|
|
Loading... Nitt-Witt Ridge: A Big Sur Freak Fable (2007)| 10 | 1 | 1,850,339 | 
(5) | None | Philo has had a happy childhood, growing up along the Big Sur coastline in Pine Bluff, California. Life takes a turn for the perverse, however, when his hippie father, Harley, discovers the chemical compound for Blissful Living Love-Radiance of Infinite Divine Being. As self-experimenting Harley soon finds out, the new drug has some undesirable side effects: specifically, it turns people into roosters with an ungovernable lust for trees. When Harley escapes to the sensuous pleasures of the forest, vowing to never set foot on the ground again, Philo finds a surrogate father in Captain Nitt-Witt--the ancient, eccentric creator of the infamous folk art castle known as Nitt-Witt Ridge. During a summer apprenticeship with the Captain, Philo learns to practice Zen meditation and the manly art of trout fishing. But when a sanctimonious robo-rooster decides to wage a terrorist campaign against the citizens of Pine Bluff during the annual Helldorado Parade, it falls to Philo and the Captain to put an end to the violence by confronting the twisted family mystery that lurks behind the killer's chrome-plated beak."Crash Gordon delivers this unprecedented and extraordinary Zen koan-like novel with a voice as confident and alluring as the ancient Greek philosophers, but with much more humor.... Featuring an unpredictable cast of characters, this short but bittersweet psychedelic semi-autobiography is considerably more grassroots and elemental than anything by Richard Brautigan and is hipper, trippier, and trendier than Jakucho Setouchi. Listen... the flaming "crotch-o-lantern" is not the craziest thing you'll read about in this book, nor are the exploding canines, or the befeathered chrome-metallic serial-killer.... For all of these things and more I think you, yes you, should purchase a copy of Nitt-Witt Ridge today and devour it. In the process you'll become--something more than you were!"--The Alternative… (more) |
▾Will you like it?
Loading...
 Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. ▾Conversations (About links) No current Talk conversations about this book. ▾Series and work relationships Is a (non-series) prequel to
|
|
| Canonical title |
|
| Original title |
|
| Alternative titles |
|
| Original publication date |
|
| People/Characters |
|
| Important places |
|
| Important events |
|
| Related movies |
|
| Epigraph |
|
| Dedication |
In Memory of Art Beal
(1896 - 1992)
the original Captain Nitt-Witt  | |
|
| First words |
When Harley Marndog and Calliope Kolankiewicz were married, Harley’s grandfather, J. Milford Marndog, gave them the deed to a modest hog farming operation on twenty acres of redwood-forested land outside of Pine Bluff—an old mining town turned tourist trap on the high cliffs of the California coastline just south of Big Sur. | |
|
| Quotations |
|
| Last words |
|
| Disambiguation notice |
|
| Publisher's editors |
|
| Blurbers |
|
| Original language |
|
| Canonical DDC/MDS |
|
| Canonical LCC |
|
▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English
None ▾Book descriptions Philo has had a happy childhood, growing up along the Big Sur coastline in Pine Bluff, California. Life takes a turn for the perverse, however, when his hippie father, Harley, discovers the chemical compound for Blissful Living Love-Radiance of Infinite Divine Being. As self-experimenting Harley soon finds out, the new drug has some undesirable side effects: specifically, it turns people into roosters with an ungovernable lust for trees. When Harley escapes to the sensuous pleasures of the forest, vowing to never set foot on the ground again, Philo finds a surrogate father in Captain Nitt-Witt--the ancient, eccentric creator of the infamous folk art castle known as Nitt-Witt Ridge. During a summer apprenticeship with the Captain, Philo learns to practice Zen meditation and the manly art of trout fishing. But when a sanctimonious robo-rooster decides to wage a terrorist campaign against the citizens of Pine Bluff during the annual Helldorado Parade, it falls to Philo and the Captain to put an end to the violence by confronting the twisted family mystery that lurks behind the killer's chrome-plated beak."Crash Gordon delivers this unprecedented and extraordinary Zen koan-like novel with a voice as confident and alluring as the ancient Greek philosophers, but with much more humor.... Featuring an unpredictable cast of characters, this short but bittersweet psychedelic semi-autobiography is considerably more grassroots and elemental than anything by Richard Brautigan and is hipper, trippier, and trendier than Jakucho Setouchi. Listen... the flaming "crotch-o-lantern" is not the craziest thing you'll read about in this book, nor are the exploding canines, or the befeathered chrome-metallic serial-killer.... For all of these things and more I think you, yes you, should purchase a copy of Nitt-Witt Ridge today and devour it. In the process you'll become--something more than you were!"--The Alternative ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
| Book description |
Philo has had a happy childhood, growing up along the Big Sur coastline in Pine Bluff, California. Life takes a turn for the perverse, however, when his hippie father, Harley—an amateur psychopharmacologist—discovers the chemical compound for Blissful Living Love-Radiance of Infinite Divine Being. As self-experimenting Harley soon finds out, the new drug has some undesirable side effects: specifically, it turns people into roosters with an ungovernable lust for trees. When Harley escapes to the sensuous pleasures of the forest, vowing to never set foot on the ground again, Philo finds a surrogate father in Captain Nitt-Witt—the ancient, eccentric creator of the infamous beer-can-and-abalone-shell castle known as Nitt-Witt Ridge. During a summer apprenticeship with the Captain, Philo learns to practice Zen meditation and the art of trout fishing. But when a sanctimonious robo-rooster decides to wage a terrorist campaign against the gentle citizens of Pine Bluff during the annual Helldorado Parade, it falls to Philo and the Captain to put an end to the violence by confronting the twisted family mystery that lurks behind the killer’s chrome-plated beak. | |
|
|
Current DiscussionsNone Google Books — Loading...
RatingAverage: (5)| 0.5 | | | 1 | | | 1.5 | | | 2 | | | 2.5 | | | 3 | | | 3.5 | | | 4 | | | 4.5 | | | 5 |  3 |
|
Crash Gordon
Three Graces Press
2007
212 pages
A book review (of sorts):
Recipe for a maniacal romp through a Dada-esque Wonderland.
1. One antagonist: A sadistic serial-killing black and chrome lizard-rooster (disguised as an evil mother-in-law or, as a tremendous robotic chicken [and the phallic implications here are legion]) - Check
2. Two unsung and unlikely heroes: Philo the flying wonder owl-boy and his dad, Harley, the absent, tree-habitating naturalist – Check
3. One ancient soul: The sage, unparagoned Captain Nitt-Witt himself, Art Beal - Check
4. A pinch of hallucinogenic wonderment: The smoke from an exploding hamster (inhaled voraciously) and the rare Ecuadorian bonsai papaya tree bud (ingest two only) - Double Check
5. Stir in a mixed bag of offbeat, avant-garde characters: Imagine the combined characters from Cannonball Run, the Island of Doctor Moreau, and the WWF Wrestling Federation and you begin to skim the top - Check
6. Crank up a full portion of mood music: Led Zeppelin IV (preferably on vinyl) - Check
7. Add 4 ozs. of absinthe and a few Carlsberg Elephant malts - Check
Mix them all together in the climax at the Helldorado parade in the dead of summer and…
Viola !!!
Nitt-Witt Ridge
Crash Gordon delivers this unprecedented and extraordinary Zen Koan-like novel with a voice as confident and alluring as the ancient Greek philosophers, but with much more humor. This is a solid offering from a first-time author who has the voice of a more mature author. Featuring an unpredictable cast of characters this short but bittersweet psychedelic, semi-autobiography is considerably more grassroots and elemental than anything by Richard Brautigan and is hipper, tripier, and trendier than Jakucho Setouchi. Listen… the flaming “crotch-o-lantern” is not the craziest thing you’ll read in this book, nor are the exploding canines, or the befeathered chrome-metallic serial-killer. Did I mention that the story climaxes in a duel between our heroes and a psycho-killer using unlikely weapons like a Husqvarna 268 chainsaw and a carving knife?
On a more serious note I must say that you will discover the entire range of human emotions in this story.
Both the Yin and the Yang are represented here. There is a profound sense of loss and abandonment layered throughout (especially in chapters 22, 23 and the last two). There is angst and anger which is deep and believable but tempered by the promise of the good to come. There is also the tender beauty of earned redemption, found love, new hope and unexplored life. For all of these things and more I think you, yes you, should purchase a copy of Nitt-Witt Ridge today and devour it. In the process you’ll become – something more than you were!
Art Beal, wherever he may be, certainly met a kindred soul in Crash Gordon. I think he'd approve. I know I do!
5 out of 5 stars
The Alternative
Southeast, Wisconsin (