A review by uncle_duke
Smashed, Squashed, Splattered, Chewed, Chunked and Spewed by Lance Carbuncle

5.0

After reading GRUNDISH + ASKEW, I had to get SMASHED (+ QUASHED, SPLATTERED, CHEWED, CHUNKED and SPEWED.) It is an absolutely terrific debut work from The Dr. Reverend Lance Carbuncle. His self-described "aburdist" literature (I presume that would be "Abs-Lit" in Book-Speak) threatens an unrelenting simultaneous assault on all sensibilities - humor, horror, entertainment, mystery, revulsion, amazement, comedy, tragedy, gastric + even the psychic. And, the good doctor definitely delivers in this autobiographical story of a road-trip that all can relate to instantly.

However, I do not think the "Abs-Lit" genre adequately describes the full spectrum of imagination + style within Carbuncle's speculative fiction (Spec-Fi?). There is a bit of weird romance, but it is not Chick-Lit - also the odd paranormal, but not really Sci-Fi - possibly an attempt at Porno, but really needs much more research - and, since the reader is actually sharing a slice of life, possibly non-fiction (is that Non-Fi?) might be the most accurate tag. Knowing quite well the territory travelled by the author on this literary highway, it provides an extremely familiar deja vu all over again feeling - created by a carefully intertwined mash-up of Gonzo, Animal House, Elmore Leonard + Carl Hiaasen-esque storytelling - along with a big dose of Jerry Springer reality. The explosive emerging talent of The Dr. Reverend leaves the reader totally awestruck and awaiting the next installment in the Chronicles of Carbuncle ...