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Nov 09, 2010

Matt rated it:

This book was simply a joyous romp about life, love, and of course monkeys! When reading it Douglas Adams, Ron Goulart, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Fredric Brown all came to mind, and those are not names I throw around lightly- the book is that good folks!

The book starts out at a wedding ceremony that is soon turned into chaos when the Reverend and his accomplice, an aspiring writer, let loose a horde of monkeys and a Komodo Dragon. I knew from that completely absurd yet sublime beginning More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 10, 2010

Nicklaus rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 02, 2009

Judyw rated it:

I won! I'm excited to have won this book in a giveaway.
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This book was very different than most others I have read. It took me a while before I opened it to begin reading. The size of the book was difficult to handle, it was very small. The picture on the front of the book didn't intrigue me, and actually scared me a little.

The story was not what I would have expected by the title or the cover picture. It was basically the story of a guy who More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 09, 2010

Kane rated it:

The reader's point of entry is at a wedding in progress when once the officiation is over, the acting priest (a drug-addled psychologist ordained by an internet sect) calls out "release the monkeys!". From there, the chaotic tale refuses to forfeit its absurdist hi-jinx and scrambled episodes. The purposely decentered plot involves Nick Motbot, a surrealist novelist whose DNA is being altered by Gargantuan Enterprises so that he regresses to the level of a lower primate.
Rayner's More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 12, 2010

Andrew rated it:

I was going to describe Mark Rayner's writing as a cross between Phillip K Dick and Douglas Adams, but some dick (not Phillip) already beat me to it. It's right there on the back cover. Stole my analogy. What a dick. So now I'm forced to try to describe the weirdness without comparison to well-established, popularly understood and accessible weirdness. That's going to be difficult. And probably weird.

As the story unfolds, an unfortunate experimental subject, Nick, is undergoin More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 02, 2010

Jennifer (JC-S) rated it:

‘Release your inner monkey.’

I’ve just finished this gallimaufry of a novel. At times and in differing degrees ‘Marvellous Hairy’ is confused, funny, outrageous, and strident. Our narrator, Robbie Goodman, is frequently overwhelmed by the cacophonous voices of his fellow travellers, and I sometimes couldn’t be sure who was telling me what. Did it matter? Not really: there is only one destination for this novel and readers will arrive there, or they won’t.

I have mixed f More...

3 comments like

Jan 06, 2010

Liz rated it:

An embarrassing number of months ago, a writer named Mark A. Rayner, with whom I associate on Twitter, sent me an autographed copy of his novel Marvellous Hairy. I was excited to read it as Mark’s “tweets” are always entertaining. (You can find his website here.) Then, of course, schoolwork started to pile up and I became unable to read a single thing that wasn’t about Modern Human Genetics. So, on my recent trip to Michigan I finally opened ‘er up, not at all knowing what to expect. At that poi More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 21, 2010

Giovanni rated it:

Check it out, a novel that makes one question many things in our society today and uses the vehicle of comedy and the bizarre to get us there. Laugh while we think, I enjoy that. Yes, it is time to release the monkeys. Marvellous Hairy is a sincere novel that is totally different than anything I have read in a while. It is a seriously disjointed narrative wrapped around a wonderful array of colorful characters that takes the reader on a thought provoking ride through corporate America, greed, an More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 19, 2009

Fredd rated it:

I can't help but see shadows of both Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream (for the cast of Rayner's living characters) and Dicken's A Christmas Carol (for the dead ones) in this great story. And I specifically mean shadows, because it's mostly the darker, edgier bits that make it into Marvellous Hairy; creating a thoroughly modern tale of genetics, marketing, sex and pheremones that still somehow feels as familiar as any classic fairy tale.

Mark Rayner's descriptions are vivid. E More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 14, 2009

Calvin rated it:

Simply Fabulist!

I was somewhat hoping I wouldn’t enjoy this book so that I could entitle the review Marvellous? Hardly! but, alas, it turned out to be a very enjoyable romp through the madcappery of an all too familiar fictitious setting, so, much to my chagrin, I had to think up a whole new review title. Thank you, Mark A. Rayner, for robbing me of that pithy idea. It was going to be really funny.

As most of us have, from time to time, you’ve likely asked yourself t

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 27, 2009

Scott rated it:

I won a copy of this book and had it mailed to me by the author directly. He also signed my copy. (Thanks, Mark!)

From Amazon.Com and the author's web site, here is a rundown:

Hair is sprouting in unspeakable places and you can no longer carry a tune, but if you're a surrealistic artiste with an addiction to Freudian mythology and guilt-free sex, turning into a monkey has its upsides. Nick Motbot may be evolving as a novelist, but his friends aren't too sure about his DNA

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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 11, 2011

Mark rated it:

A lot of funny, quirky characters in search of a Shakespearean play in a highbrow romp of a sci-fi story. There's an evil megacorp and a devolving humanoid author as well as many minor dramatic players who find themselves caught up in a midsummer night's kidnapping plot. Very witty narration and a lot of action and amusing banter make this a quick read from about a quarter of the way through to the end.

Many of the characters are taken directly from Midsummer Night's Dream. Robin Goo More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 01, 2009

Robert rated it:

An enjoyable book, with a likable main character and several laugh-out-loud moments. The ensemble cast of eccentric characters reminded me a bit of some of Philip Dick's work, particularly Through a Scanner Darkly.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 23, 2009

BookScout rated it:

Marvellous Hairy is a new wave of Fabulist Satire set in the near future, centred around the research being carried out in a frightening behemoth of a corporation called Gargen (or Gargantuan) Enterprises. Gargen specialises, secretly, in the reconstruction of human DNA. It is headed by the insipid megalomaniac Ted Shute. So begins a glorious adventure of corporate greed, drugs, lascivious sex and the unleashing of one’s inner monkey.

To say this book is simply funny would be to gloss More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2010

Mike rated it:

The copy on the back of Marvellous Hairy bills it as a novel about a man who is turning into a monkey. However, it goes far beyond that. The story revolves around a giant, evil corporation nicknamed Gargantuan Enterprises and the people who want to bring it down, then before you know it, there are ghosts, kidnapping, lizards, sex, and drugs thrown in for good measure.

Let me make a confession: I don’t find monkeys inherently funny. Their similarity to humans is amusing, sure, but it’s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 21, 2009

Corey rated it:

"Marvellous Hairy is a weird little beast, a blending of the anything-for-a-laugh mentality of Adams with the experimental abandon of early Philip K. Dick. Is it satire? Science fiction? A piercing exploration into the nature of being? Good-natured sex romp? The publisher, Crossing Chaos, has labelled Marvellous Hairy as being “Fabulist Satire,” which is as good a way as any to say that categorizing Rayner's work is a near-hopeless task."

Read the rest of the review here. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 14, 2010

CeeAnne rated it:

I just got this in the mail today as part of a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you, Mark Rayner! I look forward to reading it!

ETA: I just finished Marvellous Hairy, and I am very glad that I left my comfort zone and requested this one. I don't usually read science fiction, although I have a strong appreciation for the bizarre. This story is full of eccentric characters and hilarious dialogue. Since I tend to read pretty serious books most of the time, I had to allow myself to let go and More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Oct 09, 2010

Lori rated it:

Review copy from author - signed!

Mark A. Rayner is an author with a fantastical sense of humor and a dangerous imagination. Part big corporation take-down, part scientific bizarro experimentation, this novel is perfect for fans of the strange and unlikely!

Full of mayhem, madness, and monkey-business, Marvellous Hairy takes the reader on a roller coaster of a ride through the many layered friendships of Nick, a man who is willing to sell his body to science for a couple of buc More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 23, 2010

Zoe rated it:

Marvellous Hairy is an odd book. Starts out odd, moves to a little bit odder, retains some of that oddness throughout the middle and ends happily ever after, a little oddly. Wonderfully odd. Bizarre even. Think Christopher Moore, think Chuck Palahniuk- although not quite as disgusting as Palahniuk. No I take that the back. In the opening scene, monkey's throw poop at an otherwise normal conservative wedding and a body part eating komodo dragon is released into the audience. So parts are disgusti More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 17, 2010

Sherry rated it:

I knew I wanted to read this book when I heard the author read from it at last summer's WorldCon in Montreal. For one thing, the section he read from was set in a drugstore. Now, my husband is a pharmacist, and believe me, the vast comedic possibilities of drugstores are a gold mine most satire and humour writers seem to miss. The fact that Mark Rayner had recognized this made me respect him instantly. The reading only got better from there, by turns funny, absurd, and poignant, and I knew I w More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 18, 2010

Erin rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 24, 2011

Jeane rated it:

I won this back on Goodreads and remember when I received it that I wondered why I tried to win it. It looked weird and it soudned weird. Starting to read didn't help to change the feeling.

But when I had read already a lot of it I suddenly noticed that I was actually enjoying the way it was written. I still didn't have a clue what I was reading about,but the way it was written was very catchy.
And luckily suddenly the story also started to make some sense.

I would sti More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 26, 2009

Emily rated it:

Overall I liked this book. As we follow the man character (Rob), we meet a lot of very strange people who are all somewhat connected. We learn about an evil organization that is doing illegal human testing on Rob’s best friend Nick. We also learn of other experiments this organization is planning that could potentially ruin the world. This is just one of the plots in this book, there are many, but they did come together in the end in the form of revenge. The book was very strange, but in a More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 12, 2010

Mike rated it:

A hilarious satire that I couldn't put down. You'll never look at our monkey brethren the same way again. I laughed myself into a loss of bowel control at one point - it's that funny!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2009

Rachel marked it as to-read

Wow!!! I won this..... i can't believe it.
I'm looking forward to reading it
:D
:D
:D

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 04, 2009

Barbara marked it as to-read

source: sidebar GR (nov09). looked interesting. why not.

0 comments like

Dec 02, 2011

Kate rated it:

Heaps of hooting monkey love for this!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2011

Peter rated it:

Great plot device. Sharp wit throughout. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 17, 2010

Michelle rated it:

This was a very interesting read. At times it seemed over the top, but I believe that it was that effect that was desired. I enjoyed reading it, but thought that at times the philosophical arguments were trying too hard. I gave my copy to my friend, and this book has become his new favorite book.

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Oct 11, 2010

Edward rated it:

Marvellous Hariy was an enjoyable journey. Mark A. Rayner has created a world that Tom Stoppard would love to roam in. If you enjoy Neil Gaiman, you will enjoy this five act book with all the laughs of Christopher Moore. Check it out!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

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