On the Many Deaths of Amanda Palmer by Rohan Kriwaczek Read Free Book Online Page A

would have been equally dreadful, for she had become the very definition of being trapped between a rock and a hard place, and she was falling.
    ****
    Silas Monger VIII soon discovered he had a flair for publicity. Why this had never come forth before he didn’t know. Maybe it was his mother’s watchful eye that had curtailed him, for it is undeniable that strange things can happen to folk when their parents die. All manner of hidden talents and abilities hitherto undreamt of may reveal themselves at last without the fear of condemnation. And in Silas’ case, this was a gift for playing the media; afterall he had a commodity on his hands, a saleable one at that. He announced in all the newspapers that international singing star Amanda Palmer was
Dancing for Peace,
and that she wouldn’t cease her dance until every nation worldwide had laid down its arms in conciliation. This seemed a safe bet, as he knew shewouldn’t stop dancing, and equally, the world was unlikely to stop fighting, yet who could deny the worthiness of such a gesture. And indeed he was right. The story caught the imagination of every news network in America and many across Europe and Asia. TV appearances abounded, although naturally Silas did all the interviews: Amanda was merely wheeled on (often literally) to dance in the background as he spoke eloquently on the subject of international diplomatic relations. He arranged dance-a-thons in all the major cities across the States, and thousands turned up to
Dance for Peace
with Amanda. He produced t-shirts, music boxes, little plastic nodding Amandas, and all manner of kitsch and tat with Amanda’s image and the
Dancing for Peace
logo printed upon it, which were sold at vastly inflated prices to an eager market. And even her records began to sell again. Naturally Silas, as her adoptive father and business manager had full control of the money, and spent it with considerable enthusiasm, for he had never been rich before. He developed an excessive and largely uninformed taste for the finer things in life, though he did at least invest some money in more practical acquisitions, such as a compound in Malibu with three outbuildings, and a fleet of trucks and busses for touring the
Amanda Palmer Dance-a-thon,
which had by then become a show in its own right. Amanda herself was well catered for, under the circumstances. She had her own trailer, of not inconsiderable size, and a full team of nurses and makeup artists on hand to ensure she looked and felt at least relatively healthy. More than that she would have no use for in her current state. And given that she would be dancing on regardless, dancing for Peace didn’t seem such a bad thing to be doing.
    The real hubbub lasted about six months with a seemingly endless stream of requests for TV and radio appearances, and she even made it onto page three of
Time
magazine. Then the media coverage began to wane, but Silas seized the moment to announce the
Dancing for Peace
world tour, and there was a second flurry of publicity. But he knew it couldn’t last, for Madame Fame is an impatient, flippant and cruel mistress; that knowledge was in hisblood. And sure enough within 18 months the crowds were thinning out, the merchandise piling up, and it became financially unviable to keep the show on the road. The sets were put into storage and Amanda’s trailer was parked up in the Malibu compound.
    There was still a small audience keen to see her dance, and not being a man to kick a gift-horse in the behind, Silas set about milking what little he could from it. He had a small stage erected in the compound and road signs put up across Southern California declaring
Amanda Is Still Dancing
plus an arrow to direct passing trade their way. Whenever a car pulled up Amanda would be placed on the stage to dance for them, for the meagre fee of $50. Silas had explained that if he was keep employing the two remaining nurses that kept her fed and cared