Storm Chasers’ Truck ‘Smashed to Bits’The three storm chasers killed while tracking a massive twister in Oklahoma died “doing what they loved,” Tim Samaras’ brother said on his Facebook Sunday night. A jarring image of the flattened car that they were riding in sheds new light on their final moments. Authorities say the truck was [...]
Storm Chasers’ Truck ‘Smashed to Bits’
The three storm chasers killed while tracking a massive twister in Oklahoma died “doing what they loved,” Tim Samaras’ brother said on his Facebook Sunday night. A jarring image of the flattened car that they were riding in sheds new light on their final moments. Authorities say the truck was
Grape City
Meet Charles, a demon forced to work shitty minimum wage jobs ever since Hell went out of business. He now lives in Grape City, which would be the worst place on Earth, provided all other cities weren’t just as bad. While adjusting to his new way of life, Charles passes the time by writing emails to Satan, going on blind dates with mortal women, and attempting to fit in with human society . . . unfortunately society is a mess of chaotic absurdities in which hack-raping and bang-murdering are cultural norms.”
Customer Review: When there’s no more room in Hell…they frost the windows and hang up the “Closed” sign
Actually, in Kevin L. Donihe’s Grape City, Hell closes because the Earth has become so appalling, Hell can no longer hold a candle. This is a topic I’ve believed for many years and it’s nice to see someone else vocalize it.
Charles, a re-named ex-9th circle demon, lives in Grape City where he now divvies up his time between Tony’s Used Cars and Burger Hut. He emails Satan, watches some TV, and does a little people gawking. These are the things his humdrum life now consist of. And he is completely disgusted with the state of the world.
In the catalog that accompanies nearly every Bizarro book, Donihe’s distinguishing factor is said to be his humor. More than a few times I found myself laughing out loud at the odd juxtapositions Charles and the other demons found themselves in.
Donihe also has a gift for evoking pathos. As a reader, you really do feel sympathy for these once grand rulers of the netherworld. Sure, they used to torture damned souls for what they thought would be eternity, but as Charles points out, there was a reason and a purpose. The humans left on Earth have devolved to the lowest common denominator and torture the demons sent to live there for no other reason than they’re being different.
In the best works of Bizarro, you can usually find an underlying message or bit of social criticism amongst the surreal mayhem. In Grape City’s case, Donihe’s message seems to be a critique on our society’s ongoing racism and xenophobia in a post-911 world. Charles is verbally baited several times during the story and has to mentally calm himself to avoid lashing out. There is even a Bizarro-version of the running of the bulls in which ex-demons are paid to run through the streets of Grape City and avoid being caught and tortured by the city folk.
I only had two minor qualms with this book. The ending was very abrupt and though I’d have liked to keep reading about Charles and his exploits, the sudden ending seemed more a problem of pacing. The first four chapters moved along at a steady consistent pace and then the last two doubled or even tripled speed. While that can usually occur at the climax of a story it felt like there were some things left on the writing room floor that needed to be re-inserted. The other minor quibble concerned typos. I read several Bizarro books and this is the only one that I’ve noticed at least one or two extra or left out words per chapter. It’s not a big thing, but it can be distracting after the author has gone to great lengths to create this surreal world with its own inner logic and the reader is pulled out by something as mundane as typos. But it happens.
Overall, I’d highly recommend Grape City to the neophyte and veteran alike. This is my first experience with Mr. Donihe’s work and it won’t be my last.
Customer Review: Weak Attempt – IMO
Okay, definitely an interesting idea for this short little piece…However, I noticed a huge trade off from purpose and story to pure weirdness. The bizzare happenings of the novel seemed far too exaggerated and leave this novella ultimately “quirky” at best.
A creative author, it seems, but if you’re trying to show us the madness of men by holding up a demon for comparison — put him in a realistic city! Let him interact with regular people, let him navigate the insanity of a New York city. Instead, we get a ridiculous “future” city that loses the reader.
When it comes down to it, Grape City seems to me, to be a personal work for the author himself. What it needs, is a good editor to keep his wild mind on track and produce a story that means something to the audience.
Bread and Wine Translated from the Italian by Gwenda David and Eric Mosbacher
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