The Man Who Met Tarzan!

Tarzan is alive. Philip Jose Farmer wrote as if he truly believed this utter impossibility. He famously (or perhaps infamously) wrote Tarzan Alive - The Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke. I'll be taking a closer look at that classic bit of "mythography" next week. But that was hardly all that Farmer wrote exploring the "true" facts of Tarzan's identity and history. The Man Who Met Tarzan from Meteor House Press collects most of the other articles and whatnot. Included in this entertaining and eclectic tome are prefaces to books, articles from other collections, articles for publications dedicated to the study of Tarzan and even speeches Farmer delivered to like-minded Tarzan fans. Nearly all of it pushes the key notion that Tarzan was and likely is alive for real. 

The collection begins in earnest with small but tasty items like a few introductions to Farmer and his methods in "Creative Mythography" from fanzines like The Burroughs Bulletin and ERBivore. We get delightful items like "The Princess of Terra" which inverts the story of John Carter and is written from a Barsoomian's perspective should he end up on Earth. Also included is "From ERB to Ygg" which is an early practice in genealogy which plots the connection of Woden to Burroughs himself. These are speeches and articles from assorted ERB fanzines and such, some light and frothy and others with a somewhat weightier mission.

The book is divided into sections but really the articles are pretty much of a piece. The premise that Tarzan is a real live person, and the point is to explain to varying degrees how ERB's novels reflect that "truth". "The Outsider" and "The Feral Human in Myth and Society" are both items from the collection Mother Was a Lovely Beast which Farmer edited, and touch on the very core notion of Tarzan's uprbringing. 

There are several articles dealing with apparent problems with ERB's chronology in the novels such as "The Great Korak-Time Discrepancy" which tackles the potential confusion of Tarzan's son's birthday and his later being reported fighting in WWI. Farmer takes elaborate steps to suggest a surrogate for the son is still related to Lord Greystoke and who marries Meriem. Likewise, articles such as "A Reply to "The Red Herring" and "The Lord Mountford Mystery" seek to rectify contradictions in the timelines and between ERB's stories and those of writes such and H. Rider Haggard. 

In a section called "Parsing the Legend" we get several pieces that go to the heart of Farmer's fascination with Tarzan and the seductive La of Opar. There is also an elaborate explanation of the coat of arms of the family. (The coat of arms is represented in glorious color on the back cover as well.)

The truly juicy bits though are "Excerpts from, the Memoirs of Lord Greystoke" and the infamous "An Exclusive Interview with Lord Greystoke" from a 1972 Esquire magazine. These two presentations go to the essence of Farmer's conceit that Tarzan is real and still living a robust life thanks to some African juju which has gifted him with nigh eternal youth. These are best understood in conjunction with the book length Tarzan Alive "biography" which Farmer wrote. (I'll have more to say on this next week.) 

If you're a Farmer fan this is an essential bit of reading. If you're a Tarzan fan it's less so, but I adore this kind of frivolous but yet compelling tomfoolery. I don't need Philip Farmer's illusion that Tarzan is a real person to enjoy the stories but thinking about them that way does add unexpected spice. I know Philip Farmer didn't meet Tarzan but it's fun to imagine that he did. 

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