Reviews
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Review of The End of August by Yū Miri
Does in 700 pages what can be done in 120 pages. Ceaseless repetition, much of which is in Korean. Songs and prayers and onomatopoeia constantly invoked. The rhythm reminded me of Ducks, Newburyport, which I hated. -5 stars for abusing the reader’s time and patience. +2 stars for strong descriptions…
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Review of In Dreams: The Very Short Stories of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa by by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
I often re-read Akutagawa’s stories. Before this publication I had read all of his stories in English, even the ones translated online and obscure scholarly publications. I had read about 97 pieces total. This book brings the total number of pieces available in English closer to 150, which is around…
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Review of Every Day Is for the Thief by Teju Cole
Teju Cole gives an account of a stay in Nigeria, told by a Nigerian-American. It purports to be a work of fiction, but could easily be construed as autofiction or nonfic. The journalistic approach is offset by the deeply humorous writing. You can feel the conflict within the narrator toward…
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Review of The Book of Dede Korkut by Anonymous
I like to collect rare and unusual Penguin Classics. This was one of my favorite I’ve come across. A strange and inconsistent series of tales from Medieval Turkey. The 13 tales, combined with the copious notes and introduction (which almost constitutes a 14th tale’s worth of material since it details…
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Review of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
While not as approachable as high school teacher’s would have you believe, the Canterbury Tales is an entertaining mix of history, lyricism, and satire. In my opinion Chaucer missed a major opportunity to add a pastoral component to his work. The tales either all take place in disparate locations and…
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Review of Cocteau’s Invitation by Erik Martiny
This was unexpected and slightly uncalled for You know those Yorgos Lanthimos movies. This is a little like that. You ask yourself, wait, what? But you keep reading. This is a meta narrative that starts out as a typical literary pseudo-romance, featuring the creepy narrator going after a too-young student,…
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Review of Why I Married a Clown Girl From the Dimension of Death by Carlton Mellick III
Another bizarro novella from Carlton Mellick, who is nearing his 70th book. This was, like a few previous ones, an un-subtle commentary on society through the fantasy lens of clown-people invading from another dimension. It tackles questions of xenophobia, homelessness, and the current destruction of natural resources, the family unit,…
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Review of You Always Try to Kill Me in Your Dreams by Carlton Mellick III
Solid storytelling in this novella, with some slasher concepts a la Nightmare on Elm St. His books of late have all had a Goosebumps for Adults vibe, which is not a disparagement. In YATTKMIYD, CM3 satirizes the distinctly American college-age pursuit of perpetual drunkenness. He is a good writer in…
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Review of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
A dense and sensual exploration of human nature. Wish fulfillment. A super-antihero novel.Our antihero smells everything it is possible to smell, was born to make perfume, and defines his own morality in the manner of a classical Übermensch. His journey through the underbelly of French society was poignant, and very…
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Review of The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
Listened to the audiobook. No idea how to spell the names of any characters. The narrative was compelling, though the second person perspective sections felt unnecessary. Earth-based magic system, caste systems, dystopian world, social commentary. This kind of complex world-building almost makes me want to take a break and go…
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Review of L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais
I listened to Crais speak at a conference. Quite the storyteller. His prose is reminiscent of Elmore Leonard. Same with the pacing and the subject matter. To look at his covers you might immediately think “Michael Crichton” or “Michael Connelly” or something. But judging from my first foray into his…
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Review of Abel and Cain by Gregor von Rezzori
Another book about a writer writing a book. How many literary novels and works of literature are simply compilations of writers’ notebooks full of ramblings? In the same style as William Gass’s The Tunnel, Abel and Cain is cobbled together from literary fragments and disparate scenes, some of which seem…
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Review of Glass Children by Carlton Mellick III
A book to finish in one sitting. One with a purposely transparent message. CM3 airs a lot of grievances about today’s generation gaps, while lobbying for some semblance of understanding between divided Americans. He includes a bloodbath for the sake of the Bizarro label. It seems more like an episode…
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Review of When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
I picked up this book because Cat Valente mentioned it in an interview. I admit the premise intrigued me. The style was easy to read but in my opinion, not innovative or eccentric enough for my liking. There is nothing wrong with a conventional style, but as I listened to…
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Review of The Appearance of Death to a Hindu Woman by Rick Harsch
This is the 2nd book set in India Rick Harsch wrote, and after finishing it, I am eager to read the other one, called Arjun and the Good Snake. This is a story of an American making his way from Madras to Calcutta and journeying through surrounding areas, mostly on…
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Review of Tales From the Hereafter by Ted Myers
I am a fan of short stories taking place in the afterlife. I recently read a book called Snuggly Tales of the Afterlife, which I would not necessarily recommend. They were less out-there than I imagined they would be. I want my alternate worlds to be unexpected. That is why…
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Review of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Why don’t more authors write novels about video games? My favorite part of the book was exploring the games the main characters conceptualized. The story of their lives, interwoven with video game logic, was interesting, but did not hook me as readily as the obsessive focus on the number one…
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Review of Bubblegum by Adam Levin
Reminded me of when I read David Foster Wallace for the first time. Passing through phases of amusement to annoyance to disgust, then subtly sliding into intrigue, fascination and finally settling on the far side of appreciation, but only through much readerly turmoil, many near-death-by-boredom experiences. If you like Adam…
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Review of Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I only plan to read a few autobiographies in my life. I would consider reading Mark Twains and Casanova as well. Rousseau’s reputation is immense. As soon as I began listening to the audiobook I felt at home in the author’s style. It was a long and rambling account of…
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Review of White Cat, Black Dog: Stories by Kelly Link
Kelly Link’s fourth (or fifth?) collection was a surprise. I remember liking less than half of her stories from her previous collections and I liked only half of these. But taken as a whole, reading the entirety of her work is worth the effort. Though I find the quality inconsistent…
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Review of Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada
There is no humor in this book, or if there was, I could not recognize it. It is very short, maybe 25K words. Another mish mash of random thoughts dashed off by the author, like her other two books currently available in English. The characters are generic and unmemorable. The…
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Review of Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami
Murakami is not an authority on writing. Rather, he is an expert on music. See his other nonfiction book for proof. He is untrained in the craft of writing, as he admits in the opening pages. He also does not play an instrument. What does that tell you? Established rules…
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Review of Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection
A large and well-formatted collection of box art. Unlike most American video game box art in my opinion, the Japanese box art for this console was superb. Each image in the book is basically life size, and very high resolution. You get to examine hundreds of examples of hand-drawn art,…
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Review of Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
Out of the 3 books in the series, I enjoyed the first the most. Little Women was a heartwarming read. Little Men follows the perspective of the boys under Jo’s care. The reader is meant to follow their development as human beings, as they learn lessons and make decisions. They…
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Review of The Menstruating Mall by Carlton Mellick III
Dear Carlton Mellick III,Feel free to use any of the following titles for one of your upcoming books. I greatly look forward to your next release. Suggestions for future Bizarro Titles: Douchebags of the ApocalypseKentucky Fried FetusesThe Church of Edible ChildrenPoint-and-Click Dimension ZeroThe Monopoly Man MurdersAutomaton MetropolisTime Bandits from AsslandElephant…
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Review of 2022 on Goodreads by Various
Let’s see, what did I read this past year? I don’t even know. The main reason I have Goodreads now is to tell me what I’ve read. I blame my 30-minute commute for all of the audiobooks I finished. I have only myself to blame for all of the bizarro…
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Review of Roxana by Daniel Defoe
Not very impressive in every way. Roxana seems at times like a rewrite of Moll Flanders. The similarities are obvious. But the main issue is Defoe’s verbosity. It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the repetition. He often tells the reader things they should already know. Assumes the…
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Review of The Girl with the Barbed Wire Hair by Carlton Mellick III
Some CM3 books are not really bizarro. This falls into that category. There is the usual horror, gore, sex and supernatural stuff, but none of it is particularly avant-guarde punk. The barbed wire hair visuals are slightly bizarro, but not really. Aside from faltering when it comes to conjuring a…
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Review of The Knickknack Case: A Tony Flaner Mystery by Johnny Worthen
My first foray into the Tony Flaner mystery series. This is a good place to start with the work of Johnny Worthen. I will be reading the other mysteries in this series. I find the voice and the sarcastic narrator irresistible. The mystery itself is nothing to write home about.…
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Review of 8-Bit Apocalypse by Amanda Billings
I purchased this novel to feed two addictions I have willfully acquired: reading about video games and bizarro fiction. Though this was published alongside other more grotesque works by a primarily bizarro publisher, this was more an ode to video game history in fictional form than a bizarro novel in…
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Review of Mneme’s Stoned by Luke Delin
After reading Orbo and the Godhead, I was overwhelmed by the fantastic fusion of ideas and subdued force of that novel. Where that novel was ecstatic and full-throttle, this novel was a quieter whirlwind. Mneme’s Stoned possesses many qualities of the previous work: absurdism, magical realism, drug use, mental illness,…
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Review of Eyes: Novellas and Stories by William H. Gass
Gass makes impressive use of language to describe the thoughts and feelings of inanimate objects. By exploring perspectives in this way, he is able to layer on a bunch of observations.It would appear that he holds plot and character development in contempt. Instead, he maneuvers the reader through a skewed…
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Review of A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck
Admittedly, I have asked ChatGPT to write plenty of sequels to “The Library of Babel.” I have thought about the story ceaselessly. I have written my own fan fictions here and there. Borges was quoted as saying “I imagine Heaven as a kind of library.” The author of this book…
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Review of The Al-Alam Revolution by J.S. Xander
The Al-Alam Revolution is a well-written story of a pretty good length featuring a 15-year-old protagonist in a creatively fictionalized world. A lot of futuristic novels offer a nihilistic worldview, but thanks to Nili’s idealism, most of the book’s somber undertone is lightened.The pages were easy to turn in this…
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Review of Solenoid by Mircea Cartarescu
A depiction of the remarkable wealth of one man’s inner life amid the bodily poverty and blindingly dull inheritance of the paltry years allotted to him on a damaged and ravaged earth in a squalid and unforgiving metropolis. Drenched in cosmic surrealism and accoutered with interlocking symbols. The author pursues central…
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Review of Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi
Japanese Slice of Life Versus American Literary Fiction. Slice of Life: mundane day to day events occur regularly. Characters go to work, commute, go shopping, etc. They interact with others in quirky and amusing ways. Characters make decisions, but the consequences are not usually earth-shattering. Readers have the chance to…
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Review of Of Kings, Queens and Colonies by Johnny Worthen
Humans have relocated to a ten-planet system called Coronam. Each planet has its drawbacks and advantages. Various factions proceed to war over the resources and ownership. This is an epic with medieval warfare, space ships, and political subtexts. Told through 16 points of view, the tale could get a little…
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Review of Ruins by Peter Kuper
A worthy and important work of graphic storytelling. A married couple take a sabbatical in Oaxaca. He is a struggling insect-enthusiast, and she is working on a novel. They gravitate away and toward one another while they explore the urban desolation and natural splendor of their surroundings. It resonates strongly…
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Review of by Crystals of Empire Trilogy by M. Poyhonen
The Crystals of Empire is an immersive fantasy tale with a steep learning curve. In time, the pieces fall into place, but the beginning eased me in with a recognizable setting steeped in mythological undertones and relatable character interaction. While I did not get on with the dialects, the dialogue…
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Review of Time goes by… By Hiroshi Nagai
Hiroshi Nagai is the greatest artist of liminal spaces in my opinion. His art is far more satisfying, long term, than any other artist I can think of at the moment. He should be more well known. No filmmaker or artist on Earth, except for brief hints here and there,…
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Review of End Man by Alex Austin
The first thing I appreciated about End Man was the Vaporware/ Outrun aesthetic of its cover, followed by its intriguing premise. Wherever corporate corruption is brought upon the chopping block I am game for a foray into speculation. Then you get oodles of commentary on mortality and how the virtual…
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Review of Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
2 stars for Neil Gaiman and 6 stars for old Norse authors. A glance at the cover would lead one to believe that Neil Gaiman wrote this book. He is the “author” after all. But what did he actually do? He retold the tales. His language is entertaining, but he…
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Review of Anthem by Ayn Rand
Writing in the first person plural toward a central theme, Ayn Rand tests the reader’s patience. I recommend Doris Lessing instead. Her wonky, awkward descriptive power is more attuned than Rand’s. Rand has a tendency to produce a monotone. I was picturing THX 1138 the whole time. Naming characters with…
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Review of Liar, Dreamer, Thief by Maria Dong
Told in first person present tense. A dysfunctional protagonist leads us through her obsession with a coworker. The main character self-consciously sabotages herself through ritual superstitions and coping mechanisms. The list of her disorders is not delineated but the reader may observe tell-tale signs of nearly every social issue a…
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Review of My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Not much left to be said about this brilliant book. It was brilliant and disturbing and a perfect reading experience. Another first person narrative by this famous author plumbing the depths of human loneliness, wish fulfillment and modern society. A magnificent satire and unputdownable headlong plunge into the heart of…
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Review of Lapvona by Ottessa Moshfegh
My ranking of Ottessa Moshfegh’s books. 1. My Year of Rest and Relaxation2. Homesick for Another World3. Lapvona4. Eileen5. McGlue6. Death in Her Hands Lapvona was midrange Moshfegh, in my opinion. It lacked the intimate first person perspective of her other works and possessed a cold, alien tone, making use…
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Review of Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
Why do people read literary fiction? I ask myself this whenever I try to define the difficult term “literary fiction.” I think of Philip Roth and John Updike most readily. I see that Moshfegh manages to impress literary readers while also capturing a large audience, ie, being a bestseller. But…
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Review of My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
Listening to 80s Synthwave Halloween mix on Youtube while writing this review. This was the kind of audiobook I had to invent chores to continue listening to. An incredible audiobook performance first of all. And a beautifully written book, oozing nostalgia from every acne-scarred pore. The angst. The rich details,…
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Review of Confessions by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I only plan to read a few autobiographies in my life. I would consider reading Mark Twains and Casanova as well. Rousseau’s reputation is immense. As soon as I began listening to the audiobook I felt at home in the author’s style. It was a long and rambling account of…
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Review of Edgar Allan Poe: Collected Works by Edgar Allan Poe
It was nice to pick up a leather bound edition of Poe for my Halloween rereading of his stories. I rediscovered amazing stories like “King Pest” and “The Devil in the Belfry.” this activity reminded me of the many qualities I admire about his writing. I was disappointed in the…
L. S. Popovich 