, Mexico, to find out more about his fathers death during a diving expedition. Elizabeth says that she cannot go with him because of her job; Ray realizes that this is an important signal of the failure of their marriage.
Ray meets Lori, the girlfriend of the dive master in Cozumel, and tells her that making music scares him and that he is not going to do it any more. He attends a pagan ceremony at which he sees an apparition of his father, who appears to care about him. His relationship with Lori grows stronger. When Ray returns to Austin, Elizabeth gets him to admit that their relationship is over. She moves out of their house.
Graham suggests that Ray create Jimi Hendrixs First Rays of the New Rising Sun. Ray travels to London to see where Hendrix spent his last days. He tries once to save Hendrix by alerting ambulance attendants to keep him upright so that he does not choke on his own vomit, but the attempt fails. Ray goes back again and manages to avert Hendrixs death, but the next day a teenager shoots Hendrix.
After Ray recovers consciousness from that episode, he recuperates for a few days, but when he runs out of food he decides that it would be easier to meet Hendrix in New York, in his mind, than to drive to the grocery store. He meets Hendrix, who says that he knows it is time for him to go and lets a truck hit him.
Ray finds himself in heaven. He talks to Hendrix, then to Morrison and a man he finds out is the one he had Morrison kill in the car accident. Ray discovers that Brian Wilson also is dead. Smile had not been received well and had broken up the Beach Boys, eventually leading to Wilsons death. Finally, Ray talks to his father, who tells him to let go.
Ray wakes up in the hospital and finds out that he had been clinically dead from a heart attack. He calls Lori, who says that she will not come to him until she is ready. He goes to see Alex, who says that they never could have been together because he expected her to live up to an ideal image. Finally, he dates a girlfriend from high school. They break up when she realizes that he is living in the past.
Lori calls to say that she left her boyfriend but does not want to see Ray. A few months later, she sends him a letter, and he goes to the return address on its envelope. Lori resists Ray at first but is drawn to him. They rent a house, and after Rays mother has a stroke, she comes to live with them.