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maxomaiOne could accuse me of having been bribed for this review. Jeremy Robert Johnson asked on his FaceBook page whether he should pay for a book review on some website; I offered to write a book review for a copy of the book. Mr. Johnson agreed, and dropped off a copy of the book at my doorstep, complete with a personal note on the inside cover and a Garbage Pail Kid card. That's valuable stuff! But in spite of this, I read We Live Inside You with a critical eye. My verdict is that this book kicks ass.
We Live Inside You is a collection of short stories, with an appendix containing some of his early material. The more current stories are brilliant, human, and disturbing. Some highlights:
Consumerism: This is fitting follow-up to his short Priapism from Angel Dust Apocalypse. This time, the family has been in a horrible car accident, and the father tells his son, boldly, stridently, unflinchingly, to man up, stop whining about his mother's mangled corpse, and do what is needed to survive. One might think of the dad as the Ultimate Objectivist, his son his pupil, and this lecture the ultimate objectivist lesson.
When Susurrus Stirs is a great horror tale, Lovecraftian in the tradition of Lumley's The Big C. Our host has a parasite, and we follow the host as the parasite slowly becomes him, and then unleashes itself on others. This is the kind of story where Johnson shines. It is humorous, weird, and wonderful at conveying to the reader just how not okay the situation is.
Probably the best story in the collection is States of Glass. Our protagonist is a young wife who soon finds herself a young widow; and in her panic and fear, she finds herself insanely horny. It is bizarro literature for sure, but touching, deep, and human in a way that most bizarro literature is not. People experience death in unpredictable ways, and it's certainly not unrealistic that someone would react to the sudden death of a lover with powerful sexual urges. Our protagonist deals with her situation in a manner that strikes me as dignified and sweet.
What I really appreciate about Johnson is that he doesn't treat his characters as props and bit players, as many bizarro authors do. His stories are, in fact, character-centric, and he develops them wonderfully. Bizarro is fun, but a lot of it is popcorn and beer - empty calories. Johnson is steak and grilled asparagus - bizarro for grown-ups.
You can find Angel Dust Apocalypse and We Live Inside You on Bizarrocentral.com.
We Live Inside You is a collection of short stories, with an appendix containing some of his early material. The more current stories are brilliant, human, and disturbing. Some highlights:
Consumerism: This is fitting follow-up to his short Priapism from Angel Dust Apocalypse. This time, the family has been in a horrible car accident, and the father tells his son, boldly, stridently, unflinchingly, to man up, stop whining about his mother's mangled corpse, and do what is needed to survive. One might think of the dad as the Ultimate Objectivist, his son his pupil, and this lecture the ultimate objectivist lesson.
When Susurrus Stirs is a great horror tale, Lovecraftian in the tradition of Lumley's The Big C. Our host has a parasite, and we follow the host as the parasite slowly becomes him, and then unleashes itself on others. This is the kind of story where Johnson shines. It is humorous, weird, and wonderful at conveying to the reader just how not okay the situation is.
Probably the best story in the collection is States of Glass. Our protagonist is a young wife who soon finds herself a young widow; and in her panic and fear, she finds herself insanely horny. It is bizarro literature for sure, but touching, deep, and human in a way that most bizarro literature is not. People experience death in unpredictable ways, and it's certainly not unrealistic that someone would react to the sudden death of a lover with powerful sexual urges. Our protagonist deals with her situation in a manner that strikes me as dignified and sweet.
What I really appreciate about Johnson is that he doesn't treat his characters as props and bit players, as many bizarro authors do. His stories are, in fact, character-centric, and he develops them wonderfully. Bizarro is fun, but a lot of it is popcorn and beer - empty calories. Johnson is steak and grilled asparagus - bizarro for grown-ups.
You can find Angel Dust Apocalypse and We Live Inside You on Bizarrocentral.com.
