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Kris Saknussemm

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/KRISSAKNUSSEMM

born

in The United States

gender

male

website

http://www.krissaknussemm.com

twitter username

Kris Saknussemm @KrisSaknussem

genre

Fiction, Science Fiction, Memoir

influences

Jonathan Swift, Laurence Sterne, Franz Kafka, Henry Miller, Augusten B ...more

member since

April 2007

About this author

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Kris Saknussemm is a cult genre bending novelist and multimedia artist. Born and educated in America, he has lived most of his life abroad, primarily in Australia and the Pacific Islands.

His science fiction themed novel ZANESVILLE, published by Villard Books in 2005, was hailed by critics as a revolutionary work of surreal black comedy. It has attracted the devotion of outsider artists like the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and was the inspiration for Michael Jackson to want to have a giant robot of himself constructed to roam the Las Vegas desert. It has become a cult hit in Russia as well.

Another novel, an erotic supernatural thriller PRIVATE MIDNIGHT is set in a noir crime world of jazz, junkies and shadows from out of time. It became a best...more Kris Saknussemm is a cult genre bending novelist and multimedia artist. Born and educated in America, he has lived most of his life abroad, primarily in Australia and the Pacific Islands.

His science fiction themed novel ZANESVILLE, published by Villard Books in 2005, was hailed by critics as a revolutionary work of surreal black comedy. It has attracted the devotion of outsider artists like the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and was the inspiration for Michael Jackson to want to have a giant robot of himself constructed to roam the Las Vegas desert. It has become a cult hit in Russia as well.

Another novel, an erotic supernatural thriller PRIVATE MIDNIGHT is set in a noir crime world of jazz, junkies and shadows from out of time. It became a bestseller in France and Italy.

He has now in total published ten books that have been translated into 22 languages.

The Rumors
Soon after the publication of ZANESVILLE, reports began circulating around Hollywood that the actor Kevin Costner was furious about being featured as the “voice” of Dooley Duck, one of several animated hologram characters in the story, who serve as advertising vehicles in the fictional world of the novel. Under the magical influence of the protagonist, Elijah Clearfather, Dooley not only comes to life and breaks free of his commercial masters (a monolithic children’s day care empire) he develops a penis and becomes an advocate for sexual enjoyment and the leader of a social and political reform called The Surprise Party.

A second rumor that began making the rounds that ZANESVILLE had actually been written by the late David Foster Wallace under a pseudonym, while another related and more detailed story had it that Kris Saknussemm is not an individual author at all, but rather a name taken by a collective of writers who wrote the book as a collaborative experiment, in something of the same spirit as Nicholas Bourbaki phenomenon amongst mathematicians.

This latter view gained some extended support as Saknussemm had written about the “Bourbaki Conspiracy,” and an earlier published story was based on the premise that the reclusive Thomas Pynchon was just a composite entity—an on-going project and artistic prank which such writers as Vladimir Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut and J.D. Salinger had participated in.

Appearing at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle in 2006, Saknussemm fielded questions about the rumor, remarking, “As ZANESVILLE has much to do with the idea of the Conspiracy Theory as the folk religion of our time, I’m somewhat amused. But I’ve heard something similar about Poppy Z. Brite. I think we all just like hoaxes and rumors. They reassure us that we can actually participate in the manufacture of reality. But as one of my characters says, ‘I’m real enough.’” A series of readings in New York and appearances on public radio and at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers helped to dispel the rumor.(less)

9 posts
Kris Saknussemm's Blog

ONE OF THOSE REVIEWS THAT MAKES IT ALL WORTH IT

This is a review of my book SEA MONKEYS that delights me because it expresses exactly what I hoped to achieve--that people would reflect in new ways on their own lives and the enigmatic and often erratic process of memory, upon which we all depend. To really engage with a reader's very personal sense of life...that's what it's all about.

http://www.winsomevein.com/2013/03/se... Read more of this blog post »

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Published on March 08, 2013 09:14 • 11 views • Tags: memoir, reviews, success

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Kris Saknussemm's Books

Average rating: 3.79 · 257 ratings · 75 reviews · 15 distinct works · Similar authors

	Zanesville: A Novel 3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 avg rating — 74 ratings — published 2005 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Private Midnight 3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 avg rating — 53 ratings — published 2009	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Enigmatic Pilot: A Tall Tale Too True 3.28 of 5 stars 3.28 avg rating — 43 ratings — published 2011 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Reverend America 4.26 of 5 stars 4.26 avg rating — 19 ratings — published 2012 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sinister Miniatures 4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 2011	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sea Monkeys: A Memory Book 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2012 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Humble Assessment 5.0 of 5 stars 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2013	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Eat Jellied Eels 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2012	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Zanesville 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2005	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Zanesville 0.0 of 5 stars 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2005	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Kris’s Writing

PRIVATE MIDNIGHT (Mystery & Thrillers)

1 chapters — updated Feb 11, 2009 02:28pm

Description: A psychoerotic noir thriller with supernatural shadings.

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Kris's Recent Updates

Kris Saknussemm is now friends with Tracy Bachman
May 21, 2013 02:22pm · like
Kris Saknussemm liked Brent's review of Sea Monkeys: A Memory Book: " "That's why we cling to our family legends. Because they don't tell stories. They almost tell stories." Saknussemm says and illustrates that here with glimpses into the past at major figures, and some not so major that nonetheless were of vital im... " Read more of this review »
May 06, 2013 03:12pm · see review
Kris Saknussemm made a comment on his profile "Thanks for news of Marvin. I'll have a look."
Apr 03, 2013 07:36am
Kris Saknussemm recommended Suddenly, a Knock on the Door to Tony Renner Suddenly, a Knock on the Door by Etgar Keret	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 10, 2013 12:16pm · like
Kris Saknussemm made a comment on Michael Cordell's review of Island of the Sequined Love Nun "Adams is a good touchstone--the British twin in some ways. Both sort of endear themselves to us that way. I think they make the strategy work because...more "
Mar 08, 2013 09:18am · see review
Kris Saknussemm rated a book 4 of 5 stars How to Avoid Sex by Matthew Revert (Goodreads Author)	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Another stage of evolution in one of our most interesting young writers. Revert manages to create something fresh and innovative, without falling into the complexities and gimmicks of "experimental" fiction. Instead, he finds a new ratio b/w Voice an...more
Feb 12, 2013 02:51pm · see review
Kris Saknussemm rated a book 3 of 5 stars Ecce Homo (Penguin Classics) by Friedrich Nietzsche	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 09, 2013 02:28pm
Kris Saknussemm rated a book 4 of 5 stars A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 09, 2013 02:28pm
Kris Saknussemm wants to read Must You Go?: My Life with Harold Pinter by Antonia Fraser	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Feb 09, 2013 02:27pm
Kris Saknussemm rated a book 4 of 5 stars The Emperor of all Things by Paul Witcover	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Paul Witcover is a writing colleague and close friend of mine whose work I very much admire. I first became acquainted with him when he was an editor in the Time Warner matrix. I found his editorial remarks to be some of the clearest and sharpest, an...more
Jan 22, 2013 11:40am · see review

More of Kris's books…

Quotes by Kris Saknussemm

“One of the most egregiously stupid books I've ever come across. I would recommend reading this only because it's the epitome of all that is moronic, superficial, contrived, hollow, false and utterly laughable in publishing today.”
― Kris Saknussemm

tags: love, on-eat, pray

6 people liked it

“Spiral minds are harder to twist.”
― Kris Saknussemm, Zanesville: A Novel

2 people liked it