Jason Dias's Blog - Posts Tagged "hard-boiled"
Matryoshka Blues goes too far - and I love it
Shawn Harper's debut novel is a real barn-burner. The key to comedy is going too far. Remember when Bill Maher called himself a house slave, but he didn’t say slave? He used another word, and had to apologize to the world. Remember when Kathy Griffin had to disappear for holding up a severed dummy head? They went too far. Comedians are supposed to. Unlike dancers, they’re supposed to tread on your toes.
This book does that from start to finish. Goes too far, that is. It doesn’t drop N bombs or threaten to assassinate the president. You know what, forget about all that for now. I mean, it goes too far in narrative asides to the reader. Like half the story is the narrator talking to the camera. That should be a ridiculous distraction and detractor but it isn't: everyone can find a way to relate to the narrative character, even if you might not end up liking him that much. He's just like us.
Imagine if Shawn Spencer from Psych merged with The Rock from any given movie in a freak transporter accident. Well, not The Scorpion king. Something else. Whatever. And imagine the resulting being had all of the worst traits of each: out of shape, no impulse control, forgetful, sarcastic. You’d basically get Matryoshka Blues.
I mean, it’s told in the vein of a basic hard-boiled-detective plot, only the detective isn’t that hard boiled. Kinda soft in the middle, on the downslope of his tough-guy years but gutting through it. He talks at the camera constantly, a never-ending stream of self-referential jokes. If you liked Psych or Deadpool or even Spiderman, this is for you.
The story includes some important diversity narratives. I like that in a novel. They don't cloud things up, they're just another natural part of life. Harper shows here you can write gritty detective fiction and not be a total ass about trans people, people of color, or women.
So you've got some great violence, some fast cars, belly-laughs, self-conscious masculinity.
Comedy is hard. I rarely if ever laugh reading a book (Calvin and Hobbes doesn't count; it's a comic). I laughed reading this one. Well done, Shawn Harper.
Video version:
https://www.facebook.com/JasonDiasaut...
My website: JasonDiasAuthor.com
This book does that from start to finish. Goes too far, that is. It doesn’t drop N bombs or threaten to assassinate the president. You know what, forget about all that for now. I mean, it goes too far in narrative asides to the reader. Like half the story is the narrator talking to the camera. That should be a ridiculous distraction and detractor but it isn't: everyone can find a way to relate to the narrative character, even if you might not end up liking him that much. He's just like us.
Imagine if Shawn Spencer from Psych merged with The Rock from any given movie in a freak transporter accident. Well, not The Scorpion king. Something else. Whatever. And imagine the resulting being had all of the worst traits of each: out of shape, no impulse control, forgetful, sarcastic. You’d basically get Matryoshka Blues.
I mean, it’s told in the vein of a basic hard-boiled-detective plot, only the detective isn’t that hard boiled. Kinda soft in the middle, on the downslope of his tough-guy years but gutting through it. He talks at the camera constantly, a never-ending stream of self-referential jokes. If you liked Psych or Deadpool or even Spiderman, this is for you.
The story includes some important diversity narratives. I like that in a novel. They don't cloud things up, they're just another natural part of life. Harper shows here you can write gritty detective fiction and not be a total ass about trans people, people of color, or women.
So you've got some great violence, some fast cars, belly-laughs, self-conscious masculinity.
Comedy is hard. I rarely if ever laugh reading a book (Calvin and Hobbes doesn't count; it's a comic). I laughed reading this one. Well done, Shawn Harper.
Video version:
https://www.facebook.com/JasonDiasaut...
My website: JasonDiasAuthor.com
