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Badbadbad

by Jesus Angel Garcia (Goodreads Author)

4.17 of 5 stars 4.17 · rating details · 18 ratings · 9 reviews

When his wife inexplicably flees from home with their infant son, Jes?'s ngel Garc a struggles to redefine himself by being of service on both sides of the Southern cultural divide. By day, he works as the humble, God-fearing webmaster for First Church of the Church Before Church. At night, he plays the part of sexual messiah on fallenangels, an online social network for e...more

Paperback, 240 pages

Published May 19th 2011 by New Pulp Press

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Jul 13, 2011 Agnes Mack rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

I received badbadbad through the Goodreads First Reads program and after reading the praise on the inside cover I was excited to get started. The writing of Jesus Angel Garcia was compared to Philip Roth, Kurt Vonnegut and Flannery O'Conner. Be still my beating heart! Unfortunately, it fell far short of my expectations.

On the plus side, the author's voice is definitely a dynamic one. His prose has a unique cadence and energy to it that initially drew me in. He's also quite talented at descripti...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 09, 2011 Jesus Garcia rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

Here's a compilation of recent reviews and interviews from Karen the Small Press Librarian, the Rumpus, decomP, Blog Critics/Seattle P.I., The Nervous Breakdown & San Francisco Chronicle.

"Badbadbad draws on styles and themes from familiar stories and older literatures. The novel sustains the straight-talk trashiness of 20th Century pulp, the sex-romp identity games of Kathy Acker, and the dark inevitability of Giovanni's Room. But it considers an absolutely current societal malaise: the twin...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jul 18, 2011 Sean Ferguson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jesús Ángel García is the name of the main character of bad bad bad. The fun coincidence of this is, that also just so happens to be the name of the author of bad bad bad. The nerve that this humble reviewer would have to muster to make such a move is immeasurable, but after meeting García, seeing him in action, it probably wasn't even given a second thought. That isn't to say that he lives with a god-sized self-importance. Jesús just exudes an effortless air. Listening to him pitch his book to a ridiculously attractive woman just moments after starring down a troupe of motorcycle enthusiasts, mocking their rumbling engines with a megaphone just made sense. The pitch was half starving artist, half pick-up artist, and all smooth operator.

The Jesús Ángel García in bad bad bad, however, spends the lifetime of this book battling with identity. He's recently been left by his ex-wife, taking their only son with her, leaving him to figure out what kind of man he wants to be while trying to legally reconnect with his boy. The book opens with a prologue of the hero driving around with a lady of the night, rolling down the streets as he tries to convince the pro to go to the beach and to a movie with him, no kink, just good times. The transaction goes poorly and so sets the tone for García's story. He goes from being a church custodian to the webmaster of a rapidly expanding religious movement, by day. At night, he moderates an online community that is home to fetishists searching for an online haven. Somewhere in between all of that, he does everything that he can to serve others, bending extremes that find him more trouble than he's anticipating.

The crux of the story is García's blindness to the motivations of the rest of the characters in the story. He is far from pure of heart, but falls victim to the desires and schemes of other people with the naivety of a child. Whether he's attempting to please the wants of the good reverend leading his flock blindly into the trappings of politics, or changing his appearance, personality, and sexual limits to meet the needs and desires of the fallenangels online community, García takes everything that he's given at face value. One could argue that it isn't naivety at all, that it is the author's fearlessness shining through, driving onward toward that next wow moment, that next human connection. If you wrong him, there's always another new person, another new day. But there are select women that his heart snags on, where he pulls and yanks, hoping to break free, and he just can't. You, the reader see the subtext, the writing on the walls in big blinking letters to move on. But he won't. He can't.

Jesús Ángel García writes with a voice that clearly and truly speaks of a desire to free some burden from his shoulders. The pain that goes on in this story is so real, so alive, that you are sandwiched between him and the prostitute in the opening pages. You're standing over his shoulder as he moderates online forums, browsing through pictures. You lean against the doorframe of his bathroom while he splashes gray in his temples. Jesús brings you along, not only as a witness, but as a companion out there in the dark with the flourishes and leanings of a beat poet. Despite bad bad bad being García's debut novel, he handles the narrative with the hands of an experienced guide, making the turn toward the next page all the more reason to find out what happens next, what's around the next corner, where is that next wow moment. And if you buy his book now, he'll also give you a complimentary hug.

Release Date: May 19, 2011
Order: HERE
Official Website: HERE (less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 31, 2011 Caleb Ross rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: guilty-by-association

I can already be sure, badbadbad will be one of my top books of 2011. Jesus Angel Garcia can write. Simple.

3 likes · like · see review

Aug 15, 2012 Rae rated it 5 of 5 stars

JAG is a great writer and this is a great story. He really understands the world of the "Dirty South" and the people that inhabit it. Conservative, born-again Christians, and the "fallen angels" and rebels that live outside the white (man) picket fences. He also deeply understands the violence of men and the isolation men feel without the centre (wife, children, family) of "decent" society. The protaganist lives in three worlds: the "society/work/outer-appearance" world of the evangelical, "Born...more

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Jan 19, 2012 Lori rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-reviewers-copy, fiction

from publisher
Read 1/2/12 - 1/14/12
3 Stars - Recommended to readers familiar w/ genre
Pgs: 237
Publisher: New Pulp Press

"Roleplay is a dangerous game when you don't know who you are."

Truer words have never been spoken when used to describe the sticky situation JAG finds himself in. Recently abandoned by his wife and infant son, Jesus "JAG" Garcia finds employment as webmaster for First Church of the Church Before Church's online blog by day, while by night he plays the role of God for a bunch of f...more from publisher
Read 1/2/12 - 1/14/12
3 Stars - Recommended to readers familiar w/ genre
Pgs: 237
Publisher: New Pulp Press

"Roleplay is a dangerous game when you don't know who you are."

Truer words have never been spoken when used to describe the sticky situation JAG finds himself in. Recently abandoned by his wife and infant son, Jesus "JAG" Garcia finds employment as webmaster for First Church of the Church Before Church's online blog by day, while by night he plays the role of God for a bunch of fetishist he locates via an online sex site called Fallenangels.

Yes, you heard me right. Fetishist. Women who want a "daddy" figure to come and spank them, or reenact a rape scene, or go to town with a box full of toys. And as JAG loses himself to this dark and dirty underworld, creating different identities to match what each of these girls need, he begins to slowly lose himself and things start falling apart at the seams.

Interestingly, the book is written as a sort of "tell-all" from JAG to his estranged little brother. JAG details the events that led him to this sad and dangerous lifestyle, while also preparing us for what we know is going to be a story that does not end well for our kinky minded main man.

If you can stomach the coarse, sometimes raunchily described, sex scenes, you might agree that Jesus Angel Garcia's pulpy, fetish filled transmedia novel is a great example of what print publishing can be - because it's a book with online extras. Jesus has created multiple documentaries that draw from some of the themes within the book: Fear, Self Destruction, Sexual Morality, among others. Delving into an anonymous population of streetwalkers, authors and writers, husbands and wives, Jesus catches in-depth honest reactions to these words, these specific human conditions and tendencies, on film. What do you fear most? Is it death? Is it losing everything you love? Is it something tangible, something living and breathing, or something abstract? What is the most self destructive thing you have ever done? Was it something you controlled or something you had no control over? These documentaries confirm just how fucked up and unique each life is.... I enjoyed the way these mini-films complimented badbadbad's storyline, pulling you out of the chaotic web JAG weaved for himself and proving that real people go through these same or similar things too.

It also comes with it's own soundtrack. While I am not personally a fan of the type of music that he uses, it does appear to hold some influence over the book's style and cadence.

All in all, badbadbad is a true multimedia experience that helps hesitant digital readers like myself bridge that e-gap comfortably. To be honest, I wish more print books came with online extras to enhance the reading experience.

Check out books like Empty the Sun by A Barnacle Book (musical cd accompaniment), The Recipe Book (musical cd accompaniment, free app) by Black Balloon, and The French Revolution (free app) by Soft Skull to see more examples of multimedia print books.(less)

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Sep 30, 2011 Robert Kloss rated it 4 of 5 stars

The title would imply that Jesus Angel Garcia’s novel badbadbad is loaded with all the familiar elements of sin and punishment, but this is also a novel of subtle misdirection, of well-chosen masks, a novel that forces the reader to question the distance between real and imaginary, between the roles we take on or that are bestowed upon us, our culpability for our actions and the actions of those around us.

1 like · like · see review

Oct 04, 2011 Benoit Lelievre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another novel I wish I could have given 3.5. This is NOT for everybody, it's a pulp but it's also a very intellectual novel that deals with many issues from worship to control. The issues themselves and the protagonist are the story. There's no mystery per se, but rather an exploration of human darkness. Torn in between a grade of 3 and 4, I'd give it a 4 with little hesitation. It's an incredibly ballsy and creative novel, but it's also difficult and unfocused at times. The review of the Bad Ba...more

1 like · like · see review

Sep 06, 2011 Todd Hebert rated it 4 of 5 stars

The writing is top-notch, smart and carefully playful, transcending it’s pulp-fiction clothing. Any author that can write the line: “we embraced like lovers at the threshold of the void,” and have it sound like the perfect words at the perfect time, is doing something right.

1 like · like · see review

May 07, 2013 Ipsith added it

Shelves: favorites

Feb 05, 2013 Derek Allen marked it as to-read

Feb 05, 2013 Will Viharo rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Oct 27, 2012 Rabbit marked it as to-read

Shelves: authors-with-complexes-lol, blood-in-the-water, author-wank

Sep 05, 2012 Eva marked it as to-read

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May 12, 2012 Shawn Kupfer rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 03, 2012 Jarrad Johnston marked it as to-read

Shelves: to-buy

Apr 16, 2012 Lucinda Powell marked it as to-read

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Jan 11, 2012 Yennie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Dec 01, 2011 Vickie O. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jan 02, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-this

Aug 26, 2011 Sheep Dip marked it as to-read

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Shelves: to-buy-and-read

Aug 06, 2011 Candice marked it as to-read

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About Jesus Angel Garcia

Jesús Ángel García is a writer, musician and filmmaker based in San Francisco. http://badbadbad.net http://threetimesbad.com

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