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A review by xterminal
Misadventures in a Thumbnail Universe by Vincent W. Sakowski
4.0
Vincent W. Sakowski, Misadventures in a Thumbnail Universe (Eraserhead Press, 2007)
Vincent W. Sakowski is a young, somewhat cracked, Canadian writer who works in a realm he calls “blender fiction”, as in “take influences x, y, and z, put them in a blender, and see what you come up with.” What you come up with is very weird indeed, but don't let that stop you from picking this up. When Vincent W. Sakowski is good, he is very very good. When he is bad... I don't know, because there's not a bad story to be found in this book.
Sure, there are the gems and there are those that are less gem-like, but it's all good reads. I was going along okay, enjoying but not being completely sucked into the worlds Sakowski was creating in these stories (though Sakowski mentions in his afterword that “Television Shoes” is set in the same universe as an earlier novel of his, which definitely makes me want to go back and read that). They suffer from the same problem, early on, that I have with a number of bizarro authors; I can't really find enough emotional depth in the characters to push me into really caring for them, because the pieces, be they stories or novels, are so short that there's not enough time for that to develop. All that changes, however, when you get to “The Other Side of the Fence”, as good a short story as I've read in recent memory, and one where Sakowski uses the bizarre surroundings in which he sets his character to do more than be bizarre. Yes, it's all allegory, but it all works, and works very well. Even if “The Other Side of the Fence” had been the only story to reach the heights it does in the book, I'd be telling you that you need to go buy this thing posthaste.
And then comes “See Emily Play?”. And it will roll over your head with a steamshovel and you will ask for more. Aside form the utterly gratuitous Pink Floyd reference in the title (and that can never be a bad thing), the story itself is an odd and entirely wonderful blend of steampunk, “Jabberwocky”, and Jacqueline Susann that must be read to be believed. If you're not used to bizarro trappings, it may take you a while to adjust to some of the odder set pieces Sakowski uses in these stories, but once you've connected with that particular vein, it's wonderful stuff, well worth your time, and Sakowski, with this volume, plants himself at the top of the bizarro heap with Forrest Armstrong and Andersen Prunty as “most likely to become a rock star (even if of the Hard Core Logo variety)”. You want this. ****
Vincent W. Sakowski is a young, somewhat cracked, Canadian writer who works in a realm he calls “blender fiction”, as in “take influences x, y, and z, put them in a blender, and see what you come up with.” What you come up with is very weird indeed, but don't let that stop you from picking this up. When Vincent W. Sakowski is good, he is very very good. When he is bad... I don't know, because there's not a bad story to be found in this book.
Sure, there are the gems and there are those that are less gem-like, but it's all good reads. I was going along okay, enjoying but not being completely sucked into the worlds Sakowski was creating in these stories (though Sakowski mentions in his afterword that “Television Shoes” is set in the same universe as an earlier novel of his, which definitely makes me want to go back and read that). They suffer from the same problem, early on, that I have with a number of bizarro authors; I can't really find enough emotional depth in the characters to push me into really caring for them, because the pieces, be they stories or novels, are so short that there's not enough time for that to develop. All that changes, however, when you get to “The Other Side of the Fence”, as good a short story as I've read in recent memory, and one where Sakowski uses the bizarre surroundings in which he sets his character to do more than be bizarre. Yes, it's all allegory, but it all works, and works very well. Even if “The Other Side of the Fence” had been the only story to reach the heights it does in the book, I'd be telling you that you need to go buy this thing posthaste.
And then comes “See Emily Play?”. And it will roll over your head with a steamshovel and you will ask for more. Aside form the utterly gratuitous Pink Floyd reference in the title (and that can never be a bad thing), the story itself is an odd and entirely wonderful blend of steampunk, “Jabberwocky”, and Jacqueline Susann that must be read to be believed. If you're not used to bizarro trappings, it may take you a while to adjust to some of the odder set pieces Sakowski uses in these stories, but once you've connected with that particular vein, it's wonderful stuff, well worth your time, and Sakowski, with this volume, plants himself at the top of the bizarro heap with Forrest Armstrong and Andersen Prunty as “most likely to become a rock star (even if of the Hard Core Logo variety)”. You want this. ****