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Vivid imagery, clever dialogue, endering characters, and just a hint of gross; this isn't a book you read, but a book you experience. Pauley knows what he's doing. Hansen's art is beautiful as always but it was a treat to see less romantic pieces by her. She and Pauley's work make a wonderful package.
Dec 22, Vincenzo Bilof rated it really liked it. Never underestimate the power of video games on the unconscious mind. William Pauley III has composed a love letter to 8-bit fantasy and the subconscious, full of interesting dialogue. For someone who grew up playing Nintendo games, I felt like this book pulled something surreal from my own subconscious, something raw and heretofore unacknowledged.
The characters and their reaction to the world around them seems almost childlike, with actions and desires that seem to be motivated by their inabili Never underestimate the power of video games on the unconscious mind. The characters and their reaction to the world around them seems almost childlike, with actions and desires that seem to be motivated by their inability to understand any level of morality. These characters live in video games and they are manifestations of unreality.
They are the desensitized versions of people who are two-dimensional, with two-dimensional motivations that are defined by the fantasy in which they participate. If you enjoy surreal bizarro, this is book is a page-turner. As nonsensical as any classic video game narrative from the Nintendo era, I found myself wondering about the impact of those particular games on my own subconscious.
I played games like The Brothers Crunk. Sep 11, Robert Beveridge rated it really liked it Shelves: Well, I guess I could start in the desert, where we meet the titular brothers, Divey and Reynold, a couple of breakfast burrito salesmen who are headed for the big city, where they hope there's a bigger market for breakfast burritos than there is in the middle of nowhere. As we open, they're playing Russian Roulette with their business partner, a very large chap of African descent whose name is unimportant you can probably guess why.
All well and good, and they're on their way until they find the corpse of a robot to which the spirit of the leader of an otherworldly biker gang is attached Well, not entirely alone.
Just look at the cover art. A thoroughly enjoyable romp on the weird side! You know that sound you hear when Pacman dies? In Pauley's 8-bit world, old Nintendo attachments are actual weapons, for example, which makes for some really amusing fight scenes—The Wild Bunch by way of Videodrome played out on a Commodore VIC The story was boring, the writing was lackluster, and I couldn't have cared less about anyone in the book.
It's not, it's just bizarro: In Pauley's 8-bit world, old Nintendo attachments are actual weapons, for example, which makes for some really amusing fight scenes—The Wild Bunch by way of Videodrome played out on a Commodore VIC It's funny as hell, if a bit too neatly-wrapped and a lot too short. Pauley could have done a great deal more with this conceit; I'm hoping we'll get more of the adventures of Divey, Reynold, and Meat Pete, as well as the other assorted oddballs found here, in future books. This is fun stuff.
Probably not the world's best intro to bizarro, but if you know the genre already, this is definitely one to pick up. Dec 21, David Katzman rated it it was ok. You know that sound you hear when Pacman dies? Yeah, everyone knows that sound. Imagine hearing that sound right now and that pretty much sums up how i felt about this book. It read like a B sci-fi movie script crossed with a video game I appreciated a few of the creative twists and the characters had a bit of potential, but this turned out to be an "action adventure" more than anything else.
And I find that boring. A very short book--i didn't hat You know that sound you hear when Pacman dies? A very short book--i didn't hate the hour and a half it took to read it, but was it worth it? View all 3 comments. Jun 15, Douglas Hackle rated it really liked it. An entertaining bizarro mash-up of sci-fi, horror, fantasy, and oldschool Nintendo gaming culture with a B-movie feel to it. One of the book's strengths is the quirky dialog, which is consistent throughout.
Jan 05, Sheldon rated it liked it Shelves: After a car accident, Divey gets possessed by Vandenboom, leader of the Damned Dirt Devils, leading Reynold on a chase to get his brother back. This is a short synopsis without giving too many spoilers. We start with an opening scene where the brothers try to trick their business partner into a game of Russian Roulette using an overpowered era Nintendo zapper. You remember that gray plastic pistol that came with the old 8-bit Nintendo consoles? Yeah, that's the one. Unfortunately, this felt like where the novel peaked.
Being a huge fan of old-school games, not to mention a regular reader of Bizarro fiction titles, I wanted to like this book a lot more. But something about it just didn't click for me. The references to Nintendo accessories being used as actual weapons felt tacked on and silly rather than clever or A particular aspect to the novel that could have been played a little better in this regard was Pete, or rather Meat Pete.
This seemed clever in a way, but at the same time felt like a lost opportunity that could have been used to greater effect. It should also make the case that gory does not equal bizarre.
Don't expect that slapping buckets of blood or fresh human meat all over a book will make it bizarre or clever it doesn't necessarily preclude it, just don't rely on it. Upon looking up the author, William Pauley III, it appears that this is not the first novel he's written in this particular world, such as Doom Magnetic! This wasn't clear from the book description and might have helped. Or it might not.
I may try to track down Doom Magnetic! Don't get me wrong here. I would not say that The Brothers Crunk is a bad book, but it felt rather mediocre. It's short, so if you don't like it, it won't be major waste or time, or you could like it quite a bit and take more away from it than this reviewer did, which after reading some other reviews could very well be the case.
It seems that this book may be very specific to the reader. There are aspects to like, but this reader ultimately found it disappointing. Jun 07, S. Cartledge rated it really liked it Shelves: I'm not a huge fan of reading books on my computer, but at 99 cents I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to snag the kindle version of this book. It took me a lot longer than it would have if I'd read it in print form, but that's the price I pay for choosing kindle over print. I'd like to have some of his work in print format at some point in time, maybe I'm not a huge fan of reading books on my computer, but at 99 cents I just couldn't turn down the opportunity to snag the kindle version of this book.
I'd like to have some of his work in print format at some point in time, maybe when his Doom Magnetic trilogy comes out. Ok, firstly, I was really looking forward to reading this book after reading his previous novella, Doom Magnetic!
And secondly, I was really looking forward to reading it because it's a Grindhouse Press title. Now, Grindhouse Press have only published a few titles, and out of the three Grindhouse titles I'd read previously, I'd really enjoyed the lot of them. Now, onto the actual content of the book. It's a bizarro space western, but it's more bizarro than Doom Magnetic!
Both are really weird. The Brothers Crunk is really quite impossibly unpredictably weird. I'm still not sure what actually happened. Set on planet Japan, the brothers Crunk make their way through the apocalyptic wastelands and there's meat Pete, the legendary Vandenboom and his Damned Dirt Devils, and Divey Crunk somehow merging himself into Vandenboom and Reynold Crunk trying to get his brother back.
And then there's the Doom Magnetic, which rips a hole in time and space and allows the Devils to reach their enemy, the slug-woman-creature-thing, Dethbryte. There's also nintendo laser guns and the power glove controller with real-world functionality, and everyone is trying to destroy everyone else and everyone in the book is a complete jerk and the only real redeemable characters are the brothers Crunk who, despite their flaws, managed to get swept up in this unfortunate mess, with Divey trapped inside Vandenboom and Reynold competing against all odds to try and get him back.
This book is absurd. It so violently changes plot and direction so quickly and so violently escalates into madness it's a real effort to keep up. But it's real stylish and real creative and real crazy stuff. I love it, even though it leaves me scratching my head wondering what I just read. Jan 10, Brian Barnett rated it it was amazing Shelves: Anyone within 10 years of my age would probably buy this book if for no other reason than the cover art.
But if one is hesitant to buy it, allow me to share: It's an absolute bizarro ball. This story occurs within the universe that Pauley created with 'Doom Magnetic! It's fast, furious and lot of fun. The plot involves wasp women, traveling meat venders, and copious amounts of strange. Take a walk through Pauley's imagination, I dare you. Aterward, you'll be watching for his next book like the Anyone within 10 years of my age would probably buy this book if for no other reason than the cover art. Aterward, you'll be watching for his next book like the rest of us, and no matter what you'll go in expecting to read, you'll be hanging on with white knuckles through the break-neck pace that the Doom Magnetic series has so-far provided.
Dec 02, Rodney rated it really liked it Shelves: Great imagery, intriguing dialogue, just enough weirdness, and a lot of fun. Dec 20, Robert Eccles rated it it was amazing. A thoroughly enjoyable romp on the weird side! Jan 31, Richard Tran rated it it was ok Shelves: I received this book as part of Goodreads First Reads program.
This book was pretty much what I expected in some ways and not in others. You get the over the top quirky writing along with a ton of gaming references including the Power Glove. But the writing quality felt a bit lacking and the length of the story was disappointing as well. The basic plot line is go from point A to point B with one adventure in between and a massive battle at the end.
Story wise, it is what it is and doesn't try to I received this book as part of Goodreads First Reads program. Story wise, it is what it is and doesn't try to be anything more. I think for an adult there's a lot of nostalgic references to old gaming peripherals but for a child they would probably not get any of those.
Also there is a ton of pseudo-cussing in the dialog. I say pseudo because they pretty much replace the normal swear words with a made up word but the effect remains the same. The illustrations in the book are decent and definitely conveys what the author has in mind as far as his character descriptions. I would recommend borrowing this book if you're looking for some old school gaming nostalgia but it doesn't rate as a buy with a read time of about an hour. A surreal trip across the apocalyptic wastelands.
The Burrito Brothers have a a rough start as they make their way toward the city with the goal of selling as many burrito as they can with their new found supply of meat.
Getting there and doing well, that just isn't fun now is it? A chance encounter with the remains of a cyborg sets up their new journey that is filled with deranged archaic video game tech, wasp women, a revenant, and an ostrich. Showing the commitment that you never leave a brot A surreal trip across the apocalyptic wastelands. Showing the commitment that you never leave a brother behind, even if he has undergone unexpected changes, Reynold is willing to put his own life on the line in order to continue their business.
A creative hurricane that quickly slides toward a gigantic conclusion, this was a real treat of mixed genre that I fully enjoyed, and has me eagerly awaiting another set in this world. Dec 18, Jason Armstrong rated it it was amazing. If the cover alone hasn't sold you on the book I don't know what to tell you.
And they made a Nintendo game based on that book. And this book is based on that video game.
Does that make sense? This book is crazy like that. But it's also really good.
William Pauley knows how to build up a scene and write characters that are funny and interesting. Even whenever I got confused he kept me turning the pages. I loved Doom Magnetic but this If the cover alone hasn't sold you on the book I don't know what to tell you. I loved Doom Magnetic but this was even better.
He keeps getting better as a writer and I can't wait to see what he does next. But for now I'll just have to admire this cover and wish I hadn't smashed my Nintendo trying to beat Contra when I was a kid. May 26, Stephanie Wytovich rated it it was amazing. David W Barbee wrote this review. No matter how hard he tried he could never beat Earthworm Jim, much less Battletoads. This entry was posted on June 14, by dwbarbee. It was filed under Bizarro Fiction , Book Reviews. Carnageland sort of felt like a video game too.
It was like watching a friend play one instead of doing the playing myself. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Bizarro Central The cult section of the literary world. June 17, at Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here