Rating: Summary: Don't look at the ending, until you are actually AWARE! Review: I honestly did not know what to expect from this book. I ordered it on a fluke, and what i read morphed into something i won't forget, that is, unless i want to sleepwalk the rest of my life like a zombie! Could not put the book down, and the ending well, influenced a radical change in my apartment. I hope he keeps pummeling out the ideas, but he would NOT write like this, if THIS LIFE was interesting. His eccentric ability to combine random free thought, throughout the book, stretches your perceptions on what you accept, or think is life. Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Religious Drive Bys, rarely leave their readers still standing in the middle of the road. If you are smart you make it to the other side, or the end. However his end, which he aptly puts, is for most people, their end.
Rating: Summary: Awesome Review: I really enjoyed this novel. It shows off a young author trying to do something different. I thought it was the perfect mix of imagery, humor and punk rock. I know some people will not like the ending but I actually laughed aloud and that was probably the desired effect. This book is where Mellick excels the most, quick and strange fiction. This is a great Mellick book to start with. I recommend it to anyone, my only complaint was the cover, for some reason it was annoying, but oh well.
Rating: Summary: Vonnegut, Burroughs, Lovecraft: STAND ASIDE! Review: Mellick is like all of my favorite authors rolled into one. He's got an entertaining matter-of-fact style like Kurt Vonnegut, he's got the balls-out craziness of William Burroughs, and he's got the tentacled horror of H. P. Lovecraft. What else can you ask for? Besides that, his books are anti-mainstream avant-punkness directed at psuedofreaks and intellectual animal pornographers. He writes some pretty weird stuff that is funny, dark, and disturbing all at the same time. He's also is a big fan of trashy films by Troma and John Waters as well as Asian Cult movies. You can see the influence. Did I mention he's my hero?
As for Satan Burger, it is one great book. This is the one that gets him compared to Vonnegut and Chuck Palahniuk on a regular basis. And he wrote it when he was 20 years old! One part counter-cultural absurdism, one part black humor, one part surreal horror. It's about a whole lot of things, but mostly it is about another version of the modern day where a city in New Canada (the 51st state) has become inhabited by thousands of different species of aliens due to a doorway that has opened up in the center of town.
It might just be my new favorite book. Though I'm pretty sure Carlton Mellick III will write an even better book someday that will then be my favorite book of all time. I've read other books by Carlton Mellick III and will review them. They are somewhat different than this one and just as good in their own ways but I think Satan Burger outshines them in the humor department which is what I like.
Rating: Summary: totality Mr. T Review: One of the best books i have read in looooonnnnnggg time
Rating: Summary: The World in a Nutshell Review: Satan Burger is an anti-novel. :) It is print on paper, yet it posesses an intangible quality unseen anywhere else. Best of all, it's unpretentious. Carlton Mellick III has to be one of the most talented and imaginative authors ever, silently ranking with the luminaries of our time. :) The novel itself is a highly reflective walkthrough of life, subtly highlighting the inadequacies of humans in a surreal universe. But no, it is not a haphazard rant of anarchist emotions, but a vinyl tapestry of wit, insight and unadulterated storytelling. There is no suitable genre to filter this book through, as it is life distilled into prose. :) A meaning to this book will escape everyone on the first read. Gradually, through time and effort, would someone take the first step into Carlton Mellick's wacky but sacred world of aliens, fast-food and demons. The experience is not to be missed.
Rating: Summary: have their souls sucked into oblivion Review: Satan Burger is set in a weird reality where people stop dying and have their souls sucked into oblivion and apathy. The story has some very interesting twists and the theme of the story is that oblivion may be preferable to perfection. I won't go into too many details about the story, but some interesting notes about the story are that the characters become overwhelmed by refugees from the whalm, this city in the middle of nowhere becomes overpopulated in the sting of a few chapters, and the narrator's friend dies and his body parts come back to life. A very different and interesting read.
Rating: Summary: mmmMMMMM! Satan burgers! Review: Squishy, batter-dipped, soul-stealing cheeseburgers are deep-fried by our own resident homosexual ex-arch angel himself, Satan, while an overweight, lard-bellied messiah scrubs the bathroom floors with a crusty mop and bucket. Behind the counter stand your servers, consisting of a pierced and tattooed skin-head babe and an Asian kid who thinks he's a pirate. Aaargh! It's your modern day family restaurant! Just beware of the living, breathing demon-possessed appliances and the scorpion flies hovering above, waiting to paralyze you. Better get yourself a female baboon! Most books can't hold my attention for long. I consider myself more film oriented. But CM3's "Satan Burger" has breathed new life into a long dead literary world for me. This book is captivating and humorous like no book I've read before, and shows what a little style and imagination can do. This anti-novel should be required reading for all the *shrugging* school systems in America! Now, pass the ketchup.
Rating: Summary: Just Too Silly Review: There were some downright funny moments in this book. Regretfully, they were few and far between. For the most part, it was just a rambling exercise of imagination. Much of its perspective seemed juvenile, which is to be expected; he wrote it while very young. I'm sure his newer work is much improved.
Rating: Summary: one of a kind Review: This author is definitely my favorite. There's just nobody like him. I plan on following his career from start to finish if I live that long. He's like a William Burroughs in the making. Satan Burger is a religious comedy. Most likely influenced by Monty Python or Douglas Adams. But it is also very strange and beautiful. The plot is complex, which is a good thing. It's about a group of non-conformist 'young ones' who are fighting to survive in a chaotic godless city. Every chapter reveals a new and interesting fact about the world these characters live in. It seems that almost every paragraph opens the imagination to new ideas. Some of the ideas are funny and some are smart. Its just a one of a kind book. The last reviewer called this book 'just a rambling exercise of imagination'. I agree, but I think that's a good thing. That's how I'd describe books by Vonnegut, Burroughs, Pynchon, Wolfe, and all my other favorite authors. If you're over the age of 35 you probably won't love this book. You have to relate to the non-conformist 'young one' type, like I do. In my library, this book is a classic. I also recommend Carlton Mellick's 'Razor Wire Pubic Hair'. It's just brilliant.
Rating: Summary: The best ending ever! Review: This book left me shaking. I could almost feel the narrator's soul being sucked from his body at the end of the book. All those blank pages made me feel cold. I don't understand how some people didn't get it. It's not a puzzle or anything. The book is enjoying to read and very entertaining even during its darker moments. I've bought most of Mellick III's books. This one isn't his best, but definitely the most fun to read.
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