A review by barb4ry1
Rico Slade Will Fucking Kill You by Bradley Sands

3.0

Sometimes the good guy rips out innocent people’s throats. That’s just something the world needs to live with if it wants the good guy to keep saving the day

I have never paid much attention to bizarro fiction. Hard to say why. In theory, a blend of grotesque imagery, absurd humor and surrealism should work well for me. In practice, though? It depends. It really, really depends. On the book and on my mood.

Few days ago I made a list of crazy book titles. Rico Slade Will Fucking Kill You was on that list. And when I saw the cover I knew, I simply knew I needed to read it.

Rico Slade is a hero. People love him. The thing is Rico doesn’t really exist. Rico is a movie persona played by Chip Johnson. Being an actor, wearing masks (more than one), dealing with movie director is stressful. Too stressful. The lines between fiction and reality become blurred and Chip becomes Rico.

While the life goes on as usual, Chip/Rico perceives normal situations in warped, borderline schizoid way. In his mind, people walking down the streets become his movie sidekicks or foes. For example his lover George turns into villainous Baron Mayhem and his therapist Harold into his sidekick Joe Pesci.

Rico wants to save the world. In movies, he’s a weapon of mass destruction and that’s precisely what he brings to streets of Hollywood. He rips throats out. He throws fucking punches in the fucking faces because that’s who he is.

The book is short and quite simple on the outside – we follow Rico who’s set loose on the streets. There’s a lot (A LOT) of violence, explicit sexual content (although it’s more grotesque than really erotic/pornographic) and foul language.

The prose is simple, especially in the first chapter when almost every sentence starts with Rico’s name:

Rico Slade doesn’t want to see pictures of your dead relatives. Rico Slade doesn’t care about the political climate or who won last night’s game. Rico Slade just wants to sip on a drink with a tiny umbrella and enjoy his flight. Rico Slade has racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles. Rico Slade has a lot of time to kill.

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After a while this stylistic choice works pretty well. Not everyone will dig it, but I think in places this language simplicity was used in brilliant ways. It works well in implying Chip’s mental confusion.

The approach to celebrity cult is mocking and grotesque. Some of the scenes are ultra-violent or, simply, gross. I guess it’s part of Bizarro (anti)aesthetique?

All in all, it’s definitely clever book. If you read it literally, you won’t like it. If, however, you enjoy absurd humor and aren’t easily offended, you may find parts of this book hilarious.

In the end, I’m not sure how to rate it. I sort of liked it – or maybe my brain was too shocked to stop reading? It’s definitely an oddity but I read it in one sitting. It wasn’t always nice experience but it definitely was an experience I’ll remember for a while.