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Oct 18, 2011

Lou rated it:

Unconventional novel and an unconventional vacation. Jeremy writes with an mind bending process he seems to not want to leave you at rest until you're dumbfounded by the story. We all need a vacation but where and who you spend it with is the big question. I am still bit puzzled as this wacky story does not leave you with a clear picture. I suppose watching fight club years ago did not either. The protagonist is slightly insane then again maybe even the author (I gathered that info from his twit More...

2 comments like (9 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2008

Amelia rated it:

Well, I have thought about this a lot over the last two days. In light of my last review, I wanted to be fair and yet, not over compensate. I vacillated between three and four stars for a while, but due to the fact that the book actually caused me to give up sleep (I stayed up until midnight reading the last few chapters, I had to see how it ended), I felt that it deserved the upgrade. Those of you who know how important my sleep is to me will understand that!

On my first attempt a More...

43 comments like (5 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2007

Keith rated it:

ONE CAN ONLY PRAY to the Pax-dishing government conspiracy theorists that Jeremy C. Shipp's inaugural dip in deep end of the novel pool is not his last. And if the prayers do go unanswered, those still in the living world just lost the one thing that might make life worth living. Vacation is a surreal jaunt skittering across the calm surface of social norms (on an ocean that certainly doesn't exist) hellbent on splashing waves of ever-disturbing rings disrupting the way one thinks: As if you cou More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Nov 24, 2007

Wandaful rated it:

Awesome story
Awesome writing
Awesome author
Jeremy Shipp is currently taking the world (as we know it) by storm...!!!
Or is that, Jeremy (as we know him) is currently storming into the world ????
Either way, this writer is no storm in a tea cup.... although I have heard some sneaky rumours that he reads tea leaves for coconut monkeys.......
Go figure..!!!

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Oct 24, 2008

C.B. rated it:

Vacation Penalty

People love vacations, need vacations, jump at the chance to take vacations. The blossoming thoughts of laughter and fun and mystical locales unseen sparkle with possibility in the mind’s eye. The rush to get there, wherever there may be, casts a thrilling tenor to the days and weeks leading up to that moment of departure. It is this event, Bernard (Bernie) Johnson thinks about a brief time, a moment really, subsequent to his conjuring a quick rundown of his accomplis More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2008

Geri rated it:

Jeremy Shipp takes the reader on a psychological head-trip
through the eyes of Bernard Johnson. A thirty-five year old
intelligent man with a wild, incredible imagination. Bernard
is tormented with his dreams, fantasies, and nightmares.
The reader is taken through the door of a magic carpet ride
of adventure, but the ride doesn't end there. The ride
continues from the magic carpet of fantasy, through the
doors of the haunted house of fear. Each reader will be
More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 04, 2008

Jason rated it:

(My full review of this book is much longer than GoodReads' word-count limitations. Find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

I'm sure some of you must think of it as an insult when I occasionally refer to a book here as "weird;" but believe it or not, so-called "weird fiction" or "weird lit" is in fact a legitimate genre, originally coined by the Romantic writers of the 1800s to describe the absolute s More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2008

Lance rated it:

Jeremy Shipp has a unique and entertaining writing style. The 164 page VACATION demands the reader’s attention and should perhaps not be read just before bedtime or while operating heavy machinery. In fact, a second reading may be required to fully enjoy/appreciate the story. But it is definitely worth the effort. Shipp’s surreal and eery vision of the future (or maybe an alternate universe) seems to drift seamlessly between dream and reality. The tale of the battle between the haves and h More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Oct 10, 2008

Adam rated it:

An incredible first novel from Jeremy Shipp. Aspects are reminiscent of Chuck Palahniuk and Philip K. Dick, but Vacation stands on its own as everything that's right with modern sci fi and bizarro. A quick read, Shipp cuts to the heart of the story and his characters, accomplishing more with choppy sentences and embedded commentary than volumes three times the length. An absolute must read for fans of avant-garde literature.

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2007

Ben rated it:

To be honest I'm not sure I remotely know what this book is about, terrorism, drug-running, secret gardens, and sex changes, for sure, and the education system, probably, totalitarian societies, no doubt, but beyond that, can't say. But who cares, it's really good, and completely absorbing, and so what if Jeremy is obviously a complete wack-job, the dude can flat out write.

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 19, 2008

Matt rated it:

Some of the other reviews that I have read of this book in the past seemed to dote on the complexity of the storyline. This idea coupled with my previous experiences with Shipp's short stories led me to believe that I was embarking on a task of 'Finnegan's Wake'-like proportions when I first began reading. This was a task that I wasn't sure that I was up for at this point in time, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the storyline fairly straight forward. I do not know whether my ease in follo More...

7 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 23, 2008

Josh rated it:

This book startled me.

The beginning of the book had me grasping a bit, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. I was confused and almost felt like I was being shoved around a little bit. Then as more and more things began to unfold, the smile got wider and wider.

Then Jack stepped in, and we met Odin and Noh. The confusion was back, yet again I was living beside Bernard, feeling what he felt, because I too was a Tic.

The fifth star in this comes from More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2008

Peggy rated it:

I'm not sure exactly what I expected when I started Vacation, but suffice to say that it managed to both meet and confound all of those expectations.

For many, a novel of ideas is an excuse to be preachy and a novel that uses surreal images and dream-like prose is all flash and no substance.

Nothing could be further from the truth in Shipp's book.

Oh, there are ideas aplenty here: thought-provoking,history-laden, Big Time ideas about the nature of self and the na More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Mar 18, 2009

Sean rated it:

What if the life you're living right now is a dream? Take it one step further:
What if the life you're living right now is a dream of a dream? Now take it another step further:
What if the life you're living right now is a dream of a dream being controlled by an outsider to mask the truth from you to mask the truth from you?

This is the kind of cerebral head-trip that Jeremy Shipp presents in his novel, Vacation.

Mr. Shipp's voice is clear and immediate, almost mi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 25, 2008

Jo rated it:

First e-book. The e-book part is fascinating. At first it was a lot of fun, but after about 30 pages, I wanted to hold it. I printed it out! Don't laugh at me. I am just old fashioned.

The story is detailed and believable. That is what makes it scary. You have to care. A lot of info and a lot to track.
Jeremy S. can write!
Recommend to those who like a scare. ...or are going on vacation!!!

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jul 30, 2008

Sandi rated it:

"Vacation" by Jeremy C. Shipp little book takes a lot of brain power to read. I cannot tell how many times I had to go back a few pages to figure out something I had missed. In many ways, it reminds me of the best of Philip K. Dick. It's thought-provoking, cautionary, ambiguous and downright weird. I like that in a book.

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2008

Natalie marked it as to-read

I have never heard of this book until this site and from what I have read in the discription it looks extremely interesting. I can't wait to see where this book takes me, if it inspires and gives me a whole new understanding of life itself. If anybody has this book for lending please let me know ASAP:D!

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 25, 2008

Adriane rated it:

A twisted-wicked sinfully delicious read. It spirals off the page but not for the timid or those with weak eimaginations. If you want to go on a "Vacation" in the likes that you have never experienced then pick up this book and turn the page and get ready! Excellent~!

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 15, 2008

Krystin added it

This has to be the most unique book I've read in a long time. I thought it would be good, but was pleasantly surprised with how amazing it was! I loved the plot, the characters, everything! I absolutely loved it, it is now one of my favorites!

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 10, 2009

Elaine rated it:

Vacation was my first foray into the bizarro fiction genre. I wasn't sure what to expect when starting this book, but soon realized that all expectations simply fly out the window anyway. Bernard Johnson, a 35-year-old English teacher decides (in an early-mid-life-crisis kind of way) to spend the next year of his life "finding himself" during a government sponsored world Vacation. On this Vacation, Bernie meets up with a beautiful woman who used to be one of his male students; is vi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 02, 2009

PD rated it:

I would give this book four and a half stars. Since I can't do that and I feel it deserves more than four stars, I am giving it a five star rating.

Delightfully subversive.

You will never be sure what is really happening in this wonderful book. It is full of sociopolitical and socioeconomic insights. (Is there really any difference between the two.) This is the sort of book I would like to have everyone read to help open their eyes.

This is the sort of writing I More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 31, 2008

J.R. rated it:

An author strives to transport his readers to another world; that of his imagination. Jeremy Shipp achieves that goal is this short novel. But it isn’t an easy world he conveys.

His premise is simple. A jaded man—dissatisfied with his career, his lover, his life—goes on vacation in search of redemption. Shipp’s writing style is stark and plain. In many ways his style reminds me of the English writer Magnus Mills.

Bernard Johnson, the son of an “Education Expert Extraordinai More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 11, 2008

GUD rated it:

I had to take a step back after reading Vacation to realize it really is as imaginative as it's advertised as being, because it's not so much the usual suspects, like the crazy plot antics or the political interpolations, that impressed me, but the parts that were presented more matter-of-factly, the characters and the interactions. The novel's main character, Bernard Johnson, suspends himself from his prestigious job and prestigious relationships to take his medicated, ennui-filled self off on More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 03, 2008

Garrett rated it:

Obnoxious Hollywood logline: The Prisoner meets Fight Club. Pretentious expat lit major analysis: a surreal sequel to Hamlet. Vacation is surreal, hyperreal, political and apolitical, dark, capable and humorous. Vacation looks at escapism and denial in society and how hard it is for postmodern man to do the right thing. I highly recommend this book. Protagonist Bernard Johnson is morose, hyperintellectual and indecisive with a tendency to add import to moments and distance himself from reality b More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2009

Laurie rated it:

Wow... very thought provoking. I should probably preface this review by saying that this is a book that is definitely not in the genre(s) that I typically find myself choosing books from. However, the story sounded so unique and interesting I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did! I loved Jeremy's writing style and didn't find the story hard to follow as I saw in some of the other reviews. However, I do have to say that this was a book that took me awhile to read. Mostly because I'd stop and More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 18, 2009

Jo rated it:

I thought at first this was going to be a horror novel, something akin to the Predator movies. It's more of a psychological study of western society, our attitudes and paranoia. Quite strange in parts but still worth reading.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 23, 2009

Galo rated it:

Bernard Johnson embarks on a journey of self-discovery through a vessel of infinite imagination. Surreal landscapes morph at the blink of an eye and the speed of thought. Bernard will question his existence, his sanity, and the many quirky characters he encounters on this psychedelic trip, and struggle to understand if it’s all real or fantasy. But do pay attention… Vacation is embedded with a sublime message relating to the state of Bernard’s psyche and its connection to the nightmarish design More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 27, 2009

David rated it:

Vacation by Jeremy C. Shipp
159 pages, Raw Screaming Dog Press

Vacation is the tale of Bernard Johnson, a teacher who leaves his boring life to go on a year long corporate sponsored trip. Shortly after leaving he falls for a transsexual who he discovers was one of his most hated students back when she was a boy. Sound strange? We have not even touched the tip of the iceberg. Bernard is captured by terrorists and is drafted into secret drug war battles. The book has the label Scie More...

0 comments like

Jul 30, 2011

Deathraceking rated it:

Jeremy Shipp’s “Vacation” provides the reader with an escape on a intriguing holiday inside the human psyche. Shipp creates a psychological profile of the average human animal, almost reminiscent of Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five.” This work of fiction is a search for one’s place in the universe; where truth is subjective, and apathy can be as dangerous as conformity.

Bernard Johnson takes a government-sanctioned vacation, where he is to experience a pleasant, meditative break from his average More...

0 comments like

Jan 24, 2008

Buffy rated it:

Wow Jeremy! So I finished this book today and LOVED it! It was like the Island met Dean Koontz and had a baby . I loved how you would describe the situations the best though: "This is Don Quixote's psyche, This is Don Quixote on his deathbed, regaining his sanity."

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I didn't read any synopsis beforehand, and I am glad the whole book was a shock and each discovery led me closer to the truth, just like Mr. Johnson.

Thanks to: Jeremy Shipp

7 comments like (1 person liked it)