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String Theory - the Novel
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy collides with Alice in Wonderland! An absurdist, escapist comedy fantasy adventure set in modern, traveler friendly Southeast Asia! Go from the wonderfully chaotic streets of Bangkok to the beaches of Bali then a thousand years into the future as our hero Johnny Local- an average guy who just happens to be the hapless target of a centuries old plot hatched by the seven talking animals that actually rule our world -tries to save himself and the universe from total destruction.You, dear reader, get armchair travel, lots of laughs, and that old metaphysical pie in the face as Reality itself gets impeached!
164 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2012
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 20, 2016
Smart, Jazzy Bizarro
I really like bizarro fiction, but sometimes the pickings are pretty slim. That's why this book was such an excellent find. Here's the Wikipedia description of bizarro fiction, which hits the nail right on the head - "Bizzaro fiction is a contemporary literary genre, which often uses elements of absurdism, satire, and the grotesque, along with pop-surrealism and genre fiction staples, in order to create subversive, weird, and entertaining works." Bingo; that's exactly what you get here.
We follow the adventures of Johnny Local, (and spend lots of time inside his head). Often in bizarro the hero/narrator is confused, disoriented and a bit overcome. Sometimes that can get tedious. Here, Johnny is mostly bemused and is a bit detached from his own story, so he adopts more of a roll-with-the-punches attitude as the plot rollicks along. That works especially well because Johnny Local is a smart and observant character, not a Bill-and-Ted slacker. As a consequence the narration is clever, insightful, fast and pointed. The book reads a bit like a collection of monologues. There is a very good plot, but the action moves along as a series of episodes. Johnny narrates each episode - introducing the supporting characters, setting the scene, and advancing the story. He also provides wry general commentary and spices the whole concoction up with loads of amusing and interesting throwaway lines.
The upshot is that you have a perfectly coherent, if weird, story, but it is jazzed up and spiced with all sorts of neat riffs. I had at least a dozen favorite secondary characters, (I especially enjoyed Mr. Possible Futures), and I noted at least one really tasty throwaway line on every other page. Our author doesn't go for violence or sex. He doesn't go for mystic or poetical. He isn't into ambiguity or incoherence. The story is bizarre, but perfectly logical and coherent. It's smart and it is powered by a certain "oh wow!" association of unrelated ideas, neat scenes, funny dialogue, absurd juxtapositions and clever set ups. All in all a great fun read.
(Please note that I found this book while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
I really like bizarro fiction, but sometimes the pickings are pretty slim. That's why this book was such an excellent find. Here's the Wikipedia description of bizarro fiction, which hits the nail right on the head - "Bizzaro fiction is a contemporary literary genre, which often uses elements of absurdism, satire, and the grotesque, along with pop-surrealism and genre fiction staples, in order to create subversive, weird, and entertaining works." Bingo; that's exactly what you get here.
We follow the adventures of Johnny Local, (and spend lots of time inside his head). Often in bizarro the hero/narrator is confused, disoriented and a bit overcome. Sometimes that can get tedious. Here, Johnny is mostly bemused and is a bit detached from his own story, so he adopts more of a roll-with-the-punches attitude as the plot rollicks along. That works especially well because Johnny Local is a smart and observant character, not a Bill-and-Ted slacker. As a consequence the narration is clever, insightful, fast and pointed. The book reads a bit like a collection of monologues. There is a very good plot, but the action moves along as a series of episodes. Johnny narrates each episode - introducing the supporting characters, setting the scene, and advancing the story. He also provides wry general commentary and spices the whole concoction up with loads of amusing and interesting throwaway lines.
The upshot is that you have a perfectly coherent, if weird, story, but it is jazzed up and spiced with all sorts of neat riffs. I had at least a dozen favorite secondary characters, (I especially enjoyed Mr. Possible Futures), and I noted at least one really tasty throwaway line on every other page. Our author doesn't go for violence or sex. He doesn't go for mystic or poetical. He isn't into ambiguity or incoherence. The story is bizarre, but perfectly logical and coherent. It's smart and it is powered by a certain "oh wow!" association of unrelated ideas, neat scenes, funny dialogue, absurd juxtapositions and clever set ups. All in all a great fun read.
(Please note that I found this book while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
Displaying 1 of 1 review