Jordan Krall

This book is now definitely one of my favorite works by Jordan Krall. The Lovecraftian title is, perhaps, a bit misleading, as none of the usual tropes show up; no elder gods or cultists, no dreamlands, resurrectionists, or alien beings. Krall introduces the 'other' in a much more subtle and insidious way; by placing us in a jigsaw puzzle of people, places, and events where not only are the pieces scattered, but the image on the box perpetually shifts and changes. There are glimmers of show more something recognizable, but the whole image remains mutable and obscured. Elements familiar to his work, like poetic, almost musical repetitions and variations, and the structurally experimental chapters come in to play, but the stories overall do take a far more linear approach, which makes this a good starting-point to new readers as well. Highly recommended for fans of unsettling weird fiction. show less

While Kevin seems to be just another single guy with a cat, in Piecemeal June, (Eraserhead Press, January 2008) Bizarro author Jordan Krall has a lot in store for his unwitting and rather sweet protagonist.

In a regular world, Kevin modestly lives above a porn shop, works at a pet store and has a friend who has yet to get a handle on being an adult. It’s from an alternative world of mutilated human body parts and three crab-monsters who enjoy nothing more than chomping on puppy legs like show more humans do pork rinds where June, the sex-doll is created. When Kevin’s cat, Mithra randomly brings her disjointed parts home, Kevin glues the pieces together and his mundane life is transformed.

What moves the book along is Krall’s ability to both disgust and fascinate his readers with imagery that is perverse and downright dirty in one paragraph, and vaguely romantic the next. The reader gets a sense from the beginning what is happening in Kevin’s town, while it takes him the entire book to see it, let alone even try to grasp some understanding of it. That being said, Krall still manages to have a bit of a stun-factor in the end, leaving one to go back and flip through the pages to find the hidden pieces that were there the entire time.

Short, yet not as simple as you’d think, Jordan Krall’s Piecemeal June is as provocative as it is sentimental, leaving love to grace the pages just as much as the bodily fluids. Don’t be surprised if you feel the need to rub one out right along with Macchu, Bacchu, and Frank. show less

Upon reading the title, your first thought may be “What exactly is an Apocalypse Donkey?” For the answer to this question, please call 1-800-APOCADONK.

Okay, so my first thought on reading Beyond the Valley of the Apocalypse Donkeys by Jordan Krall was that the author needs to lay off the acid for a bit. This one gets weird. Like, really weird. But then again, it has to. How else can you fit nudists, donkey masks, green hummingbirds, and blueberry pancakes in the same narrative?

Henry show more delivers sporting goods to a nudist colony for his uncle, Vincent. As such, he's allowed to periodically “hang out” (get it?), and at one points meets an older woman wearing a donkey mask which she never takes off. While the two have their tryst (she's cheating on her ex-dare-devil husband, Bill, although he's well aware of her infidelity, not to mention his own), Henry is also dealing with Gary, who believes (i.e., obsessed) that Henry could get him a copy of one of the rarest movies in existence, “The Apocalypse Donkey.” A murder, a kidnapping, a not-quite orgy, a director's cut, blueberry pancakes, and general mayhem later, and you're left asking “What did I just read?”

But the thing is, like “The Apocalypse Donkey” and blueberry pancakes, it sticks with you. You keep reading, wondering where it's going, and afterwords you keep thinking about it and wonder where it went. This is the mark of a good writer, making you continue to think about the book long after it's done. Like blueberry pancakes, you'll keep digesting it over and over. And in the end, you realize things really couldn't have gone any other way.

When reading this book, you'll also need to be sure that you read the Afterword by Matthew Revert. This is a little gem tucked in at the end that I'm concerned being an Afterword will get largely ignored by many who read the book. Written as an alternate history and telling the tale of the “original” Jordan Krall (as explained in the Foreword) and production and publication of the Beyond the Valley of the Apocalypse Donkeys, the best way I can describe it is “mind-numbingly hysterical.”

Beyond the Valley of the Apocalypse Donkeys by Jordan Krall earns 4 out of 5 stars. show less

“It was like Lord Dunsany screwing William Burroughs on top of Thomas Ligotti's thesaurus in a fever dream.”

Despite the title, Prelude to SPACE RAPE! by Jordan Krall is not what you think it is. It's actually the surprisingly lighthearted journey of an individual with writing aspirations seeking out one of his idols while being pursued by Outer Space itself which wants to...well, you know...

When Paul peruses a bookstore, he comes across the Bizarronomicon, the Book of Space Codes, and a show more book by Don Patchogue. The Book of Space Codes becomes especially troubling to Paul as it seems to be nothing but randomness throughout, but ends with a dire warning. Paul, ignoring this warning, becomes obsessed with the works of Don Patchogue, enough to try and seek him out at his home in Pink Meat, New Jersey to interview him and write a biography. However, Pink Meat is in the grip of a serial killer. And Paul is being pursued by Outer Space, which seems to be shooting sticky, destructive globs at him. Yes, all this and more is crammed into this short book. There's indeed something about this book that feels very Vonnegutesque, if Kurt Vonnegut wrote bizarro fiction.

This is probably one of Krall's funnier works. I couldn't help but chuckle at a few parts. I'm not sure if he really intended it to be this funny, but it worked well that way. It's certainly a dark humor, to be sure, not to mention generally in bad taste, but humor nonetheless. The general tone and themes of the book are definitely departures from Krall's other works.

Yes, there are questions left unanswered, but this is a “prelude” afterall, not the full story itself. Wink wink nudge nudge Krall makes it evident from the beginning that there are things that will not be answered or wrapped up with a neat little bow at the end because this is simply a prelude that will be continued in the SPACE RAPE Saga (whether this is serious or just a cop out because he didn't feel like wrapping things up is uncertain; it's always kind of hard to tell with Krall), but the story works all the same. Also, the limited cast helps and prevents the story from going too far out of control.

It's very short, so I can't say much more about it, but for what it's worth, it also earns the highest rating I've given to Krall's books so far. It's hard to find much to fault about it, but it still feels like it comes up just short of a perfect score.

Prelude to SPACE RAPE! by Jordan Krall earns 4.5 Bizarronomicons out of 5. show less