Title: The Pornographic Flabbergasted Emus, A Rock "N" Roll Novel from the World of Zines
What is it? : Novel by Wred Fright about the life and times of a minor college rock band, - first serialized as 7 issues of a zine. Also note this is one of the first publications from the ULA, Underground Literary Alliance, one of the main writers advocacy groups. (This reviewer is a member.)
Technical Quality : Professional trade paperback is easy to read with color covers front and back
Innovative Quality : Though it’s written in the traditional novel form, there are some innovative extras. Unlike most novels, it is written in present tense. Instead of "I looked around", he writes, "I look around" which gives the story a sense of immediacy and a feeling that you are there with these characters. Also all chapters have an 'A' side and a 'B' side title, like a 45 rpm record, that describe the action to come. Plus each section of each chapter is labeled as one part of a song, intro, chorus, verse, coda, middle eight, etc.
Review "Comedic novel about a garage rock band in a college town... told from the point of view of the band members" is fast paced wacky fun. It's filled with mostly action with little reflection or description - though there are a few rare philosophical rants that are a welcome relief from the nonstop action.
Theodorable wants to rent a room for the semester at an off campus house filled with mostly rock band members of the rock group, The Pornographic Flabbergasted Emus, PFE. He not only gets the room, but joins the band. The rest of the novel is the story of the bands experiences including some minor successes with concerts and recording, and its ultimate breakup.
But even more prominent than the story of the band is the story of the characters in the band. The most notable is the comic character, and drummer of the band, Funnybear. He is the 'Falstaff' of the group. He acts outrageously and somehow gets away with it. His morals seem to be lower, and his dinking higher, than any other character.
The Other band members, Theodorable, George Jah, and Alexander Depot, are not as well drawn. I found it hard to keep these 3 straight. One of the problems I had with the novel was that I couldn't get a mental image of these 3 bandmates and I still don't know what they look like - short or tall, skinny or fat, etc.
Better drawn are the minor characters which were my favorites of the book. There's the 'Witch', a female roommate from hell that won't pay the rent and won't leave, John X the anarchist, Jugsy Carmichael the well-built, sexy roommate, and Il Duce the martinet band manager.
The band plays shows sometimes but I didn't get much feeling for the life of musicians. I missed hearing about the musical technical info like songs they played, lyrics of their songs, episodes of strings breaking, brands of amps, types of mikes and sound systems, etc.
We get a better sense of the off campus house with its neighbors complaining about the excess noise, the bad plumbing, the quirky landlord couple, etc. Plus we get a lot of college life with lots of sex, drinking, smoking, and partying.
One notable point of the novel is that none of the characters change. They end as they began. Often novels show how a character progresses due to his/her experiences. There was little growth here. Even though "Falstaff' changed little in Shakespeare's history plays, Hal did. Of course character progress is not a necessary requirement for a novel, but I missed it and I think the novel would have had a bigger impact if some of the characters had been somehow enriched, or altered by the college/band experience.
Overall the novel is fast paced with action that never stops. It's an exhilarating race from beginning to end. Add to that the assorted comic minor characters , and the musical structure of the novel; and the reader can see that the author had a lot of love for this 'band' of misfits.
Contact Info :
www.wredfright.com
Wred Fright
P.O. Box 770984,
Lakewood, OH 44107, USA.
Overall Grade : 6.2
Review # 65 March 20007
Title: Johnny America Issue 4
What is it? : A magazine of "fiction. humor and miscellany... published sporadically by the Moon Rabbit Drinking Club and Benevolence Society, a defunct not-for-profit corporation that is currently a mere loose collective of drink and literature enthusiasts, since we failed to pay last year's taxes and licensure fees."
Technical Quality : 40 page booklet is solidly made and clearly printed.
Innovative Quality : Above average. Two ideas I found here that I thought were very innovative , 1.Telling a story through lists, 2.Telling a story through romance classified ads.
Review This anthology of 27 short fiction and non fiction pieces is first rate. That is unusual for an anthology of so many writers - fifteen are listed. I found the writer(s) subject matter, humor, style and even the long length of the titles, to be the same throughout as if it isn't many writers but 1 or 2 voices with many pseudonyms - though one of the editors assures me it is many writers. Anyway the writing is vibrant and surprisingly engaging in all the varieties here - and there are many. There are lover conflict stories such as: 'Letter to Betty J., 'Little Redfern's Trip to the Supermarket', 'Sewn Up,' 'Elements of Destruction,'' Specs,'' The Cure for Nudity,'' The Price of Gas,' 'Prehensile,' and 'The Shape of Things.' There are zombie stories such as 'Fulci's Bakery' (one of the best here where a woman hides out in an abandoned bakery), and 'After the Zombies Came: Day 31.' There are stories that tell the action through lists such as 'Animals I might Have Sex With, If I Were Trapped On an Island without Hope of Rescue, In Order From Least-Likely to Most,' 'Acceptable Reasons That Aaron Grill Might Provide for Blowing Me Off Last Night,' and 'Plan X.' (another favorite, specifically the 'Secret Gardener' section.)
There are two stories penned as romance classifieds . There are assorted incident stories such as 'Boondock 7-11' (controversy about the price of beer), 'Dragged On' (smoking addiction), 'Cattle Drive' (bovine eye delivery job), and 'Documentary History' (filing confidential documents). And there are fables such as 'How Man Came to Know That The Merilles Fish Was Poisonous and Inedible', 'Ligament Sandwich', and 'Long Story Short: Urig and the Most Sacred of Eggs.' But listing them doesn't do justice to the writing. Maybe an excerpt will. This from 'Documentary History':
Roland wheeled his wooden cart along the aisle of the archives. Three boxes of documents creaked and groaned from his cart as he moved deeper into the twenty-acre facility. At aisle 23, (1934, Jan - 1934, Nov), he stopped to check the humidity and temperature readings. He peered over the top of his glasses at the gauge. Sixty-five degrees, 48 percent humidity. He grabbed his clipboard and noted the time, 12:41 pm, and wrote, "within acceptable limits." The boxes, Roland thought, were not very subtle..."
What reader doesn't want to read on?
Perhaps the only flaw to this package is the art. The cover, a rabbit on a folded newspaper boat, is a little bland and the inside illustration is only so-so.
But overall the good writing trumps. Here's another example. This from the intro titled, "Of Moon Bunnies and Pot-Luck Dinners"
Johnny America is a svelte rabbit who lives in a bungalow on the Moon between two rivers of wine (one red, one white). Some afternoons he helps plow the cheese fields - earn extra money for carrots - but usually he's in the valley cut by the Mercer, and Mancini Rivers, idling. He spends most of his days lounging against a low crater, fishing rod in paw. The fish on the Moon are constantly drunk and easy to catch. They look almost exactly like bass, but taste of marmalade.
From time to time Johnny casts his line toward Earth, slides down the filament, and calls a meeting of the Moon Rabbit Drinking Club and Benevolence Society...."
Contact Info :
PO Box 44-2001
Lawrence, KS 66044
johnnyamerica@johnnyamerica.net
Overall Grade : 6.5
Grading system: 9-10 Highest grade - Life's work of a master (ex. Collected plays of Shakespeare, collected symphonies of Beethoven) 8-9 Single best work of a celebrated master's career. 7-8. Best work of an era or genre or decade. 6-7 Best work of the year. 5-6 Very good. 4-5 More good than bad. 3-4 Average amount of good = amount of bad. 2-3 Mostly bad with some redeeming parts. 1-2 Nothing redeemable. 0-1 So bad it is offensively bad and outrages the reviewer for taking up that time in his life - just awful.
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