Names in fiction (Perkus Tooth, Morrison Roog, Ragle Gumm, Addison Doug, Bodie Kane, and Thalia Keith)

One of the books currently on our bathroom shelf is a collection of stories called The Book of Other People. I bought it because it contains a story by Daniel Clowes (somehow this embarrasses me, in the same way I’m embarrassed to be a fan of R.E.M.). Lots of the stories in the book are excellent. The one I want to talk about today is Perkus Tooth, by Jonathan Lethem. I usually don’t like Lethem’s writing (sorry, Phil!), and I can’t say I loved this story either, but the names . . . ahhhh, the names! Perkus Tooth, Morrison Roog, and lots more. I was reminded of Philip K. Dick (and not just from the “Roog,” which I guess is a direct homage), whose characters had unforgettable everyman-loser names like Joe Chip, Bob Arctor, Ragle Gumm, and, my personal favorite, Addison Doug.

It’s not easy to come up with such names. Dickens could do it, of course. Updike too: it takes guts to name your character Rabbit Angstrom. But not every writer has it. Recently I read the novel I Have Some Questions for You, by Rebecca Makkai–it was excellent, I recommend it!–but the names, they were nothing special. It’s not that the names of the characters in that book were wrong, exactly, or cliched; it’s more that they were almost too logical, as if at every branch of the tree she chose the most probable outcome. They didn’t have the right level of idiosyncrasy. Don’t get me wrong, I still think this was a great book on many levels, I enjoyed reading it, and I’m still thinking about after it was over. The names thing isn’t the most important part of the book. All the names were fine; just in the whole they fit in too well. It would be better with a little friction. In contrast, Meg Wolitzer is good with names: she has a way of making them realistic but still special in some way. I bring up Wolitzer because I was reminded of her book when reading Makkai’s novel. They had a similar feel: a reflection of youthful friendships from the perspective of adulthood. Also Claire Messud: her characters have good names too: Ludovic Seeley and all the rest.