L.S. Popovich's Blog, page 7

Review of The Book of Love by Kelly Link

This book is brutally unfocused, so many characters thinking, saying and doing things which are unrelated to previously done, said and thought things. Pseudo-explanations for post-magical situations seemingly added after the fact. A lot of talk about magic but not a lot of magic happening.Characters are quirky in the extreme. Awkward teen moments. Lots of […]

Review of Fake Ass Lawyers by Justin Isis

A unique reading experience. This book appears hand-made, printed on lush paper and bound in a Japanese style. The unusual subject matter inside might defraud some reader’s expectations. But it contains a wonderfully captivating satirical short novel detailing the frightful encounters of derelict and raucous imitation lawyers, roving between night clubs and clandestine meetings with […]

Review of The Big Meat by Carlton Mellick III

A fever dream. A journey into a superorganism. Mellick delivers another disturbing post-apocalyptic scenario with fantastic imagery and survival tale constraints. The sheepish main character joins a crew in charge of excavating the remains of a kaiju. It might remind you of Kaiju No. 8. But unlike the manga, this is focused on the detrimental […]

Review of Bio Melt by Carlton Mellick III

I can still remember all 50+ CM3 books I’ve read, which is more than I can say about Orhan Pamuk or other more critically acclaimed slingers of words.  I prefer to remember the books I read, instead of letting them fade into a pleasant blur of impressive but barely perceptible subtext. What constitutes literariness, anyway? […]

Review of Goblins on the Other Side by by Carlton Mellick III

A memorable read. CM3 seems fond of depicting twisted afterlife scenarios, as in his Boy with a Chainsaw Heart and Ugly Heaven. He may be another atheist borrowing heavily from Christian imagery, but he has a unique imagination which is always striking, managing to revitalize tired tropes with elegant imagery and superb storytelling. This is […]

Review of Brooklyn Crime Novel by Jonathan Lethem

Harping on race and gentrification on about every page, employing a sledgehammer when a lighter touch would’ve been appreciated.  The old-fashioned style is quaintly meta, with a grossly omniscient narrator who seems fond of gangsta slang. As in some of his other novels, the male protagonist is blasé about indiscreet homosexual encounters, while simultaneously projecting […]

Review of The Sleep of the Assassins and Other Stories by Damian Murphy

The stories in this collection are some of his most varied work. Each offering is a succulent delight to read. He is one of the most consistent authors I follow. His work possesses an uncanny depth, always poised between aesthetic acuity and imagistic splendor. While they are subtly or overtly occult in nature, they do […]

Review of The Heel by Brendan Connell

The perspective character Mitch is a typical sleaze, borderline alcoholic, borderline jobless former gigolo still on the prowl. Brendan Connell provides a rollicking, realistic tale of this washed-up ladies’ man. With more plot than I typically expect from his experimental work, he showcases his exquisite prose rhythms while not compromising the variety of events to […]

Review of The Voyage of Horace Pirouelle by Philippe Soupault

Another one-sitting read from Wakefield Press. A surrealist tale of an outrageous journey to Greenland. The author is deliberately inaccurate, inhumane and self-described as “gratuitous.” The strange interjections, quotes and unconventional format mark it as an experiment piece, but it most engages on the level of subverting the reader’s expectations of the purpose and value […]

Review of City of the Chasch (Planet of Adventure, #1) by Jack Vance

A classic set-up for an adventure novel. The premise allowed Vance’s mastery of the pulp s-f elements he had used in his other stories and novels to shine forth unfiltered. Our main character crash lands on an alien planet and must survive. What more do you need to know? He must either make new comrades […]