Jamie Grefe's Blog, page 28
January 21, 2014
Fantastic Earth Destroyer Ultra Plus by: Cameron Pierce and Jim Agpalza (A Review)
The synopsis of Cameron Pierce and Jim Agpalza’s FANTASTIC EARTH DESTROYER ULTRA PLUS as stated on the Sinister Grin Press website reads, “In the mining town of Itchy Zoo lives a boy with pumpkin flesh. His name is Tetsuo, and he’d like to tell you about the terrible things that brought ruin to his town. How he shot his brother, how the people of Itchy Zoo became puppets, how he fell in love for the first and last time, and how Satan watched it all go down.” And this, dear reader, is the entrance to a most beautiful, layered, melodious, dark and touching tale of Bizarro love and transformation.
Masterfully illustrated by Jim Agpalza, FEDUP is an adult fairy tale, both precisely told and richly imaginative. If you are unfamiliar with the sometimes mind-boggling intensity of Bizarro fiction, this should serve as a perfect entryway into your adventure of such a multifaceted and surprisingly warm genre. Agpalza’s illustrations are pinpoint companions to the intricacy of Pierce’s literary vision and helpful for those among us who may have trouble visualizing the otherworldly body-mutations and imaginative leaps that Pierce so aptly employs: pumpkin flesh, whale feet, puppet people, or bodies with organs on the outside of their skin.
And the real beauty of this book is not in its strangeness, which, by the way, is completely organic to the universe Pierce has created, but in the originality of Pierce’s writing. It’s strong, strong enough to attract a wide readership, one that it deserves and only time will tell. As the book is separated between one page of text and one page of illustrations, it is easy for readers to not only follow and see this intricate story, but it also lets the story sink in on a different level, something pure and simple, universal and wet. At times, I felt as if I were reading a beautifully rendered children’s story for adults (and make no mistake, this work is most certainly not for children). At other times, I felt I were swimming in the musical word-verses of a more-fantastical J.A. Tyler or a more sinister Russell Hoban. However, those comparisons fail to give Cameron Pierce the praise he deserves (we shall not compare, only hint). This is a truly original and unique piece of work, fueled by a brother’s pain, by love, by choice and necessity, and by acceptance. It is a work where magic happens and happens again, where families are torn apart and where passions burn deep, burn oceans inside a person.
In conclusion, if you are curious or interested in Bizarro fiction and would like to own a book that you will be able to finish in one sitting, a book with gorgeous illustrations and a compelling story, then FANTASTIC EARTH DESTROYER ULTRA PLUS is a book that you should certainly consider buying and reading and re-reading. I have a feeling that when I dip into this book again, knowing what I know now from having finished it, that a different story will emerge from its ocean, and it will be even better than the first time around. It will be fantastic.
January 12, 2014
SURREAL GROTESQUE EP. 46: JAMIE GREFE + KENT HILL
SURREAL GROTESQUE EP. 46: JAMIE GREFE + KENT HILL
January 9, 2014
A Japanese Vincent Gallo doll caught spanning time with the...
A Japanese Vincent Gallo doll caught spanning time with the vixens. Order a copy: http://bit.ly/mondovixen
December 30, 2013
Beautiful
Stephen Graham Jones on THE MONDO VIXEN MASSACRE: “This is what a 650 page novel looks like, with every single boring part excised, bloodily. This is the beating heart of the action movie always playing in the back off all our reptile brains. This is a massacre. The best kind.”
December 28, 2013
http://thathollowpartofme.tumblr.com/...
What we have here, quite simply, is the best 80’s action/exploitation/junk cinema experience that never was. You know how you watch a trailer from those days and it makes you think that this movie is going to be the best thing ever and then you find out that you’ve already seen all the good…
That Hollow Part of Me
What we have here, quite simply, is the best 80’s action/exploitation/junk cinema experience that never was. You know how you watch a trailer from those days and it makes you think that this movie is going to be the best thing ever and then you find out that you’ve already seen all the good…
December 25, 2013
Amazon.com: The Mondo Vixen Massacre eBook: Jamie Grefe: Kindle Store
The Mondo Vixen Massacre - Kindle edition by Jamie Grefe. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Mondo Vixen Massacre.
Finally, the Kindle edition of THE MONDO VIXEN MASSACRE has arrived. Treat yourself to some vixen cheer this holiday season. I promise it will be money well-spent. Thank you, everyone, for your support this year. Happy Holidays from Camp Grefe and The Mondo Vixens.
December 19, 2013
Here is a promotional video I cut and scored for THE MONDO VIXEN...
Here is a promotional video I cut and scored for THE MONDO VIXEN MASSACRE. Please consider sharing the video and/or picking up a copy of the book if this looks like something you’d be interested in. Thank you!
December 16, 2013
Into the Weather
I stand by a tree, watch Palace play. The stage is too big: bare black, just boards and empty lights and Will Oldham is a white t-shirt and jeans. He’s skinny, slowly entrancing and I can’t move away from the tree in this heat. I hear Hope to remember the face of the singer or the way people lie down on the lawn as if music is sun. That same man is driving a car through hoops of flame. I ride horses like an electric fence that hums teeth and gums. I remember my grandfather being kicked purple by a horse. There is no music. I run away. There is a photograph and it is a shipyard made of wood and rust. It doesn’t look like a palace. It feels the way the north side of town smells: cement, paper, dirt. I am the only one who hears, and the horses are soft to teenage ears, just a drip of Agnes. I conjure the voice of a singer who sings so well he doesn’t sing at all. I am no longer in Michigan, all smog-lungs. I do not hear his voice anymore over the language and the din of tones. Hear my own voice. I am standing by a tree. I cannot speak well. The palace stage is set anew by a band I don’t see, because we are walking through the crowd trying to find a hill to sit and dream music and be silent horses of death.
