Sunday, March 18, 2007

Watch out! Your Body is Changing.

What can I say about Jack Pendarvis. Equally so, what can I say about Jack's new book, Your Body is Changing? First off, I'll have to preface this review by stating that I might be the head of the official Pendarvis fan club. The only reason I use the word "might" at all is because he's out there bleeping away on the radar of McSweeney's-type humor. He's a regular contributor for both McSweeney's and The Believer, as well as a zillion other publications.

I'll agree with George Saunders when I say that "there are not many truly funny writers in the world - writers who can make you laugh out loud, make you do that repetitive, mounting-laughter thing, so that you finally have to put the book down and try to catch your breath." I think it's more than that. Jack's the kind of writer whose humor is so dry and so drenched in absurdity that it seems on the verge of snapping from being way too tight.

For those of you who don't know who Pendarvis is yet, quickly get on the bandwagon. This is his second book. His second! There's still time to catch up because before you know it, there will be hundreds of Jack's stories floating around and you won't know where to start. My advice? Fellow rockstars, this book doesn't come out until the end of May! So, promptly go out and buy his first one, The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure. This will enable you to have the proper catch-your-breath break between the two.

I struggle to not start giving away the plots to the stories because it's the type of the book you should go into openly. Let's just say, when Jack and I were last seen together, we were both rolling around on the ground sharing hilarious favorite moments from his book. Ok ok, maybe he wasn't rolling, but I did get him to laugh at a few great parts of his own book. It reminded me of having one of those great secret story moments when you're laughing so hard no one else can possibly guess why you're crying.

Please, please pre-order this book today. And go buy his first one.

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Not Worth Mentioning

Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's the healthy eating, but I've read 3 novels in the last couple weeks that have gotten so much praise that I figured them a sure bet. Picture the sound of the WRONG buzzer coming on. If I could only figure out how to write the sound of a WRONG buzzer. My new theory is that if you have a new book and you can get any friend or acquaintance or even a goon from the same publisher to give your book a quote, then by the time it gets to the reader...well, who needs us? You're already made, published. For example, one book was by one of the hottest, hippest gay writers out there right now...someone who was called a genius by gay writers I actually adore, was lukewarm and trite at best. I'm going to take the easy way out on naming these authors and not do it. I'm not a believer of slamming an author or three when I don't care enough about the books to structurally support my claims. So, my fellow rock stars, instead of commenting about new and exciting sleep-aids I have been wasting my time on, know that I will be writing on the magnificent new James Laughlin (auto)biography. It's ammaaaazzzzinnnngg.