Marianne Faithful in Lucifer Rising, directed by Kenneth Anger, 1972. Courtesy of Fantoma Films.

Early on in Sway, we see the Rolling Stones at the start of their careers, living and rehearsing in a London squat. In the novel, Zachary Lazar links people who, having begun to create in isolation, later enact their visions in public. The distinct historical figures characterized in Sway are the Stones, along with their muse Anita Pallenberg, Kenneth Anger, Charles Manson, and his acolyte, Bobby Beausoleil. Sway depicts the alienating early performances by the Rolling Stones; the discontinuous, dreamily violent sexuality of Kenneth Anger’s films, and the rise of Manson’s cult, each strand connecting to a theme of private obsession made manifest in a highly public way.

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Read an outtake from this interview, in which Lazar and interviewer Sorrentino discuss the historical novel and art’s dwindling ability to shock.

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Issue 103 Spring 2008