C.B. Murphy's Blog, page 5

American Horror Story’s Freak Show and “Why freaks?”

  People ask me where my fascination with dark things (like freaks) comes from. I don’t really know what do say. It seems unfair to blame it all on chthonic catholicism (Camille Paglia’s idea) but I am sure imagining miracles and martyrdom stimulated my young imagination.

My dad once took me to a real freak show. Detroit, late 1950s. I remember a woman with elephant skin who passed out brochures about herself. It was kind of embarrassing but exciting also. I’ve seen her picture in books on sideshows. When we were leaving, someone did a prank over the loudspeaker that the alligator woman had escaped. I was terrified. Here’s a painting I did of it, cast in Mexican aura.

When I was in high school a friend of mine showed us the Mothers of Invention album called “Freak Out!” I think Frank Zappa was the first to use freak in this connation. It took the hippies into a darker more confrontational place, where “freaking out” the straight people was a good think. But then you could also get “freaked out” by them.

HBO’S Carnivale was one of the first serious recreations of the sideshow world including the magical realism of a Stephen King-like “dark vs light” theme. It lasted two seasons. Its cancellation was a serious blow to its small cult following.

American Horror Story (AHS) on FX has Freak Show as their theme for this season. There are many homages to the original 1932 Tod Browning movie “Freaks” including the design of many of the character. Like the bird-like “geek” who bites heads off chickens. Browning got into trouble with his controversial movie that used “real” sideshow freaks not actors. His film is a staple of the cult film world but never made money and ruined his career.

The last “freak” in my little story is David Bowie in his glam rock (“I am from outer space”) phase. AHS:Freak Show also pays him homage with Jessica Lange singing an anachronistic version of “Life on Mars.” Glam Rock was a short-lived late 70s phenomenon trying to create bisexual or asexual personas that could actually be creatures from outer space.

The post American Horror Story’s Freak Show and “Why freaks?” appeared first on C. B. MURPHY.

Low Budget Sci-Fi is the Future of Entertainment

          Now that I have your attention, I’ll tell you what I’ve been reading and watching. On the plane to Ireland I watched “All Is Lost.” I knew for some time I would like it (I like survival movies) but never found the right moment.

Being on a plane for seven hours seemed like a perfect time to watch Robert Redford struggle with the sea, old age and possibly death. No spoiler there. Similarly, I always had a problem finding the right moment to watch “The Life of Pi” partly because I read the book and figured they wouldn’t be able to hit the right note of magical realism required. It was very cool to “jump” from Robert Redford in the water to Suraj Sharma in the water after his boat sinks. I’ve often wondered if “in the future” and in a copyright-free (or copyright digital rights perfected) world a filmmaker could put together these wonderful montages of for example “falling in water” in hundreds of films. Brings to mind the experimental films of Bruce Conner (“A Movie 1958) which is a series of cuts from old films of people failing at things (not unlike “funny” You Tube videos today) but put to a sad classical music soundtrack it is oddly moving.

Moving right along. On the way home from Ireland I watched the full Jim Jarmusch film “Only Lovers Left Alive.”

Now alot of film buffs I know love Jarmusch, but I never fell for his work. But this was beautfiul. Set in Tangiers (think Paul Bowles) and Detroit (think The Stooges punk group not sadomasochistic comedy team). Both landscapes emanate a sad defeatism, perfect for vampire lovers reminiscent of Saradon and Bowie in “The Hunger.” I noticed on Jarmusch’s IMDB page he’s making a documentary of the Detroit group The Stooges. Makes sense. I keep an eye on Detroitabilia (is that a word?) my hometown like citywide Titanic in a graceful dunk into the sea.

Bookswise.

Check out “S” by J.J. Abrams. Perhaps inspired (or not) by Danielewski’s amazing “House of Leaves,” Abrams goes one better and creates what looks like a used library book complete with notes and postcard, newspaper clipping inserts. An art of the book that cannot be matched by the ebook. Very clever. The rebirth of the artist book.

My son Lucas turned me onto a series by Vandermeer, The Southern Reach Trilogy. I’ve read the first book (“Annihilation” and am into the second “Authority.”

The writing is exquisitely detailed and introspective like Virginia Woolf meets Tarkovsky (“Stalker” – a weird contaminated area). Back to movies I watched “The Signal” which was made for a mere four million and I would put it in the category of “low budget science ficiton” (ala Shane Carruth’s “Upstream Color” and  “Primer.”) Not surprisingly the reviews on these movies is very mixed. Some “love” their vagueness and mystery and many hate that they depart from good old fashioned storytelling and are “show-offs” and David Lynch wanabes.

My own take is that the low-budget science fiction movie is the “art of the future” because I see this internet-savvy and media-drenched generation disliking set plot arcs. They want to be challenged and confronted (ala “House of Leaves” where the actual words on the page start to hide clues).

HBO Leftovers Is better than Perrotta’s book!

  [SPOILERS]

I have to admit I have a soft spot for cults. I can’t explain it, it’s just a mad philosophical craving like some people must have pistachio ice cream. I heard a quote (Freud? C. J. Jung? J. K. Rowling?) that to understand human beings you need to study the fringes. Cults interest me because they take an idea, offer a solution, then hunker down and force people to alter their sense of reality. It’s kind of like watching a mini civilization grow in a petri dish. And not unlike what being we “regular people” encounter with all the “givens” of our world forces upon us. So I’d “like” cults if they had a FaceBook page.

I have enjoyed HBO’s show THE LEFTOVERS so much (almost as much as I enjoyed their mega-flop “John From Cincinnati” —hmm another magical realist show) that I bought Tom Perrota’s book of the same name. Yeah the one the show was based on. Surprise, surprise, the SHOW is “way” better. If you like cults.

I have speed-read many of the reviews of Perrota’s book and I don’t want to say anything bad about him because maybe someday he will be involved in adapting BARDO ZSA ZSA into an HBO miniseries. (We can all dream right? It’s still OK?) But, “having said that” as the Brits say before they contradict themselves, let’s say I would agree with many of the less-than-5-star reviews of this book.

Would I have liked the book more if I wasn’t comparing it to the show? Probably not. The writing is flat and “tell don’t show” but not in the good Raymond Carver-ish sort of way. It consistently chooses something I consider less interesting, more mundane to investigate (i.e. characters wondering if they should date) over a direction which would be intriguing, confusing and magical.

In fact, what someone did (probably Damon Lindelof of LOST fame) was take the sketch of Perrotta’s world and infuse it with magical realism. Aside from the “base” magical realist (if you will) event of a Rapture-like event where 2% of the world population disappears, the book is starkly realist. Mundane, even. The HBO show goes the opposite direction. It tells you way less, makes characters more intriguing, hints that this is a world on the edge of sanity and magic, not merely a world that has experienced an inexplicable one-time-only “event of the unexplained kind.”

Some of this may be marketing, granted. For example, HBO plays down the connection of the event (the Sudden Departure) to the Christian fundamentalist notion of the Rapture. This allows for characters and viewers alike to remain in a state of suspended disbelief and awareness, looking for clues to meaning. Similarly, the spooky smoking white-dressed cult of the Guilty Remnant are much more interesting in the show. They don’t seem to be Christians at all, but some combination of a death cult and a mind-control cult along the lines of Jim Jones, Synanon, or (forgive me Tom Cruise) Scientology.

In the show, Justin Theroux plays a classic down-on-his-luck cop who inherited the job of police chief after his more competent father went nutso and ran around naked and starting talking to ghost-angels. This is way more interesting than the main character of the book who is a middle class moderately wealthy mayor who has seemingly adjusted fairly well to the whole thing even his wife and daughter joining the G.R.

The book mentions wild dogs, the show gives them a strange intelligence that watching people disappear made (certain) dogs go feral. More interesting, right? Plus the show adds a great “bad angel” who chews tobacco to tempt Kevin (Theroux) into dog slaughtering.

The cult leader Patti (played in the show by the amazing Ann Dowd) is a completely original and memorable character, tough and tender and totally nuts. She’s also the ex-client of Laurie (Kevin’s wife who went into the G.R.) which makes for a great flip-flop power move when the crazy redneck lady is suddenly in charge of Laurie’s every move.

There is a scene in the book where the G.R. confront the town’s attempt to commemorate (ie. whitewash) the Sudden Departure. In the book, it ends peacefully, but in the show it’s a wonderful savage riot where Kevin has to protect the cult from crazed townies.

Though I mentioned spoilers I don’t even want to touch the finale of Season One which I thought was some of the best TV I’ve ever seen. None of it is in the book which ends on an existential note of “oh, well, we soldier on.”

I will say one thing for the book, the minor cult of the Harvard Flagellants (rich kids who whip themselves while shouting out how great they are) is pretty awesome. Hope they’re in Season Two.

Ebola Panic Paintings

Ok, now that I’ve got your attention. It all started innocently enough. I’ve always drawn for reasons only my therapist would begin to understand… wormy squirmy things. Shapes that could be microorganisms, brain cells, or more innocently tree roots or branches. Vaguely anatomical art. I have piles of these drawings (see picture).

So when searching for my “next series” I thought why not use the sketches as the basis for paintings? You may not appreciate this, but I’ve been a staunch advocate of “pop surrealism” for as long as I can remember. Starting perhaps with the Hairy Who in Chicago. [I like the short definition of pop surrealism: recognizable images in surrealist dream arrangements.]

 

So the above image is a “nice” painting, kinda “pretty” even… utilizing the interweaving dendritic worm-like structures.

So the next painting began innocently enough in the same spirit. Hey, I can do purty.

Nice huh?

Then something happened to it. Like its cells got invaded. Whoa.

Then I got to thinking, what is this like. Cellular invasion. All over the news. Our Ebola Panic.

Here’s some ebola images from Google Images.

Huh? Kinda creepily similar, eh?

Go with it. Yikes, goodbye pretty and purty. Back in punk land. I don’t care if you like my damn music.

Almost finished Ebola Panic #1

Five Paintings in Art Show Event

 I have five (count ‘em 5) paintings in the ALTERED AESTHETICS SHOW (“It Came From Building Q”). The paintingsl are from my science fiction series, though one is from the homage to the Ghanaian Hand Painted Movie Poster series.

The event will be held at the Southern Theater (West Bank, Minneapolis) on Friday July 25, 6-9:30 in conduction with the Art House Film Festival.

art house film festival

All inner voices show up at my Writer’s Retreat in Utah

Once a year I go to Utah for what I call a writing retreat. I call it that because it is, though many people think that implies I would do it “with” someone. Only my multiple selves, I tell them. I go to a great place that has food and a gym so I don’t have to think about anything other than listen to my own brain without the (wonderful) distractions of family and (not-so-wonderful) distractions of regular life.

I’ve gathered some manuscript critiques of BARDO ZSA ZSA, some would say too many. I would say too many. I know I have a serious rewrite to do, and I’m going to wait a bit until I can “hear” the story again. My best advice comes from Amy and Nancy, my writing buddies, who say essentially, enough with the criticisms, write the book you want to write. Which I will get back to.

In the mean time, I did manage to finish a draft of BOOK OF JOBS and its in shape to get help from an editor. It’s going to be a short book (about 100 pages) illustrated with my own “New Yorker Style” cartoons. I’m shooting for a David Sedaris sort of tone, but not as funny. Not for lack of trying.

I’ve been spending time renovating an old project, work-titled VOODOO MURDERS OF BRAINERD. I’ve decided I need to finish it. I keep thinking of writing as renovation rather than editing. Maybe renovation is a visual metaphor for editing. There’s the range, from putting up a shelf or two and repainting, to stripping it down to a skeleton and starting over. I think that’s what’s happening with VOODOO MURDERS. In fact, I have to change the title because I think the whole “voodoo” subplot just got torn down and sent out to the dumpster.

I do have the “voice” down. It’s an older guy (hmm, like who would that be like?) I’m thinking like the character in Iris Murdoch’s “The Sea, The Sea” combined with those crabby guys J. M. Coetzee is always writing about. My “guy” has a son who is a druggy and a disappointment (not like my sons, especially if they’re reading this).

I’m still interested in my protagonist pursuing an eccentric offbrand “spiritual path” for his bucket list.  Currently I am studying Jungian alchemy as a replacement for voodoo. I think it’s going to work.

Many thanks to Utah and apologies to that beautiful state that I don’t enjoy the wonderful desert life it offers. I just stay, listen to the sounds in my head and try to translate what they’re saying into words. It’s not for everyone, but I’m lucky to be able to do it.

 

(If I tell you where this is, I would have to kill you…)

Local Artist Interview: CB Murphy painter

Charley B Murphy – Painter

 


The Day the Earth Stood Still
Charley B Murphy

Charley Murphy
https://www.etsy.com/people/charidea
http://www.saatchiart.com/Charidea


Tell me about your work? What are you currently working on? How is this different from past projects?

I like to work in series. This means I get an idea and “work it” until it runs out. In early spring I was working off a book of illustrations of Mexican pop-fiction, mostly horror images. It tied into my past work with science fiction movie posters. Then it segued into picking up my semi-abstract series which I think of as diagrams trying to explain the universe not unlike alchemical drawing from the Middle Ages. Then something very interesting happened. I was paging through a collection of many “doodles” and sketches I’ve done over the years and I wondered what it would be like if I just painted some of my doodles, curious to see if the freedom that was in those drawings could be transferred to a canvas.

My doodles are definitely thematic, mostly interweaving snake-like (or branch-like) tendrils like you could see in either tree roots or cellular structures. On top of that I wanted to “embrace” (if you will) my A.D.D. and see what painting would be like if I allowed my easy-distracted self to be in charge. A color “rule” was to just pick “colors I liked” and try not to think too much about the color wheel (which I’ve always been afraid to learn lest it “limit” me).




How did you decide to become an artist?

I never “decided” to become an artist. My father was dead-set against the arts and partly in rebellion my early life was focused on creativity which at first focused mainly on filmmaking and writing than art. I drew and painted as a kid, but my interest in filmmaking seemed to suck up that energy in my early adulthood.

I ended up working corporate jobs mostly unrelated to art. I did have a stint as a commercial illustrator thinking “do what you love” but I hated it. I didn’t like using my artwork that way.

It wasn’t until many years later that I took up painting again. I started painting “fun” furniture for my kids with cartoonish images and realized I had to continue doing this…and a lot more of it. We moved to a house that had a space I could grow into and the painting just took me over, shouldering its way in past other ongoing creative activities like writing novels.



What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 

This is a tough question. I have to think really hard about any advice I ever “got” from anyone. Most of my art life is self-taught (never went to art school) and has grown out of my interests.

There are a couple of pieces of advice I got about writing that are applicable to painting. One is from the American poet, Charles Olson, who in his 1950 poetic manifesto, “Projective Verse,” states:

ONE PERCEPTION MUST IMMEDIATELY AND DIRECTLY LEAD TO A FURTHER PERCEPTION. It means exactly what it says, is a matter of, at all points (even, I should say, of our management of daily reality as of the daily work) get on with it, keep moving, keep in, speed, the nerves, their speed, the perceptions, theirs, the acts, the split second acts, the whole business, keep it moving as fast as you can citizen. And if you also set up as a poet, USE USE USE the process at all points, in any given poem always, always one perception must must must MOVE, INSTANTER, ON ANOTHER!
 
Another piece of advice that a writing teacher gave me (he attributed it to someone else but I haven’t been able to find the original), was this: find a doorway (you never went through in your life) and send a character through it. While this is a bit tough to apply to painting, the idea that one’s inner artist can be a “character”, ie. a part of yourself but not totally identified with yourself (or your “day” self), I think can be very useful. A Jungian psychologist once explained it as “the third voice”… which is what we refer to when we say, “I got an idea.” You got an idea from where? Or: “it came through me.” Where did “it” come from. The idea is that one use of the passive voice is that we don’t “own” our ideas (hence we are not on the hook to “be” creative) we merely listen to and respond to the information coming through us.




Many artists struggle to find ways to sell their art.  How do you sell your work?  How do you market yourself?

I don’t often tell this story but it’s time to go public with it. I had a visitation from an extraterrestrial. I didn’t see the ship he (or ‘it’) came in, but he looked pretty much like your typical ET from the movies. We were able to communicate psychically. He was here on a mission to explore what humans call “art.”

He was particularly interested in the notion of “selling art” as the equivalent of artists on his planet are either not allowed to sell their art (I wasn’t clear if this prohibition was legal or religious in nature) or weren’t able to conceive of a situation where they exchanged their “art” for a common currency they could use to purchase food and so forth.

I wasn’t able to understand their economy so I was at a disadvantage here in trying to make sense of this prohibition. Apparently, on their planet, art is “sacred” and not open to commodification. It’s hard to find an earthly equivalent, but perhaps prayer is close. Most people would not buy and sell their prayers (nor their dreams) though there are entrepreneurs who manage the equivalent of selling prayers (as the ancient Catholic church sold “indulgences” that allowed you to take years off your sentence in Hell.)

I am personally not opposed to how our society functions vis a vis currency being exchanged for goods for the most part, but this visitation by my alien friend affected me deeply. Maybe he did something to my brain, perhaps an implant. But after his visit I found it very difficult to promote my “art” as a commodity to be “sold” to strangers. I never felt bad for others doing this, it was more like this kind of transaction became cursed or verboten to my soul and I was not able to partake in it.

I tell you this now with some trepidation as I know how those who speak to aliens are generally regarded, even in the creative community. But it’s time to go public. Perhaps there are others out there who shy away from the market either because of similar “visits” or visits that have been wiped from their brains (or negated by an implant.) But we are legion. And it is time to claim our right not to sell our art.

Having said that here’s my Etsy and Saatchi sites:

https://www.etsy.com/people/charidea
http://www.saatchiart.com/Charidea




Who are some of the Minnesota artists you enjoy?

I’m sure there are many Minnesota artists I would enjoy if I ever left my studio. I pretty much only go to openings if they are for friends. Most of the artists I talk to are in Stillwater Prison where I volunteer as an assistant art teacher. I’ve been doing that for five years. I bring in print outs of my work and discuss it with them. They discuss their art with me.


If I were to follow you around to see art in Minnesota, which places would we go? What would we see?

Well, as I said above, most art I see on a weekly basis is at the prison. I do occasionally go to the Walker Art Center. I did see the show Cinematheque Tangier, by Yto Barrada which I enjoyed, particularly the hand-painted movie posters that reminded me of things I was doing with my science fiction poster series. I also saw their show 9 Artists which was stimulating. I have to mention the Magritte show, The Mystery of the Ordinary, at MOMA which was not in Minnesota, but “filled me up” for some time.




In addition to www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com, where do you go online for good art resources, whether to find a new artist, or to see what is going on in the art world locally and otherwise? 

I still get much inspiration from outsider artists at Raw Magazine (www.rawvision.com) as well as the pop-surrealists at Juxtapoz Magazine (www.juxtapoz.com).




Do you have any exhibits to promote in the near future?

I have 5 few pieces in It Came from the Q.arma Building exhibition with Altered Esthetics, July 3-29 at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis. Reception Friday 7/25 – 6-9pm/

Voodoo Murders of Brainerd to get a rewrite

Ok so I have 400 pages of “VMB” (Voodoo Murders of Brainerd)–does that mean I’m committed to it? Does that mean there is any reason I can’t walk away from it, start something new-new? Well, my Board of Directors met (internal non-schizophrenic voices: Moderator, Writer, Artist, Personal and Punk) and we all decided that we need to give this book another shot. But how to re-invigorate it (re-animate it)… which would be a pun if you knew the plot had to do with actual zombies of some yet to be determined kind.

Going back to one of my original inspirations, the great novel The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch, I thought, what is it about that book that connects to this book? [This book which has also been described by my story developer, Lucas Murphy, as "Fargo Meets American Horror Story"] to which I want to add “by way of The Sea, The Sea.”

Ok, you might ask, what’s the connection? Well, there’s this old guy (not unlike Charles Arrowby in the Murdoch novel) but instead of the windy west coast of Great Britain, it’s set in the touristy midsection of Minnesota. But my main character (James) is crabby and smart like Charles, but instead of being a retiree from the theater he’s moving what’s left of his exotic antiques from around the world (failed store in St Paul) up to his family’s fixer-upper gothic home on the lakeshore. He “connects” or tries to connect with his ne’er do well son (borderline methie) and his ragtag role-playing buddies (including the town sheriff who doesn’t want anyone to know he plays D&D like games). Besides trying to set up an online “store” what James really wants to do it follow (once and for all) a disciplined western-occult spiritual path as laid out in the Kybalion (alchemical text).

What surprises James (and eventually the whole town) is that accessing one’s inner self can also access one’s inner demons and not unlike Dr Morbius’ power to manifest his inner demons (thanks to the advanced Krell technology) in Forbidden Planet (1956).

In the original Voodoo Murders of Brainerd the demons were simultaneously “hired actor” zombies who morph (ala Slender Man and tulpa) into real zombies by way of a re-animated curse from a Haitian voodoo object (see Necronomicon) in Charles’ collection.

In my new-new version I haven’t figured out how the inner demons get manifested but let’s say they have more to do with the spiritual exercises in the Kybalion than something in Charles’ collection. But come they do. This is real horror. Smart and Scary. Like Iris Murdoch might write if she wrote horror (OK.. i stretching shamelessly here)… but there IS a sea monster in The Sea The Sea even if Charles can’t figure out if it might be an LSD flashback.

 

 

 

 

 

“Cute Eats Cute” reviews from Goodreads.com

In the end who we trust are other people like ourselves who have read a book and write a review. We thought it would be helpful to batch some of them from Goodreads.com where we are currently running a giveaway of 50 copies of CUTE EATS CUTE. So, judge for yourself.

 

Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was a really good book. I wish some of the minor characters had a bit more, well, personality of their own (such as Holly), but overall the characterization was very well done. It was written as if it really were through the mind of a teenager in a really unedited sort of way. The author manages to get what runs through a teenager’s brain, even when that brain tends to go a little dramatic. The only parts I didn’t like were references to people being “just as bad as Nazis,” and figured something could have been used. I’m sure the author was going for a realistic vibe, it was a little too out there for me.

This book also shows different sides to life, and actually has the ability to truly make you think. It seems to come from a neutral standpoint, but yet shows the pros and cons of all sides. That aspect was probably my favourite part of the book. Very intelligent.

I like how the parents are on opposite poles and it seems like they’ve become two opposite people, both trying to pull Sam toward them and using petty behaviour at times. I found the way that Sam felt lost in the world and twisted in all sorts of ways believable, even if his mind goes to humping chipmunks or whatever whenever he has a free second.

Each friend seems to come from a different background and history, which was interesting.

Overall, it was a good, enjoyable young adult read. It was written well (would have never guessed this was a début book), good characters, likeable and un-likeable characters, a fascinating and modern plot, although there were a few editing errors (but nothing that can’t be overlooked).

SPOILERS PAST HERE

The one addition to the book I didn’t find necessary was Holly’s pregnancy. It didn’t add much to the story and seemed to be there just almost for shock value. I just didn’t see much point in it other than to sort of get her out of Sam & Megan’s way.

At the end I was left wondering what was going to happen to Sam next as the real story hadn’t been told. I was left with questions and I’m sure it was meant for me to fill in the blanks. I didn’t hold it against my ratings by any means. Instead, I can just imagine a hundred pages more of him explaining himself. Maybe next time!

Another irksome feature I found was how lesbians were written. They were written as if they were aliens of some sort. “We’ll work it out like lesbians” and the like. Everything seemed to come down to the fact that they were lesbians and nothing more. I don’t know, maybe it was because of Sam’s point of view, but anyway

Jaime rated it 4 of 5 stars

I’d rate this a 3.5 but I’ll round up to a 4 since I really liked the topic for the book. You don’t need me for the summary, but I will say that the book was a great read. Being stuck in that gray area myself, although I am not confused about where stand, I can really relate to the main character. I loved the inner debate, trying to figure out what is right and what s wrong, who to trust, all while being either pulled from or distrusted by both sides. Even if you aren’t close to the issue at hand in the book, it’s still pertinent to other debates in life.

It was fairly humorous and intriguing, however the one caveat I have with Cute Eats Cute is the ending. The story had some great characters and questions throughout the entire book but the end fell a bit flat. It just didn’t have the oomph that I was wanting. **Kind of Spoiler** I would even be fine with leaving every question unanswered and leaving characters confused, but it seemed like the main character just dismissed everything that had happened and it had no effect on his life. **

I really like the book but 10 more pages for a good ending would have really made it a great book.

Penny N. rated it 4 of 5 stars  

Cute Eats Cute by C.B. Murphy is a cynical, funny, and surprisingly tender-hearted social satire and coming-of-age story. In a Minneapolis suburb, community discord over whether hunters should cull a burgeoning deer herd in the local nature reserve becomes a vehicle for dissecting a multitude of modern America’s social divisions. Talk radio, New Age religion, eco-sentimentalism, pop psychology and macho hunter culture all come under Murphy’s microscope.

Fifteen-year-old Sam’s hippie parents want him to call them Jeff and Elissa, but they agree on little else. Elissa is an eco-feminist, a vegan, and a newly converted Wiccan, while Jeff, an officer with the Department of Natural Resources, swerves ever closer to a manly hunting culture. Sam and his band of high school friends are convinced that killing deer is cruel and harmful to the earth, and they decide to Do Something. The Something escalates from street theater to sabotage. When Megan, the object of Sam’s lust, asks him to infiltrate the hunters’ camp, Sam finds himself bouncing wildly among people with different belief systems and affiliations.

Sam’s undercover mission allows Murphy to poke fun at a medley of characters, from the activist lesbian who wears a gas mask for her Environmental Sensitivity to the bow-toting Christian Hunters of Men. A family eco-therapist urges Sam to pass through an initiation and be on the lookout for a spiritual guide, but Sam can’t figure out whether to follow a radical ecoterrorist who may or may not be advocating human sacrifice. This book was great fun to read, and I recommend it highly to teen boys and adults.

Christa (More Than Just Magic) rated it 3 of 5 stars  

Recommends it for: Young adults

The premise of this book is solid. Your traditional coming of age story, a boy torn between his parents, his friends and his struggling with his own emotions and opinions. What makes this story unique is that it’s sets against some strong themes of environmentalism. Sam (the main character of the story) is surrounded by some excellent and hilarious characters who both aid and impede his development. The main conflict is what to do over the ever growing deer population. The deer are reproducing at an uncontrollable rate and the town is divided between a scheduled hunt to thin the herd and those who want to protect the deer at all costs. Sam isn’t just divided because the community disagrees but because his parents do as well. Having the rallying point be the deer herd seemed a little odd at first, but it worked. Who doesn’t love Bambi right? Many of the characters in this book are hilarious. Situations often reach ridiculous proportions that you just can’t help but laugh at. In particular I loved Sam’s mother, a die hard, middle aged hippie, his high school girlfriend Megan, a know it all with rich parents and delusions of grandeur and his friend Ryan, an amateur activist with a flair for the dramatic. Many other characters, however, fall flat. Most are based on common archetypal characters and their development doesn’t go far beyond these basic traits. They fit into their roles exactly, usually at the expense of their personality and originality.

Overall this book is a easy going, fun read. Sam may not be Holden Caufield, but he is your average teenager, trying to find his place in the world. The characters are basic, the plot is simple but it makes you laugh and it gets the point across.

Review can also be found at my blog: http://christashookedonbooks.blogspot.

Eva rated it 5 of 5 stars

First Reads Win: Fantastic! This book started out as goofy humor that I like and quickly became the book I couldn’t put down, which I love. How many times have we been told to pick a side, and found that both options have their faults; doesn’t matter who’s side we choose because either will end with less than desirable consequences? The main character is caught up in his sci-fi fantasy’s, one where he is an environmental version of James Bond, his parents (who have become polar opposites) and his high school friends, who like most high school friends, can be jerks. The author is able to get you to see both sides, the left and the right, and realize they both have good and bad things about them. The main character is constantly torn between feeling like a child and an adult, during that time when you are neither because you are somewhere in between. He teaches us that to grow up, you have to follow your own path and take your chances.

Krystal H rated it 3 of 5 stars  

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and goodreads for allowing me a chance to read an ARC of Cute Eats Cute.

I received this book accidently instead of the intended End of Men and put it aside to read at some later point. But since the author was kind enough to send me the correct book I read the book right after End of Men. This is your typical teenage story of a boy caught between his parents, friends and outside influences. It deals quite a bit with environmentalism as well as gun ownership and the freedom we take for granted in this country. It was very humorous which was a nice change from his other book. Even with all of this there still was just something that through me off the book. I cant quite put my finger on what it was but there was something. Even with that I liked the book and would say give it a read if you enjoy any of the topics covered in the book.

Nicole rated it 3 of 5 stars

I’m currently juggling between a rating of a 3 and a 3.5. At first I wasn’t really into the whole Eco theme throughout the book. But once I had some free time and gave it a chance, it really started picking up for me towards the middle of the book. I thought the characters were great and likeable for the most part.

The only one I didn’t feel much of a connection to was Holly. It was a funny, quick read (once I actually had some time to finish it) that I enjoyed.

The only negative thought I had about it (and it’s not really that negative), is that I didn’t like the ending much. I thought there should’ve been more to it and it just fell short.

Other than that, I thought it was a fine book.

Jody rated it 5 of 5 stars

I want to thank C. B. Murphy and Goodreads First Reads Giveaway for my copy of Cute Eats Cute.

Cute Eats Cute involves an ecological conflict that arises when the deer population in a city park was getting out of control and the proposal was made to reduce the population with a controlled hunt. Three high school students take the side to protect the deer, the church crowd that believes in hunting and the natural order of the food chain and school officials, all have a point of view as to the fate of the deer. The story is told with humor and gives the reader something to think about the issues.

Babs rated it 3 of 5 stars  

It shocked me at how hilarious this book is.

Sam is caught between a rock and a hard place. If he sides with one parent he will alienate the other parent. Sam is like every other teenager out there. Scared, wanting to please others, confused, liking the opposite sex.

Sam wants to please everyone and the author does a great job coming across as Sam’s age. It will bring some memories of when you were a teenager and can relate. With all the issues the characters get themselves into makes this a funny read. I liked how the characters come to life and you really feel for Sam.

Katherine J rated it 5 of 5 stars

Cute Eats Cute is a wonderful and witty novel which I enjoyed to the very end. I would recommend this book to anyone

Connie M rated it 5 of 5 stars  

Great read! Brilliant!…Murphy nailed it! Best novel I’ve read in a long time. I highly recommend it!

Riley rated it 5 of 5 stars

A great book…worth the time and money.

Book Giveaway For Cute Eats Cute

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It is very possible you could win one of the 50 FREE copies of the novel CUTE EATS CUTE we are giving away using Goodread’s fancy contest algorithm.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway


Cute Eats Cute
by C.B. Murphy

Giveaway ends July 01, 2014.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

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