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Emotionally devastating. I can't think of how to characterize that last section, Mayerson's first experience with Chew-Z, any other way. I feel hollowed out inside after reading that. Ugh.

Still reading the preamble. It's quite good, laying out the different flavors of Decadence, along with some of the commonalities among decadent authors. I did not know misogyny was among the latter, but apparently so.

I'm glad we finally have a firmly-established (anti-?) hero in Barney Mayerson. But is Palmer Eldritch really the villain? I'm not yet convinced. There's too much to dislike about all of the characters to decide who the real villains are.

Ah, more Pico. This is something I can sink my brain into. I remember finding Pico's writings quite intuitive as an undergraduate. Hopefully, I can slip back into the magic Christian frame of mind easily enough again.

Anne may be the most likable of characters so far, despite her religious intolerance. Why do I sense that things are going to go horribly, horribly wrong for her?

As jolting as PKD can be, conceptually, his prose reads very quickly. It slips by fast!

Still my favorite of my own reviews, if I may say so myself.

The world needs more Quay.

PKD's Mars is very different from Bradbury's Mars.

Neither Leo nor I know exactly whose head he is in now. I'm surprised no one has tried to turn this into a movie. Inception meets The Twilight Zone.

Edwin Carels' outstanding essay "Those Who Desire Without End: Animation as a 'Bachelor Machine'." Both situates the Quays' animated work in a historical matrix (bounded mainly by Duchamp and Ernst) and provides a vivid introduction to their dioramas and real-world (i.e., physical, not cinematographic) art installations. Absolutely fascinating!

Both Egaeus and Sarob have books coming out next month. I can only afford one. I am pretty sure I am going for the Egaeus volume by John Howard, which sounds absolutely fabulous, though that Sarob book sounds very tempting, as well.

The contradictory notions of Bruno and Pico outlined on page 51 are worthy of exploration. I can feel a short story coming on . . .

Initiate PKD Mind-Screw . . .

Again, I descend into the depths of the cinematic alternate dimension created by the Quay Brothers, a reality I would like to inhabit, if only for a short stay. Once there, though, could I ever leave, even if I desperately wanted to do so? I don't think so. It's a trap. A cleverly-designed, beautifully-decorated trap of Gothic mechanisms and endless labyrinths. I'm opening the door to take a forbidden peek inside.

"The King of the Lake" further shows Sarban's fascination with forcibly turning humans into animals . . .of a sort. Four stars.

What a great mockery of 1950s America this is turning out to be. I could see it really bothering many people back in the early '60s, a societal cynicism injection.

I was not expecting a deep dive into early Christian theological debates. Dazzling and utterly confusing.

Okay, none of the people in this book are likeable. Fine, I can deal with unlikable people. Even they have good points. I'm curious to see what goodness, if any, rises to the top above so much cynicism and opportunism. The novel is a damning examination of capitalism, so far.

And now into the Sahara for "The King of the Lake". It's interesting to see the late- or post-colonial influence on these stories. They are of their time, and yet, somehow, timeless. Maybe because I studied so much about colonialism in college and was raised on U.S. military bases overseas - yes, my perspective may be different than that of many Americans.

I am finding Leo Bulero more and more interesting. His thoughts about Palmer Eldritch finding God are expressed in a nice, simple sentence that could twist this whole book on its head. It instantly deepens my desire to know more about Bulero!

A classic English weird story, "The Sacrifice" is precisely what I had hoped for when I picked up this volume. I'm glad for the variety of tonal textures between the stories, however. Because of the differing voices, this story stood out for what it was. Had more of the stories been more similar, "The Sacrifice" might have been drowned (pun intended) by same-ness. Five stars. This one will become an RPG adventure...!

This may be a brain-wringer as intense as Gödel, Escher, Bach was. Thankfully, it's about half as long, maybe less. Curious to see if it also has homework exercises!

Barney is kind of a jerk. Not that I blame him, but still. Funny how PKD predicted global warming back in the early '60s.

Just when you wrap your head around Theandry and begin to sense the whiff of Immanence on the air, Deleuze throws three more concepts your way. My brain is bending in new and interesting ways, some remarkably pleasant, some tortuous. I'm just glad I'm familiar with Pico della Mirandola and Ficino, or I would be utterly lost. That senior paper I wrote on Pico is saving me!

Having a good background of knowledge in the Hermetic traditions is helping quite a bit. Deleuze is . . . I don't even know the word: oblique? Sidelong? Askew? It's going to take a lot of immersion in his work to really begin to understand his work at a meaningful level. I get hints and allegations, thin wisps of something just beyond my perception. Philosophical ghosts. I'm being willingly haunted,

YES!!! Egaeus Press comes through again! Next month they will publish a John Howard collection, The Voice of the Air, which will include his novella "The Lustre of Time" (which is tres-expensive at the moment). Very exciting news. I know what book I'll be buying in March!

In the middle of "The Abdication of the Serpent," I admit, I asked where this story was headed, doubtful of its outcome. But by the end, the meandering labyrinth finally made sense. It's a mystery undergirded by myth-building, and a coming-of-age, but not the age typically associated with such stories. It is, in summation, a fine, fine story. One that deserves a reread and will stick in my head for some time. 5*

"Number Fourteen" is, by far, the creepiest of the stories in this volume so far. There is a strong proto-Aickmanesque vagueness to the resolution of this story that heightens, rather than resolves the mystery. Sarban realizes, here, that the reader's flights of supposition are the most powerful plot-engine available to the author. My thoughts have gone places I'd not care to revisit after this horrific tale. 5*