Entropy in Bloom by Jeremy Robert Johnson

4 Stars

His carefully crafted suit had gone cannibalistic.

Weird books for jaded readers.

Huh...absolutely nailed it, Chris. Chris provides me with all the internet wandering I need. Granted, I'm not a big internet wanderer. So, when she had a link to a bunch of recommendations for weird books for jaded readers I was like, "That's me."

Skullcrack City was the one I wanted, but when I got to my library website they only had one Jeremy Robert Johnson book available to lend, now. And I wanted it--NOW. Plus, the cover is so pretty and the title seductive that I couldn't resist. Couldn't. Inconceivable.

This is a collection of short stories that appeared in various places over the years and well, you know that when the introduction says this:

The kind of readers who are willing to stand on the side of the literary highway and thumb down whatever vehicle comes by, who are willing to take more chances than the average reader.

Every reader thinks that's them, 'I'm a rebel', so I wasn't totally drinking the Kool-Aid until I read the next line and I knew that this is where I wanted to be:

It'll be a wild ride, but after a little shaking you'll get to your destination, and be able to get out unharmed, mostly, and it'll still be you. Or at least someone who looks and acts like you.Well, someone who will be able to pass for you in most circumstances. Honestly, the real you probably won't even be missed.

How right you are, Mr. Brian Evenson.

This is the sell. I don't want to go into to many details and spoil the fun of discovery and the delightful twists that just make you go O_O and then O_o

So the guiding themes of these stories are invasion, loss of control, and spectacle. Shuffled and dealt in bizarre ways that highlight the visceral. There's a definite sense of betrayal running through it and it is very male perspective focused. Frankly, there were a few that I read that really made me think there are a bunch of unresolved issues with women and I struggled with the rating. It wasn't misogyny, but frustration, resentment, and a rather depressing surrendered acceptance--beyond resignation.

Sometimes he felt as if he was training towards a gold medal in the Dumbfuck Olympics.

"League of Zeros" was one of my favorites. Take the concept of celebrity and go, go far. Beyond reality tv, YouTube, keep going--This is one place you end up. Freaky and the business of spectacle. The Oarsman, Cathedral Mother, Persistence Hunting, and Swimming in the House of the Sea, all right up there too. I loved the stretch in these stories. They're out there, but rather glittering in all their squalid splendor.

"How hard do I have to deny this entire day to make it disappear?"