Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Broken Piano for President
by
Patrick Wensink (Goodreads Author)
Ever drank too much and forgot what happened? Don't be embarrassed. Deshler Dean faces this problem every day of his life.
Dean is far more brilliant and productive when he's blackout drunk. In the last few months alone, he has invented a hamburger more addictive than crystal meth, scored a six-figure record contract for his terrible art rock band, and started dating a woma...more
Dean is far more brilliant and productive when he's blackout drunk. In the last few months alone, he has invented a hamburger more addictive than crystal meth, scored a six-figure record contract for his terrible art rock band, and started dating a woma...more
Paperback, 372 pages
Published
March 1st 2012
by Lazy Fascist Press
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
313)
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
It’s every indie author’s dream, innit? For something they write to go viral, as John Rzeznik from the Goo Goo Dolls’ novel did. Ah, did it again. Patrick Wensink. Him. He’s the guy who received the “World’s Nicest Cease and Desist” from Jack Daniels (it says so in bold letters right at the beginning of the product description) because the cover to his novel too closely resembled their frankly mediocre whiskey. Said novel, Broken Dreams For Breakfast, would have otherwise been just another unrem...more
I would give this book four stars, but I don't want to be "that Indiana guy" who shamelessly gushes over everything even remotely evocative of Kurt Vonnegut. A Louisville native, Wensink most certainly takes cues from his literary ancestor just to the north of him.
Many reviewers have classified BROKEN PIANO as "outside the mainstream," as if they need to say that to affirm their McSweeney's cred and the empirical integrity of their literary predilections. While I'll admit there's a certain amou...more
Many reviewers have classified BROKEN PIANO as "outside the mainstream," as if they need to say that to affirm their McSweeney's cred and the empirical integrity of their literary predilections. While I'll admit there's a certain amou...more
Recently, “Publishers Weekly” reviewed Patrick Wensink's “Broken Piano for President.” To say that they panned it is an understatement. To say that they couldn't be bothered to actually review it is another. Here's the link: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1.... I'd like to take this space to answer their limited criticism with a review of my own.
First, the linked review is not a review. It is a plot summary with a couple of off-hand comments tacked on the end. The summary is accurate, but...more
First, the linked review is not a review. It is a plot summary with a couple of off-hand comments tacked on the end. The summary is accurate, but...more
Midwesterners are taught from birth to be hugely reverent to fast food franchises. Why, my own home state of Ohio (also that of Mr. Wensink), is home to Wendy's, and Arby's, and often mistaken as the home of White Castle and Big Boy (likely because there are so many). So it is no surprise that when I encountered a book whose universe is straddled by two hamburger collossi (Bust-A-Gut's and Winters' Olde Tyme), as well as the most ingenously named art rock band in years (Lothario Speedwagon--wait...more
2 likes · like · see review
eBook from author / excitedly waiting for the book-on-cassette!
1 like · like · see review
When I picked up Broken Piano for President, I was looking for something different and unusual. I got all that and then some, perhaps even more than I bargained for. Wensink definitely seems to have a flare for the ridiculous as you'll find yourself having more than a few dark laughs not only at the antics of Broken Piano's unusual characters, but also the various (and often unfavorable) situations they all too often find themselves in. Reading this book is a bit like trying to piece together a...more
In modo molto amichevole (http://mashable.com/2012/07/22/jack-d...), i produttori del whisky Jack Daniels hanno chiesto all'autore di modificare la copertina, che si ispira profondamente all'etichetta del loro prodotto, per l'edizione successiva; addirittura hanno offerto un contributo economico per cambiare già questa, che potrebbe quindi diventare rara.
-------
With a very friendly cease-and-desist letter (http://mashable.com/2012/07/22/jack-d...), Jack Daniel's asked the author to redesign the...more
-------
With a very friendly cease-and-desist letter (http://mashable.com/2012/07/22/jack-d...), Jack Daniel's asked the author to redesign the...more
"What would Gibby do?" He would read this book! Deshler Dean, lead singer of Lothario Speedwagon and sometime burger executive, drunkenly stumbles his way through incredible scenarios that he rarely remembers, all while trying to fulfill his dreams of rock stardom and figure out how to maintain his relationship with Malinta, if there is one. I liked the way Wensink starts by giving you Deshler's black out "memories" and then proceeds to fill in the gaps as the story moves along. Another aspect o...more
This book is a bizarro fiction novel. Bizarro fiction is a literary genre where weirdness is the primary characteristic. Since this book has become very well known due to the news story about the cease and desist letter (regarding the cover design) from Jack Daniel’s going viral, the book will be many people’s first introduction to bizarro fiction. Because of this, I was a bit worried that the book wouldn’t be any good and people would be turned off from reading more bizarro. I’m happy to report...more
This book is hilarious and weird. It was like the author took the pieces of a shattered fun-house mirror and somehow put them all back together. The end result is a warped reflection of the world, even though the broken pieces fit together like they are supposed to.
I was most of the way through the book and still thinking that there was no conceivable way that the disparate story lines could possibly converge. Then Wensink completed his tapestry perfectly, and somehow, believably- even though th...more
I was most of the way through the book and still thinking that there was no conceivable way that the disparate story lines could possibly converge. Then Wensink completed his tapestry perfectly, and somehow, believably- even though th...more
It is the dream of every aspiring writer to be targeted with legal action by a major American whiskey company.
As such, when Jack Daniels sent him a cease-and-desist order over the cover of this book, Patrick Wensink made indie publishing history. What’s especially unique is that it’s probably the most kindly worded document of its kind in the entire history of the world. For a brief time, various media entities picked up the story and tossed it around, sending Wensink into the limelight.
Which...more
As such, when Jack Daniels sent him a cease-and-desist order over the cover of this book, Patrick Wensink made indie publishing history. What’s especially unique is that it’s probably the most kindly worded document of its kind in the entire history of the world. For a brief time, various media entities picked up the story and tossed it around, sending Wensink into the limelight.
Which...more
11 likes · like · see review
Broken Piano for President is my first step into Wensink. After the first few pages, I was surprised that this book has been classified as "bizarro", to be honest. Sure, this is about two hamburger companies engaging in brutal espionage, but I'm not sure if it should really be classified as "bizarro". Maybe it's more in the vein of "introductory bizarro" or "bizarro-lite". Regardless, it's the first bizarro book that ever interested my father, which I am pleased about, as most of his literary ta...more
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
Regular readers will remember Midwestern bizarro author Patrick Wensink, whose previous titles Sex Dungeon For Sale! and Black Hole Blues have both been reviewed here in the past; and now his latest and most ambitious is here, the booze-fueled rock-and-fast-food trippy comedic saga Broken Piano for Preside...more
Regular readers will remember Midwestern bizarro author Patrick Wensink, whose previous titles Sex Dungeon For Sale! and Black Hole Blues have both been reviewed here in the past; and now his latest and most ambitious is here, the booze-fueled rock-and-fast-food trippy comedic saga Broken Piano for Preside...more
9 likes · like · see review
4.5 stars
This book was published on my birthday. That alone makes this book awesome! Plus, I purchased the Wensinkian gift pack that came with a download of ear-bleeding music that's featured in the book (via the band, Lothario Speedwagon); the book itself (signed by the author himself); and an audio-cassette of the book being read out loud.
ODE TO BURGER OR WHY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO READ THE BOOK AND WRITE THIS REVIEW
First of all, my favorite lipgloss is from Tokidoki. It is orange and on the...more
This book was published on my birthday. That alone makes this book awesome! Plus, I purchased the Wensinkian gift pack that came with a download of ear-bleeding music that's featured in the book (via the band, Lothario Speedwagon); the book itself (signed by the author himself); and an audio-cassette of the book being read out loud.
ODE TO BURGER OR WHY IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO READ THE BOOK AND WRITE THIS REVIEW
First of all, my favorite lipgloss is from Tokidoki. It is orange and on the...more
If it was not for the hubbub over the cover I don't think I would've heard about "Broken Piano for President" and that would have been a bleeping shame. I have to stay ladylike so I'm taking the curses out of my vocabulary. So many highlights from this amazing and provoking read. Also so much unexpected. Some things I could kind of see coming but I was never quite right in my prediction. That fact added to my reading enjoyment. Combine it with the clever, witty, and biting prose of Wensink and I...more
I love a good burger war. When it includes starving cosmonauts for an ad campaign, that's when it starts to get real. A noise band distributing their album on tape (tape?!) and getting vegetables thrown at them (meanwhile getting a cult following in Japan) seals the deal for me. I can't believe how fun this book was.
With Broken Piano for President Patrick Wensink not only continues to break fresh Wensinkian ground, he continues to find his voice, a warped voice surely, but one uniquely his own.
More - http://bentanzer.blogspot.com/2012/03...
More - http://bentanzer.blogspot.com/2012/03...
Fun satire of punk bands and burger barons with some interesting worlds colliding angles. A tad tough to follow at times but thoroughly entertaining.
Hear our complete review here: http://www.bookedpodcast.com/2012/08/...
I borrowed this book. It was so good I felt guilty for not having purchased it myself.
This was one of those books I never planned on reading. I already had an idea of what I was going to pick up at the library, but I this book caught my eye on the "New" rack in the adult section. This book was fantastic. The humor was great, and I never got bored once.
May 14, 2012
Olduvai
marked it as to-read
Via 3 guys 1 book
I may try again later. I'm must be missing something others are seeing in this book.
If you think getting so drunk that you can't remember anything you said or did is funny, you'll love this book. I did not love this book. In fact, I couldn't finish it -- read about half and then gave up.
phew finally finished it. That isn't a knock on the book, I found the plot fun and humorous, the writing was strong, and the characters interesting. I just took ages to read it.
Fuller review to come eventually. Even though it became famous for the cover, the book should be recognised as being good on its own merit.
Fuller review to come eventually. Even though it became famous for the cover, the book should be recognised as being good on its own merit.
May 21, 2013
Mary
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Dea
marked it as to-read
May 01, 2013
Lauren Bishop
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Patrick Wensink was born in Deshler, OH in 1979. Since that time he has done a lot of things he is not proud of. But he's also done some pretty interesting stuff. Over the years he has bottled and sold his own line of Wentastic BBQ Sauce, got married in a doughnut shop and even found the time to author a few greeting cards.
The Louisville Courier-Journal called Sex Dungeon for Sale!, "A deliciously...more
More about Patrick Wensink...
The Louisville Courier-Journal called Sex Dungeon for Sale!, "A deliciously...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Jul 12, 2012 04:25pm