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Generation L

Lisa Crystal Carver sits at the head of a table in Seattle, holding court over lunch with an audience that includes an underground cartoonist, a record producer, a publicist, a journalist and an artist. Clearly the center of attention, the young writer wanders aimlessly over the landscape of the new American counterculture that she has helped to create. She’s in town at the end of a seven city book tour to promote her latest collection of essays titled Dancing Queen (Henry Holt, $12.00). Her fanzine, Rollerderby, which she began publishing six years ago, spawned a career that led to her being named one of the nation’s brightest visionaries by a prestigious literary journal. Visionary is hardly the image she projects in this informal setting, but it’s hard to deny the piercing insight of her observations of youthful America.

Carver’s journey from her self-described "White Trash" New Hampshire upbringing to Generation X "visionary" was indirect, to say the least. "It’s not that I dislike the middle class," she claims. "It’s just that I like the inventiveness that poverty necessitates. Well, OK - I do dislike the middle class. A White Trash heritage steers a person’s behavior in a certain direction. That’s my heritage." One direction Carver’s heritage took her was as the leader of a performance art/rock group in the late ‘80s called Lisa Suckdog. These wildly chaotic and confrontational performances soon became legendary in the tightly knit alternative culture arena, and helped launch her fanzine, which she sold exclusively at the venues where she performed to supplement her frequently paltry pay. The group broke up after too many shows resulted in serious injury, which allowed her to concentrate exclusively on Rollerderby.

Currently in it’s twentieth issue, Rollerderby was recently collected into a trade paperback of the same name (Feral House $14.95). The magazine includes her idiosyncratic musings on popular culture, music, sexuality and politics. Iconoclastic and fiercely independent of conventional notions of what constitutes "hip," her writings have sometimes been denounced as reactionary. Among her most controversial essays was a manifesto called "Generation L," where Carver redefined what she believes to be an archaic notion of feminism and gender roles. "Recently I read a whole essay by a woman who was upset that some men hooted at her," she said incredulously. "I like to be hooted. I figure that’s just their dumb manly way of paying a compliment. I mean, in the grand scheme of life, what’s wrong with a hoot? Nothing! People are so sensitive these days."

A personal appearance at a bookstore later that evening draws an overflow crowd of twentysomethings. The "reading" is little more than an extension of the intimate afternoon lunch conversation. She encourages the audience to share common experiences of their disaffected youth, and finds that many concur with the conclusions she reaches in her book. Topics range from how adolescent exposure to soap operas and romance novels form adult attitudes toward sexuality, to a tawdry demonstration of the hidden signals of a kiss, with both male and female fans eagerly participating. "Kissing has very different meanings for men and women," Carver explains. "For men it simply signifies that sooner or later - hopefully in five minutes - you’re going to have sex. For women it’s a wild jamboree, a long and meaningful conversation of two souls, a chance to show off. I agree with the men."

Carver’s book tour ends with a fawning crowd lining up to have their back issues of Rollerderby autographed, and buying out a large stack of her latest book in the process. She will soon be on the Internet with an advice column published by a Seattle software giant. In her Suckdog days, Carver was once described as a "troubled troubadour of tomorrow." It seems that tomorrow has arrived, and if she’s troubled, it’s difficult to determine by her casual demeanor. More likely, she exemplifies the attitudes of her generation, Generation L.