Cosmic Banditos

by Allan C. Weisbecker

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Soon to be a major motion picture starring John Cusack! Mr. Quark is a down-on-his luck pot-smuggler hiding out in the mountains of Colombia with his dog, High Pockets, and a small band of banditos led by the irascible Jose. Only months before, these three and their fearless associates were rolling in millions in cash and high-grade marijuana, eluding prosecution on "ridiculously false" drug and terrorism charges. But times have quickly grown lean, and to liven up their exile, Jose decides show more to mug a family of American tourists. Among the spoils are physics texts, which launch Mr. Quark on a side-splitting, boisterous adventure north to California, where he confronts the owner of the books with his own theories on relativity, the nature of the universe, and looking for the meaning of life in all the wrong places.... show less

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7 reviews
A daft romp around Columbia, California and other places in clapped out vehicles in a permanently drugged out and drunk state, guns and grenades, with implausible outcomes. A senseless tale of a man obsessed with the nature of quantum physics. Very reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson's books. Funny but pointless. The Foreword, footnotes, and Epilogue all provide additional fun to the book.
Easily the best novel that I have read in a long time. The cover is deceiving. When I saw it in the bookstore "Book Miser" (a stupid name for a bookstore) I at first thought it might be a book intended for pre-teens (because of the cartoon-like cover). But scanning through it, seeing the profanity and mention of drugs, physics, machine guns, and sex, I knew that it was indeed not intended for pre-teens. It is very Hunter S. Thompson-ish, with all of the drugs and guns and drinking, but it is even funnier that Thompson (and better, in my opinion). His relationships with his dog High Pockets (family) and Jose (best friend) are charming and well written. The physics and philosophy make the book though. Lots of talk of quarks, atoms, show more subatomic particles, existence, and the meaning of life. Great book! I am surprised that I had never heard of it before. I am also surprised it isn't a cult classic. It would also make a great movie. show less
Humorous, very silly novel about a couple of dufus drug smugglers, a la Cheech and Chong or the Big Lubowski. A quick read, lots of funny lines, with a humorous motif about quantum physics (yes, you heard right). Not very linear, sometimes a little incoherent, but it's all meant to be in fun. Recommended for brainless beach reading, but little else.
This book is a perfect blend of comedy, action and quantum physics wrapped together in a writing style that sucks you in. I don't think I have laughed out load so much whilst reading any other book, but at the same time there were sections I had to re-read to fully understand the implications. It also has the best use of footnotes I have ever seen in a novel.
½
Based on the reviews about this book, I decided to check it out. There is an Internet site that has the first 4 chapters online, so I read a couple of the chapters and could not stop laughing. So I bought the book. Then I read the rest. This book is not bad by any means, but it is hampered by Weisbecker's inside jokes and heavy handed humor. A little subtlety really does go a long way, but I don't think Weisbecker knows that. The last few chapters read like one of Hunter S. Thompson's articles and that's not necessarily a complement. The story just takes huge leaps in logic that are hard to reconcile. I would recommend this book to people who are sci-fi fans or love Monty Python, but the rest of you may want to check it out before buying.
A blend of comedy, action and quantum physics. Made me laugh out loud.
marijuana, humor, surfing, adventure, buddies, Kerouac,

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3+ Works 503 Members
Allan Weisbecker's writings and photographs have appeared in Smithsonian, Men's Journal, Popular Photography, American Photo, Sailing, Surfer, Surfing, and The Surfer's Journal

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Common Knowledge

Original title
Cosmic Banditos
Original publication date
1986
Important places*
Colombia
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Religion & Spirituality, History, Fiction and Literature, Science Fiction
DDC/MDS
813.54Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English1900-19991945-1999
LCC
PS3573 .E3979 .C67Language and LiteratureAmerican literatureAmerican literatureIndividual authors1961-
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Statistics

Members
277
Popularity
116,003
Reviews
7
Rating
(3.98)
Languages
7 — English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Spanish, Turkish
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
20
UPCs
1
ASINs
2