So Hip It Hurts

“It seems as though all the new authors, the hip ones with the big book deals and best agents, have exotic names and exotic backgrounds.” So says a character in Denver author Rayo Casablanca’s debut novel, 6 Sick Hipsters. We don’t know much about Casablanca’s background, his book deal or his agent, but his name certainly fits the bill, and if Hipsters is any indication, he’ll be shaking up the novel universe with his hip take on murder.

The six hipsters in question — aka the Whole Sick Crew — are friends living in New York City, each heavily involved in a different aspect of hipster culture. Harrison’s a paleontologist who writes science-based pornography on the side; Rad is an ER doctor whose mixtapes sell for hundreds on eBay; T Radcliff edits a zine and writes a blog; Cooper uses drugs to reach the sublime; Wolfgang is a high-school guidance counselor and coke dealer whose true passion is his neo-folk band; and Xavier runs a highly successful but controversial restaurant. Then there’s Beth Ann, a champion knitter whose macular degeneration is slowly rendering her blind.

The Crew uncovers a plot to do in New York City’s finest hipsters when the six realize that a spate of unsolved murders all contain a common element: a reference to Doctor Jeep. They plan on catching the serial killer before he finds (and kills) them, but will Doctor Jeep prove too hip for them?

Casablanca signs his novel tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover LoDo, 1628 16th Street; call 303-436-1070 or visit www.tatteredcover.com. For more on the book, surf to www.6sickhipsters.com, and read an extended Q&A with Casablanca at blogs.westword.com.
Fri., June 27, 2008