Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
106th out of 255 books
—
610 voters
Cosmic Banditos
Soon to be a major motion picture starring John Cusack! Mr. Quark is a down-on-his luck pot-smuggler hiding out in the mountains of Colombia with his dog, High Pockets, and a small band of banditos led by the irascible Jose. Only months before, these three and their fearless associates were rolling in millions in cash and high-grade marijuana, eluding prosecution on “ridic...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
March 1st 2001
by NAL Trade
(first published 1986)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
795)
This book came highly recommended but I found it, at most, mildly entertaining. I don't know...maybe I've just read too many books about white men using drugs, sex, philosophy and racial irreverence to stumble towards enlightenment. Plus -- sorry to be so sensitive -- I was not particularly amused by the Black character's runaway slave dialect or the prolific use of derogatory names for gays and Mexicans. Perhaps the slurs wouldn't have bothered me so much if the author had anything new or inter...more
Jun 01, 2009
Danny Langford
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Any Hard Science Major, Professor, Developing Writer, and those not easily offended!
This is quite simply a under-read masterpiece. Boasting equal measures of Hunter s. Thompson full blown Gonzo, and Stephen R Hawking dialects on quantum mechanics and chaos theory. While quantum mechanics may not usually qualify as light reading, throw in about a hundred gallons of tequila, a south-of-the-boarder band of drug running banditos and you get the wildest ride and perhaps the best exploration of just how strange and chaotic the quantum realm of sub-atomic particles really is!
For many...more
For many...more
Good book most of the way through, but ends pretty weak. An odd mixture of De Bernieres, HS Thompson, and Pynchon, n'est pas?
What did I learn from this book?
1. Always carry a grenade in my chest pocket.
2. Keep an airplane on stand-by.
3. Don't allow friends to have firearms.
4. Never go up against a sicilian when death is on the line.
Okay #4 I learned elsewhere ... but it is still an important lesson.
What did I learn from this book?
1. Always carry a grenade in my chest pocket.
2. Keep an airplane on stand-by.
3. Don't allow friends to have firearms.
4. Never go up against a sicilian when death is on the line.
Okay #4 I learned elsewhere ... but it is still an important lesson.
so i read this in like 2 days (as it turns out, if i get the right position at work, i can read for like 5 hours a day provided i dont mind interuptions). as a straight contrabandista tale, it lags in overall plot arc when compared to "smokescreen" which in my oppinion is the penultimate smugglers tale. but this differs from smokescreen for a few reasons. this one is a work of fiction (making it by definition, less believable) and two it has a subplot line dealing with subatiomic physics. which...more
This is a yarn. It's over the top, but if this story had pretended to be anything more than a philosophical suppository giving spirit and form to a rudimentary course in quantum theory, if it had tried to take itself seriously, it would have been mediocre at best.
Sure, I smiled, even laughed a few times, and yeah, I kept turning pages to see where he was going with the madness, but it was the point at which he arrived at the point before he set out for the point that was never really there that...more
Sure, I smiled, even laughed a few times, and yeah, I kept turning pages to see where he was going with the madness, but it was the point at which he arrived at the point before he set out for the point that was never really there that...more
I described this book to a friend as Hunter S. Thompson plus Quantum Physics and I stand by that. This was a really surprising book from the cover: I expected it to be some strange sci-fi romp with a Wild West theme, like Douglas Adams's version of the Alamo. Instead, it's the story of a drug runner lying low in Colombia who comes across a text on quantum mechanics that changes his worldview. It's funny, doesn't take itself too seriously, interesting, and full of puns and comedy. I immediately l...more
Has a unique storytelling device with non-linear narrative and end-notes which are going chronologically opposite way throughout the book, but lacks achieving to fullfill its premises with a WTF IS QUANTUM PHYSICS MAN? approach. But its ok to take your time.
The chaos contained in this book is simplified through physics. Or is the physics simplified through the chaos? I have no idea. I was too busy laughing because of it's ludicrous story. pick it up and read it. Or find me and I'll let you borrow it.
One of the most creative things I've ever read. Since then I want to go to Mexico to meet Weisbecker for a beer. And probably the book I buy most for my friends. Hilariously amazing.
A hilarious ride through drugs, banditos, and friendship. A.C. Weisbecker manages to make a story full of tangents run smoothly and quickly with constant humor and entertainment.
Pretty dang funny. It's like "Big Bang Theory" meets "Blow" meets "Celestine Prophecy". Hard to follow at times (because of the 100+ footnotes) but in the end pretty fun.
Probably one of the most interesting books I have read. A combination of Hawkin's Universe and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. A silly awesome ride! :)
I feel like this book doesn't fit into any recognizable category and yet I feel like everyone should read it and everyone would enjoy it. There is definitely something for everyone here- especially laughs.
definetely one of the funniest book i've ever read. and the author is actually really cool, a friendly guy. he replies to mails, chats etc.
I liked this book and how much fun it was to read, but at times it got to be a bit much. I preferred the plot of In Search Of Captain Zero more, as well as the believability of the characters. But at less than 200 pages, why not?
I loved Weisbecker's first book In Search Of Captain Zero. This book is quite different being a work of fiction, but many of the stories in this book were inspired by his adventures around the world in his first book. This is very difficult to describe, but basically it's about a group of banditos and drug lords who mug this family and stumble upon books about reality and the universe. The banditos read these books and send letters to the guy who owned them, harassing his family...oh forget it.....more
This is a hilarious book.
Of course, it glorifies drugs and getting drunk, but no need to be puritan!
Of course, it glorifies drugs and getting drunk, but no need to be puritan!
weisbecker's crack at fiction is funny, but i didn't think as good as "In Search of Captain Zero"
Loved it.
Everything is completely random, but at the same time happens for logical reasons.
Everything is completely random, but at the same time happens for logical reasons.
Great story that has an almost Gonzo feel too it and is a funny drug smuggling adventure.
I read this when it was out of print off of copied pages and loved it.
"This book will change your life." - My Brother Frank.
Easy read, funny, thought-provoking, great book.
One of my top three books of all time!
Really funny and oddly philosophical.
Short, frantic and fun.
Really fun!
Loved this book!
Pull on your drug induced thinking cap for this and fall into a world where the ridiculous meshes with an extreme world that no middle-class suburbanite (yes I mean you) would dream of touching with a ten foot pole but revels in when given a smoke and a cup of tea while lost in a book like this on the back deck.
Its a head-shaker with wide-eyed and curiously lovable characters. (Who said you couldnt love a mindless coke-snorting, whore-ing, tequila guzzling filthy drug lord wanna be?)
Its a head-shaker with wide-eyed and curiously lovable characters. (Who said you couldnt love a mindless coke-snorting, whore-ing, tequila guzzling filthy drug lord wanna be?)
"Things didn't go exactly as we planned"
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Oct 18, 2009 02:36pm
Oct 24, 2009 09:15pm