O'Brien is just WEIRD!!! and that's a good thing.
937780
Flann O'Brien isn't for everyone.  There are quite a few one star ratings (and I'm sure those people would have rather given it a zero if they could), but I think that's a good thing.  Here's why.  O'Brien is just weird, bizarre, and perhaps the most "out there" writer I have ever read.  Your classic drug trip books like "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and "On the Road" have nothing on this guy.  If you aren't paying attention to every little detail in the writing then you just aren't going to get it.  With that being said, some people are just too dense to get his prose.  This is a novelist I want people to hate, because honestly he's my guy...I don't want you to get it.

"The Third Policeman" didn't immerse the reader into O'Brien's unique and bizarre writing style immediately.  In fact that was one of the the things about this novel that I found interesting.  I thought I was reading gothic literature like Hawthorne, or Brockden Brown at first.  It wasn't until the first twenty pages that O'Brien introduces you to the bizarre world in which you will inhabit for the remainder of the novel.  There are certain aspects of this novel that I didn't enjoy as much as his first novel, "At Swim Two Birds," but I thought this novel didn't have as many nonsensical moments that dragged on for too long.  All in all, this is a great read.  This was his second novel, which became his last since it wasn't published until after his death, and it is only the second novel of his I have read.  I can't wait to read the rest of them!
2583793
It's goofy at times, writing is excellent, plots are thin, but the darn show is fun, period. Cybil and Bruce are lightin' it up and their banter is sometimes at a breakneck pace. Good stuff!! Bruce is at his very best as the wisecrackin' private eye.
4407172
This book was so weird it bordered on wonderful.  That's a thing right?  You know like a pint of some odd ice cream flavor that you try just one spoonful of but keep going back to just to make sure you still don't quite like it and then you've managed to eat the entire pint?  That's not just me...right?  Right?!
So back to books and not weird ice cream flavors, Grasshopper Jungle reminded me a lot of Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (but with 6 foot tall man-eating bugs, you know cause that makes any book infinitely better).  It is the story of a young Polish boy, Austin Szcerba and his attempts to test fate by living a "normal" life in the tiny Iowa town of Ealing, Iowa. This is not going to happen for poor, confused Austin.  He is definitely pre-destined for awesomer, weirder things. There are crazy giant bugs (but not til later).  There is a quasi-love-triangle (but not til later).  What there is a lot of is a boy, trying to figure out who he is, how he effects the world around him and how his history effects him, always.  The history sections were randomly interspersed throughout the tale but they were wonderfully written and terribly interesting (that may just be the history teacher in me talking...you be your own judge).

I really feel like I could put this on the contemporary/realistic fiction shelf in my classroom.  It is so realistic to the hormone-fueled, confused, lost teenage boy.  Oh, except for those 6 ft tall man-eating bugs...at least I hope that parts not real!

Final recommendation: if you like history, contemporary fiction, teenagers, small-town drama, cursing, alien invasions.

P.S. I totally want my own Eden, to run around, wear jumpsuits, bounce on beds and listen to the Stones (again minus the bug-pocalypse above).
482927
MichaelBrent Collings is a pretty amusing guy. I found this out when I got the chance to listen to him on a convention panel called The Criminal Element, which you wouldn't expect to be laugh-out-loud funny. But it was, in a serial killer, blood and guts, more than slightly disturbing way.
Why do I bring this up? Because that's this book.

The Longest Con is first and foremost a supernatural murder mystery, a science fiction sub-genre that I typically avoid because of the angsty, woe-is-me, I-just-want-to-be-normal, pansy monsters. (However, I should say that I read and like The Dresden Files and MHI. Because I'm an American.) Here, the monsters are monsters, and they enjoy it. As monsters should.

But along with a fun murder mystery that includes all the required twists and dead ends, you get real authors acting implausibly amazing, freakin' hilarious one-liners, and huge, steaming piles of bad-assery. I had all kinds of fun reading it!

All this for four bucks? I've paid twice that for one ticket to see crappy movies (I'm looking at you Suicide Squad)!
3564574
Oh, man, totally delightful. Which is a peculiar thing to say about a book with some of the flat-out grossest scenes I've ever read. (What happens when a werewolf eats something that her human half can't really digest? You don't want to know. Really.) I've read kind of a lot of urban fantasy, and when it's good, I like it, but it's often... kind of bad, and Blood Oranges is a response to the particular flavor of badness that is far too common in the subgenre. It totally works - the protagonist is the right person to comment on stupid media tropes, the world is sharply realized and dark in the "secret history" sort of way, that builds on real darkness, not dependent on an alternate-universe twist. The plot is not shocking but horrifying - it's clear pretty early on what the general shape of it will be (although the unreliable narration keeps it from plodding) but the details make it fascinating and awful.

The narration is worth a separate comment - it's the exact sort of intimate, fourth-wall-breaking style that Cherie Priest used to great effect in the stylistically similar (although tonally opposite) Bloodshot, which I also adored. Blood Oranges's protagonist is a junky who is at pains to point out that she's not a very good writer - she tells things out of order, holds back details, lies through her teeth - but Tierney is a very good writer, and all of those seeming lapses make the book far more interesting. I am totally on board.

(The fake author bio at the end is worth a read, too, if you usually skip those things. "Kathleen Tierney" is, as it says on the cover, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and she clearly has very little patience with the pen name. I was doubly delighted by the author's supposed place of residence - I went to high school in Deerfield, and I assume the reference to a house trailer was deliberate mockery, because it's... not that sort of town.)
4894748
I love Eric Idle. His work is hilarious. This is not an exception.
Very weird, this CD will best be appreciated by people who can understand the strangest of Python. Because this CD is weird. It's almost bordering on Graham Chapman Concrete Inspector or Find the Fish weird. Still, it's got some brilliantly funny moments including the General Gucci song, Killing For God (an ironic song if I ever heard one) and Paranoia.
Eric's done better. But this is quite funny. Don't buy it if you can't handle strange. If you can however, and you're willing to listen several times, this CD can yield great rewards.
4789382
Something I notice anymore is how comedy in this country ends up being really mean-spirited and caustic.  Sifl & Olly manages to be funny and witty without being resorting to mean-spirited jabs at whatever is currently popular to hate.  Also It doesn't hurt that the music is insanely catchy.

Might not be the best place for this, but if you happen to be a fan of the "The Mighty Boosh" their and Liam Lynch's brands of humor and style are in the same vein.  Check out his other stuff on youtube, you'll dig it.
1906078
Gaffigan is an acquired taste. His comedy attitude is different from majority in his shuffling delivery. It's the 'voices of reason' that get you.
3219592
Hah! This is one of those shows that builds on each hilarious episode.  The comedy isn't so far fetched that its unbelievable, and that's what makes it a good series.
536474
He's had an interesting life.  Not the greatest written book, and the Kenny doesn't tell his stories in the greatest, most entertaining fashion.  BUT,...he has lots of good stories.  I mean, you know....he's had a lot of experiences in the business that normal folk don't do.  It's his non Star Trek stuff that's interesting. It's a quick fun read.  Get it.
200232
Christopher Moores imagination is always weird. Fluke is weirder than most. Not to give away the plot, but it is neatly summarized by the cover illustration: a whale sounding to show BITE ME painted on its tail. I tend to read Moore in small increments because weirdness combined with swearing are hard to take for very long. But this story is entertaining and worth sticking to it. Its also fun to read bizarreness written for its own sake.
Maybe the funniest line is not in the book but on the cover. The New York Times is quoted as reviewing Where has this guy been hiding? Maybe The Times should stray from their usual genres deemed worthy of review more often. Theres a whole other world out there.
116594
Ok, when my friend told me there was this free amazon book I HAD to have, I admit I was a skeptic.  love among the chickens?-very weird!  But this book is tons of fun, with robust characters, ridiculous conversations, and enough absurdity that I found myself giggling aloud at times.  No, it's not the great literature of our times, yes it is a blast to read.  Seriously, what do you have to lose?  ONLY for people who have a sense of humor, the rest of you can skip it.
960394
My review of "77 Shadow Street" was so harsh that several review readers emailed me an chided me for my insulting attitude.  But, I stand by my belief that that book was so bad that I was justified in throwing it in the trash, rather than passing it on to a friend.  And, based on the graph on Amazon, quite a few people agreed with me.

You'll be happy to know that with this book -- "Odd Apocalypse" -- Koontz has redeemed himself with me...at least mostly.  There are a couple of things I disliked about this book.  Koontz went further into science fiction (rather than horror and/or suspense) here than I am used to, and I am not a big fan of science fiction.  But, it worked for this story...and didn't overwhelm it...so, okay.  I also didn't care at all for the absurdity of the other-worldly pigs...or whatever they were.  It might have worked better if was more like Dr. Moreau's creatures, but this just seemed a little absurd, and in my view was never really explained to any degree of satisfaction.  The book would have been better without the weird swine...or perhaps it was just filler to expand the length of the book.

Having said that, this was a pretty good story.  It was entertaining enough to hold my attention and to make me wanna know how it would end.  I have to admit that Koontz's Odd books are among his best writing because of the ... well, odd way in which he writes them.  It clever, unique, and sometimes very humorous.  Bravo for being talented enough to take on a completely different writing style from his usual.  Another thing I like about this book is that the "good guys" are worth caring about, and this include Odd, Annamaria, and the very old little boy.

So, this was a pretty good book which I will pass on to a friend.

Oh, and as an aside, I got a kick out of the Tesla angle for two reasons.  First, I now live in Colorado Springs, where Tesla did quite a bit of his work on electricity (although to my knowledge, none of this work locations survive).  And, my best friend in high school and college had a Tesla fixation, and I know the way Tesla was treated in this novel would drive him crazy.  Thanks, Dean!  :-)
4083533
You look at the title, and all you see on the cover and surface is "Northwest Angle." Duh! But this is William Kent Krueger were talking about, so my apologies to Mr. Krueger for the quick judgment. It seems like stories with the most boring or dull titles always ending up telling the best stories. So, let me rephrase my opening. You look at the title, and you see that the cover and surface announces, Northwest Angle. YES!!! Now we might be ready for another Cork OConnor adventure!

Vacations are supposed to be vacations, and that means you exhale your bad thoughts out, and inhale good thoughts. Right? Well, this happens to be a Cork OConnor and family vacation, and a derecho, a unique storm system, tests that theory rather quickly. As if that weren't enough, when Cork and his oldest daughter, Jenny, are alone, something far beyond the storm comes into play in the form of a teenage girl who has been viciously murdered. But without warning, there is whimpering, and that whimpering happens to carry a baby boy that Jenny falls in love with. Now, this might be a precious baby to Jenny and her family, but to others, this is a stupid baby that needs to be eliminated. Cork and his family are determined to keep this little fellow alive, even if Aaron, her poetic boyfriend, is not so keen on kids.

Cork, Jenny, Annie, Stephen, and the rest of his family, in-laws Mal and Rose, seem to be getting great help from a man named Seth. The Lake of the Woods is an interesting place, but getting answers isn't nearly as easy as Cork and company would want it to be, and their questions eventually take them to Northwest Angle. It is called Northwest Angle because it is the northernmost point in the United States within the 48 states, with twists and turns that would drive people crazy. But whats even crazy is the Church of Seven Trumpets, out in the middle of nowhere, that seem to be anything but Biblical.

Northwest Angle is an interesting title that raises eyebrows, or maybe just seems to be plain dull. Either  way, this is by far, one of the best novels within the Cork OConnor series. There was nothing boring about Northwest Angle to me, and I just cant wait for Tricksters Point!
486127
I started reading this story, and thought I knew what was going on, but remarkably I found myself reading another story altogether, one which got wackier and stranger by the chapter. That is not ipso facto bad, BTW. Interesting, yes. But I never really got caught up in the plot or the characters. However, there were plenty of surprises and that IMHO is good. What the heck, try it, see if it works for you. It certainly is not boring.
1322060
Well I have to say this is one of the more interesting trance albums I have.  "Out of the blue" wasn't chosen as a title for no reason.  One moment you're hearing some of his greatest trance and the next you're hearing some sort of heavy metal rock.  So... it's not continuously mixed and it's a little strange.  He definately didn't even try to make the mixing flow.  I can tell you that some people won't like this aspect of the disk.  I like the originality, and I kind of like the "wtf? this is sorta really cool and sorta really f&cked up."  During a couple points in the disk it breaks into some really hilarious sounding foreign comedian.  I had no clue what he was saying but I was still laughing.  It has some really nice tracks on it, though.  Indian Summer is one track that stood out in my mind.  I've heard a few or more of these already, I think.  Anyways, really nice, refreshing tracks.

Not for everyone, but I loved it.  Not many trance albums make me laugh. :)  Pretty strong 5 for me.

***  EDIT:  There seems to be more than one version of this disk!  Based on the other peoples' reviews, I'm thinking that the one I reviewed isn't the same as the one they reviewed.  The version I found recently doesn't have the foriegn comedians, random heavy metal + oldies, etc...  I'd still give this second version a 5.
4542711
I found this book meandering, both in writing and plot; for some that might be a good thing. For those that enjoy this brand of storytelling, there are spaceship loads of humor and silliness. I would think it would be an apt description to call this book, `Monty Python in Space'.

Call me a dull fuddy-duddy or a juvenile idiot, but I've never laughed aloud at trolls inquiring about quests or ministers seeking silly walks. It's not my thing. And for the record--my guilty admission--I don't see the humor of a protagonist mishandling the word `inconceivable', as in certain other Americanized comedies. Maybe I'm low brow, appreciating only crude and dark humor; this sophisticated stuff is lost on me. Silly? Yes. Laugh out loud funny? Not so much.

That's where I'm at with this book. There's plenty of clever dialogue, faulty sentence coordination, and witty word play for everyone--just not me. I'll continue to allow my humor to fester with scrotums and flatulence, thank you very much.