Bizarro Fiction Month Day 7: Slub Glub in the Weird World of the Weeping Willows

As the first week of Bizarro Fiction Month draws to a close, it's time to do a review for a book that I didn't actually buy for myself, which as with the other books I reviewed on days 2-6, is by an author I'll be reviewing again later. My nephew's birthday is this month, and I decided that since Eraserhead has a children's bizarro imprint, I should get a children's bizarro book for my nephew.   Out of the various Spunk Goblin Titles, as the imprint is called, I chose Andrew Goldfarb's Slub Glub in the Weird World of the Weeping Willows based largely on the fact that it was cheap enough to qualify for Amazon's 4-for-3 offer, which enabled be to get other bizarro books including another Goldfarb book, Hypno-Hog's Moonshine Monster Jamboree. Naturally, I decided to read Slub Glub myself before I gave it away.

Slub Glub is a really cool book. I just love Goldfarb's illustrations. They are just so weird. The story itself is written in a very simple style, which isn't unexpected since it is written for children. I should also say that the story is also very strange and a bit complicated.

The story is about a bizarre, blue, blobby, mutant thing called Slub Glub. Slub Glub wakes up one morning and discovers that his forest has been flooded because the willows have been weeping. The willows are weeping because racoons have been climbing them at night and chewing on their leaves. The racoons have climbing the willows to escape from the hyena's mockery. The hyenas are mocking the racoons...well this would go on for quite a while with a long list of improbable occurrences triggering each other and I'm not going to list them all.  These weird happening cause Slub Glub and a willow tree called Willowmina to go on a quest to try and put things right.

I think that this would be a really great bizarro book for kids (and adults). I also think that adults should enjoy it, too. I'm definitely  going to get Andrew Goldfarb's other books.

Bizarro Fiction month Day 6: The Brothers Crunk

It's day 6 of Bizarro Fiction Month, I've got another review. As has been the case with the reviews on days 2-5, this one is also by an author who's written another work I'll be reviewing later on. In this case, It's William Pauley III, whose  Slime Night! I'll be reviewing later. For now though I'm reviewing  The Brothers Crunk.

It was an exciting, weird story set in a post-apocalyptic version of Japan. In this world, video game peripherals, like the old NES Zapper or Power Glove, work like actual weapons, and video game cheat codes can affect the real world.

The story is about two brothers, Divey and Reynold Crunk, who run a breakfast burrito truck, which breaks down in the middle of the desert. Then Divey gets possessed by a sort of techno-demon thing, and stuff starts getting really weird. This being Japan, they all end up in Tokyo for a final showdown with the forces of evil

It's a really exciting bizarro adventure story set in a cool, post-apocalyptic world.I think it would be a good choice for anyone who's old enough to remember the good old days of the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Bizarro Fiction Month Day 5: The Pickled Apocalypse of Pancake Island

Well now it's day 5 of Bizarro Fiction Moth here, an it's time to review another book. As with the other authors I've done so far, this one has another book that I'll be reviewing later on in the month, but in this case I've actually also reviewed one of his books previously. It's Cameron Pierce,  whose Cthulhu Comes to the Vampire Kingdom I reviewed back in January. Later on in the month, I'll post my review of Ass Goblins of Auschwitz, but for now, I'm reviewing The Pickled Apocalypse of Pancake Island.

This is one of the weirder bizarro books I've read. There's a world called Pancake Island, which is inhabited by sentient pancakes. Everyone is happy there, presumably because of the maple syrup. There's another planet that's inhabited by sentient pickles where everyone is miserable and unhappy, presumably because of the brine.  One day, a pickle called Gaston Glew builds a rocket ship to escape his life of misery, and ends up crashing on Pancake Island, where his briny nature threatens to bring about the titular "Pickled Apocalypse."

This story is just goofy. The pickles are all so whiny and miserably and the pancakes are so mindlessly happy, that it just makes me laugh. Also, if you've ever wondered what pickle/pancake sex would be like, this book will tell you. There is a surprising amount of violence for a book whose main characters are all animated foods. I really enjoyed it, and I'm certainly going to be picking up the rest of Pierce's books sooner or later.