Reviews / Quotes from Reviews of "Any Resemblance To A Coincidence Is Accidental"
An ambitious book offers an amalgam of opinion, satire, and character sketch. Armed with a brain-teasingly bizarre title that foretells its peculiar contents ... a chorus of quirky voices chanting messages of solidarity, gay pride, and anti-homogeneous individualism. The book opens with an anonymous woman’s exquisitely sarcastic rant parodying a social media outlet (“Fakebook”), accusing it of “destroying friendship,” and musing over the digital impermanence of modern culture ... She considers herself an “incredible fag hag.” After pondering the significance of fetishes and Nueva Jork life, she acerbically introduces her artistic, gay “fiend-frienemy” Noloso Chushingura and launches a literary fever-dream of colorfully dizzying co-narrators and their sordid escapades. Noloso is a man who is abandoning his longtime residence in “Disneyfied” Nueva Jork for his childhood home, Mucha Nieve. Unsatisfied still, he flees there for wintry “Palin-town,” where no-nonsense, pragmatic Pavlina Perestroika gets into a mysterious 1975 Buick Regal and begins an otherworldly journey to another land yet returns just in time for Bobby Bluetooth’s comedy set at a nearby cafe. Readers searching for some cohesive link to the stories and their kaleidoscope of curious characters may become dumbfounded by the time lesbian Koontessa Klarissa Koontberger introduces her two adopted children “of indeterminate sexuality.” Giovanni Zsazsasky exchanges gay bars for eBay shopping as the ultimate “go-to pacifier in moments of thumb-sucking sadness” ... wand-waving superheroine Dolores The Day-Glo Drag Queen issues orders commanding the end of abusive Jean-Nette The Jet Lag Fag Hag’s life ... Thankfully, lurking beneath all of the snarky commentary and cheekiness are honest reflections of contemporary society, including the gay community’s struggle to vanquish shame and the much-protested incremental gentrification of major metropolitan areas ... Overall, the book’s unconventional spellings, sentence fragments, line-drawn chapter headings, and haiku work well in unison to create a devilishly original tableau of true outlandishness with a conscience ... An offbeat work of carnivalesque proportions, populated by zany, outspoken, and eccentric personalities.
-- Kirkus Reviews
"Irreverent sketches in a satirized metropolis portray emotional disenchantment ... a hyper-electric commentary on modern life, from online personas to urban subculture ..... recurring characters make their way through absurd situations in a narrative filled with movie references and skewed perspectives ... misfits living on the fringes of Amourrica Profunda ... a mixture of dizzying monologues, lists, third-person narrations, and haiku ... their voices provide a cross-section of insecurity, self-aggrandizement, and opinions on topics that include Broadway, gay culture, sexuality, and masks people wear to avoid pain ... characters appear in service of strange situations: a castrated go-go boy freezes time, a woman finds a porn key baby ... a chorus of “Grrrlfriends” serve as a counterpoint for another woman ... the leader of a fan club for the Weak-ed musical details membership requirements ... jabs at rainbow pride that take a turn toward bodily humour ... a chapter penned in the voice of a hillbilly clairvoyant ... uses exaggerated dialect ... The plots are sometimes macabre and often tinged with cruelty ... effective moments take place between the lines: a drag queen’s confrontational speech belies vulnerability ... a stand-up comic’s ill-received routine contains the passing remark, “I’m not getting any better.” Such admissions humanize the characters. They may be over the top, but they’re not as out of touch as they first seem ... Amid the blare of poseurs and hustlers, streetwise and self-made figures, the prominent thread is one of deep-seated ambivalence and loneliness."
-- Foreword Clarion Reviews
"Stephen C. Bird is back with another leap into a linguistically twisted netherworld populated by an underworld of various sex-obsessed down-on-their-luck-like-they-ever-had-any basket cases, with a smattering of magickal beings and fantastick occurrences. At first this book seems like it might be a bit more grounded in reality than Bird's previous works, Hideous Exuberance and Catastrophically Consequential. A good deal of the "action" takes place in towns standing in for various upstate New York locales, some identifiable, some baffling: Miasma Falls, Douchebag (in the western Cats-Kills), Mucha Nieve ... there we often get some kind of anchoring to a bleak, gritty, wintry reality. Other scenes are in Puta Jork, Nueva Jork, i.e. NYC. There is some carry-over of the entities in his previous books ... Earth is still the Blue Green Planet, Germany is Doucheyland, the United States has morphed, for whatever reason, from Amurycka Profunda to Amourrica Profunda ... don't count on an excess of realism ... strange things happen. Grisly miraculous revenge fantasies are enacted, and sometimes taken back ... once again this is more a pastiche than a novel ... plenty of laugh-out-loud bits in this new one, more than in the first two. The first chapter is a hilarious exploration of one character's idea of Fakebook etiquette. Someone has won the Hieronomus Boscar for Best Obscene Design. There's a TV spinoff called Benjy the Articulate Porn Star. It is easier in this one to acclimate to Bird's unique style than in the first two ... a breeze to get through, and actually qualifies as a Fun Read."
-- Jim, Goodreads
"... bizarre ... surreal satire ... never focuses on any one character for too long ... jumps around from a man witnessing the murder of a woman by a group of homeless men to a woman who suddenly transports to a shrine dedicated to Bast to a redneck telling a story about a group of other rednecks who tried to hunt down a woman who had an abortion to a girl admitting through a "Fakebook" post that she's actually an alien to a man lamenting that his hook-up lifestyle has prevented him from learning how to create and maintain loving relationships. And that doesn't even touch on a third of the things that happen in this book ... so easily switched between satire and sincerity and horror and just flat out bizarreness (often within the same chapter) ... I could never figure out where exactly the story was going or ... I hope that doesn't make it sound like I didn't enjoy the book ... nothing could be further from the truth. I very much loved the entire strange romp. I laughed out loud in numerous places and I enjoyed deciphering the renaming/misspelling of things and places ... took me far too long to realize that Fraud-Gay was Broadway ... couldn't wait to find out what each of the subsequent chapters would bring. I highly recommend it anyone and everyone.
-- Joleigh, Goodreads
"In short: the funniest satirical attack of FB (and more) I have ever read ... Be my Frienemie! ... Steve Bird's most accessible and funniest book ... This is Steve Bird for Dummies if you will; easy like Sunday morning ... Sure he will take you into some dark rooms ... But there no way you won't laugh in the first 10 pages. Like Franzen's and Dave Egger's last books, Steve reflects on modern techno culture: (mostly Facebook) ... Franzen's and Egger's books were of course interesting and good, but dare I say: Steve's is funnier? ... I have no agenda, I self publish humor books too, so was critical reading it, but he is such a talent it is humbling. The prose is excellent; Steve is a literary craftsman that can go head to head with many ... great imagery and attention to detail. I could not wait to read this every AM until I was done with it (3 days). Then I missed it. It was friend ... It made me sad, 20 years ago this would have caught the eye of a mainstream publisher and would have been a best a seller: buy it, read it."
-- Jeff, Goodreads
"Masterpiece. State of the union address for the concerned outsider in 2016. Hack through the thick jungle of puns and phantasmagoric wordplay, and you will laugh with characters struggling with the constraints of a stifling small-town America, or with the constraints of rapidly gentrifying big-city America, with micro environments where one can find casual hookups but not love. Characters whose chances for love may have passed them by. You will experience Facebook as you probably already experience it, and meet a motley assortment of cold-hearted careerists, jet set open micers, and popular, in-crowd gays. Casual fans of the standard paperback thriller or harlequin romance novel may struggle with this one, but those in the know will get it immediately as well as find things to be challenged by in it. Well worth the effort and the time."
-- Brian, Goodreads
"Although this book does offer some insight and observations not universally held, stated under the guise of humour, I found this satire not humorous. The author has a great intelligence but cutting. It was not tongue in cheek as in the spirit of an open mind, it was mocking. I did find the writing extraordinary. It beguiles, and discusses in a play on words many different topics. It offers eye opening insights ... However, I felt a sense of unease while reading. It offers much to feed the mind in such topics as philosophy, politics and views on society and social mores. In summation, I found it a fascinating look at a variety of subjects, well written, neatly presented. But akin to humour, satire can be cruel. I found this to be uncomfortable and contentious. If you enjoy reading to feel these discomforts, this is the book for you!"
-- Leslie, Goodreads
"I enjoyed this book much more than 'Catastrophically Consequential'. I enjoy being stretched and taken out of my comfort zone as a reader. I am a bit of a masochist in that way. I would not have gotten through this book or understood some of Bird's puns and references (there are many) without help from my Kindle. I laughed out loud during most chapters of this book. Sometimes, I'm laughing at myself when I figure out his 'language' and spelling of words, and then I would reread that page to get the most meaning out of it. I love [the author's] outside the box way of thinking!"
-- Nikkiya, Goodreads
"A most enjoyable read ... quite different ... from what I normally read. While humorous at times, it was complemented by dark sides ... a fast read & wished it could've been longer ... I'm hoping the author writes a longer book with similar qualities, or a full size based from this book. Having mixed genres, blending together well in this small size 'package' was a delight & a new reading experience for me ... I'd highly recommend this book."
-- Rumeur, Goodreads
"Originally gave it up on page 50 ... however, after pushing through ... the book really starts up great and makes more sense ... sometimes the language can be confusing and frustrating (particularly if you are sensitive to swearing) ... in my opinion the book is funny and has little hints about how you should live life in it. It's like a comical self-help book about people who live life on the edge and fall off the world ..."
-- Tina, Goodreads
"Interesting and compelling ... I found myself going back for another read ... after reading reviews and speaking to a friend about it. At first I thought I wasn't going to comprehend some of the content, but I gave it another look with a different perspective, and enjoyed it. Always remember, life and art are about perspective. It's not a book I would normally pick up, but I now have a new author to follow."
-- BookNerdBetty, Goodreads
"... points to the author because the writing style is part of the message ... this book does make some astute observations about modern values [specifically concerning 'love' ... read as: obsessions and confusion with sex / sexuality] communication, and media consumption ... I recommend this book for people discontented with North American social culture ... filled with honest criticism."
-- Tiffany, Goodreads
"... I like the premise of it ['Any Resemblance to a Coincidence is Accidental'] ... Strange, sometimes silly, sometimes deep ... It reminds me of the Victorian writing style in that there are many descriptors, qualifiers, and half-thoughts in each sentence ... The description of the book calls it 'surreal,' 'non-linear,' and 'over the top.' I agree with those [labels] wholeheartedly."
-- Hannah, Goodreads
"Hands down, this is the strangest book I have ever read. It was like watching a train wreck. You don't want to see it but you can't look away. I didn't want to read this book but I couldn't put it down. I didn't understand the story or even why it was written the way it was. Not a book for the faint of heart."
-- Shell, Goodreads
"... Enjoying this psychedelic romp with razor sharp, absurd insights. Bird probes what many numbed out souls relegate to the subconscious. I keep drawing little squiggles in the book by lines I want to flip back to. Zingers! Good book for misfit freak ghosts floating through the nightmare circus of mundane adult life ..."
-- Caila, Goodreads
"The title got me in ... It slowly morphed into something intelligent and illuminating ... Gurdjieffian mannerisms. Occultist themes. Pop culture. SF. Clubs. Fetish. An exuberant irrepressible hyper-sexuality. Confusing and disjointed -- By design. Just gulp it down and see what it tastes like."
-- Anthony, Goodreads
"This book is my type of weird. Clearly not for everyone, by looking at the ratings. However, for me, the text danced along from page to page. I found the satirical commentary hilarious, but again, it is not for everyone."
-- Alex, Goodreads
"I enjoyed this book. It was very different from what I expected from the title. There were some funny parts, some brutal ones, and some that I did not really understand at all. I especially liked the invented spellings."
-- Judi B, Goodreads
"To be honest, there's something about it ... there's some elusive attraction ... it intrigues you ... witty allusions."
-- Tonya, Goodreads
"Excellent book. Funny, irreverent, a must have for anyone with a sense of humor."
-- [Another] Brian, Goodreads
"... Weird ... quirky ... slurs and insulting language ..."
-- Hannah, Goodreads
"The book read like a Trump diatribe."
-- L, Goodreads
"Excellent book!!!"
-- Csimplot Simplot, Goodreads
"Great book."
-- [Another] Michelle, Goodreads
-- Kirkus Reviews
"Irreverent sketches in a satirized metropolis portray emotional disenchantment ... a hyper-electric commentary on modern life, from online personas to urban subculture ..... recurring characters make their way through absurd situations in a narrative filled with movie references and skewed perspectives ... misfits living on the fringes of Amourrica Profunda ... a mixture of dizzying monologues, lists, third-person narrations, and haiku ... their voices provide a cross-section of insecurity, self-aggrandizement, and opinions on topics that include Broadway, gay culture, sexuality, and masks people wear to avoid pain ... characters appear in service of strange situations: a castrated go-go boy freezes time, a woman finds a porn key baby ... a chorus of “Grrrlfriends” serve as a counterpoint for another woman ... the leader of a fan club for the Weak-ed musical details membership requirements ... jabs at rainbow pride that take a turn toward bodily humour ... a chapter penned in the voice of a hillbilly clairvoyant ... uses exaggerated dialect ... The plots are sometimes macabre and often tinged with cruelty ... effective moments take place between the lines: a drag queen’s confrontational speech belies vulnerability ... a stand-up comic’s ill-received routine contains the passing remark, “I’m not getting any better.” Such admissions humanize the characters. They may be over the top, but they’re not as out of touch as they first seem ... Amid the blare of poseurs and hustlers, streetwise and self-made figures, the prominent thread is one of deep-seated ambivalence and loneliness."
-- Foreword Clarion Reviews
"Stephen C. Bird is back with another leap into a linguistically twisted netherworld populated by an underworld of various sex-obsessed down-on-their-luck-like-they-ever-had-any basket cases, with a smattering of magickal beings and fantastick occurrences. At first this book seems like it might be a bit more grounded in reality than Bird's previous works, Hideous Exuberance and Catastrophically Consequential. A good deal of the "action" takes place in towns standing in for various upstate New York locales, some identifiable, some baffling: Miasma Falls, Douchebag (in the western Cats-Kills), Mucha Nieve ... there we often get some kind of anchoring to a bleak, gritty, wintry reality. Other scenes are in Puta Jork, Nueva Jork, i.e. NYC. There is some carry-over of the entities in his previous books ... Earth is still the Blue Green Planet, Germany is Doucheyland, the United States has morphed, for whatever reason, from Amurycka Profunda to Amourrica Profunda ... don't count on an excess of realism ... strange things happen. Grisly miraculous revenge fantasies are enacted, and sometimes taken back ... once again this is more a pastiche than a novel ... plenty of laugh-out-loud bits in this new one, more than in the first two. The first chapter is a hilarious exploration of one character's idea of Fakebook etiquette. Someone has won the Hieronomus Boscar for Best Obscene Design. There's a TV spinoff called Benjy the Articulate Porn Star. It is easier in this one to acclimate to Bird's unique style than in the first two ... a breeze to get through, and actually qualifies as a Fun Read."
-- Jim, Goodreads
"... bizarre ... surreal satire ... never focuses on any one character for too long ... jumps around from a man witnessing the murder of a woman by a group of homeless men to a woman who suddenly transports to a shrine dedicated to Bast to a redneck telling a story about a group of other rednecks who tried to hunt down a woman who had an abortion to a girl admitting through a "Fakebook" post that she's actually an alien to a man lamenting that his hook-up lifestyle has prevented him from learning how to create and maintain loving relationships. And that doesn't even touch on a third of the things that happen in this book ... so easily switched between satire and sincerity and horror and just flat out bizarreness (often within the same chapter) ... I could never figure out where exactly the story was going or ... I hope that doesn't make it sound like I didn't enjoy the book ... nothing could be further from the truth. I very much loved the entire strange romp. I laughed out loud in numerous places and I enjoyed deciphering the renaming/misspelling of things and places ... took me far too long to realize that Fraud-Gay was Broadway ... couldn't wait to find out what each of the subsequent chapters would bring. I highly recommend it anyone and everyone.
-- Joleigh, Goodreads
"In short: the funniest satirical attack of FB (and more) I have ever read ... Be my Frienemie! ... Steve Bird's most accessible and funniest book ... This is Steve Bird for Dummies if you will; easy like Sunday morning ... Sure he will take you into some dark rooms ... But there no way you won't laugh in the first 10 pages. Like Franzen's and Dave Egger's last books, Steve reflects on modern techno culture: (mostly Facebook) ... Franzen's and Egger's books were of course interesting and good, but dare I say: Steve's is funnier? ... I have no agenda, I self publish humor books too, so was critical reading it, but he is such a talent it is humbling. The prose is excellent; Steve is a literary craftsman that can go head to head with many ... great imagery and attention to detail. I could not wait to read this every AM until I was done with it (3 days). Then I missed it. It was friend ... It made me sad, 20 years ago this would have caught the eye of a mainstream publisher and would have been a best a seller: buy it, read it."
-- Jeff, Goodreads
"Masterpiece. State of the union address for the concerned outsider in 2016. Hack through the thick jungle of puns and phantasmagoric wordplay, and you will laugh with characters struggling with the constraints of a stifling small-town America, or with the constraints of rapidly gentrifying big-city America, with micro environments where one can find casual hookups but not love. Characters whose chances for love may have passed them by. You will experience Facebook as you probably already experience it, and meet a motley assortment of cold-hearted careerists, jet set open micers, and popular, in-crowd gays. Casual fans of the standard paperback thriller or harlequin romance novel may struggle with this one, but those in the know will get it immediately as well as find things to be challenged by in it. Well worth the effort and the time."
-- Brian, Goodreads
"Although this book does offer some insight and observations not universally held, stated under the guise of humour, I found this satire not humorous. The author has a great intelligence but cutting. It was not tongue in cheek as in the spirit of an open mind, it was mocking. I did find the writing extraordinary. It beguiles, and discusses in a play on words many different topics. It offers eye opening insights ... However, I felt a sense of unease while reading. It offers much to feed the mind in such topics as philosophy, politics and views on society and social mores. In summation, I found it a fascinating look at a variety of subjects, well written, neatly presented. But akin to humour, satire can be cruel. I found this to be uncomfortable and contentious. If you enjoy reading to feel these discomforts, this is the book for you!"
-- Leslie, Goodreads
"I enjoyed this book much more than 'Catastrophically Consequential'. I enjoy being stretched and taken out of my comfort zone as a reader. I am a bit of a masochist in that way. I would not have gotten through this book or understood some of Bird's puns and references (there are many) without help from my Kindle. I laughed out loud during most chapters of this book. Sometimes, I'm laughing at myself when I figure out his 'language' and spelling of words, and then I would reread that page to get the most meaning out of it. I love [the author's] outside the box way of thinking!"
-- Nikkiya, Goodreads
"A most enjoyable read ... quite different ... from what I normally read. While humorous at times, it was complemented by dark sides ... a fast read & wished it could've been longer ... I'm hoping the author writes a longer book with similar qualities, or a full size based from this book. Having mixed genres, blending together well in this small size 'package' was a delight & a new reading experience for me ... I'd highly recommend this book."
-- Rumeur, Goodreads
"Originally gave it up on page 50 ... however, after pushing through ... the book really starts up great and makes more sense ... sometimes the language can be confusing and frustrating (particularly if you are sensitive to swearing) ... in my opinion the book is funny and has little hints about how you should live life in it. It's like a comical self-help book about people who live life on the edge and fall off the world ..."
-- Tina, Goodreads
"Interesting and compelling ... I found myself going back for another read ... after reading reviews and speaking to a friend about it. At first I thought I wasn't going to comprehend some of the content, but I gave it another look with a different perspective, and enjoyed it. Always remember, life and art are about perspective. It's not a book I would normally pick up, but I now have a new author to follow."
-- BookNerdBetty, Goodreads
"... points to the author because the writing style is part of the message ... this book does make some astute observations about modern values [specifically concerning 'love' ... read as: obsessions and confusion with sex / sexuality] communication, and media consumption ... I recommend this book for people discontented with North American social culture ... filled with honest criticism."
-- Tiffany, Goodreads
"... I like the premise of it ['Any Resemblance to a Coincidence is Accidental'] ... Strange, sometimes silly, sometimes deep ... It reminds me of the Victorian writing style in that there are many descriptors, qualifiers, and half-thoughts in each sentence ... The description of the book calls it 'surreal,' 'non-linear,' and 'over the top.' I agree with those [labels] wholeheartedly."
-- Hannah, Goodreads
"Hands down, this is the strangest book I have ever read. It was like watching a train wreck. You don't want to see it but you can't look away. I didn't want to read this book but I couldn't put it down. I didn't understand the story or even why it was written the way it was. Not a book for the faint of heart."
-- Shell, Goodreads
"... Enjoying this psychedelic romp with razor sharp, absurd insights. Bird probes what many numbed out souls relegate to the subconscious. I keep drawing little squiggles in the book by lines I want to flip back to. Zingers! Good book for misfit freak ghosts floating through the nightmare circus of mundane adult life ..."
-- Caila, Goodreads
"The title got me in ... It slowly morphed into something intelligent and illuminating ... Gurdjieffian mannerisms. Occultist themes. Pop culture. SF. Clubs. Fetish. An exuberant irrepressible hyper-sexuality. Confusing and disjointed -- By design. Just gulp it down and see what it tastes like."
-- Anthony, Goodreads
"This book is my type of weird. Clearly not for everyone, by looking at the ratings. However, for me, the text danced along from page to page. I found the satirical commentary hilarious, but again, it is not for everyone."
-- Alex, Goodreads
"I enjoyed this book. It was very different from what I expected from the title. There were some funny parts, some brutal ones, and some that I did not really understand at all. I especially liked the invented spellings."
-- Judi B, Goodreads
"To be honest, there's something about it ... there's some elusive attraction ... it intrigues you ... witty allusions."
-- Tonya, Goodreads
"Excellent book. Funny, irreverent, a must have for anyone with a sense of humor."
-- [Another] Brian, Goodreads
"... Weird ... quirky ... slurs and insulting language ..."
-- Hannah, Goodreads
"The book read like a Trump diatribe."
-- L, Goodreads
"Excellent book!!!"
-- Csimplot Simplot, Goodreads
"Great book."
-- [Another] Michelle, Goodreads
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