Sunday, March 4, 2012

Confessions of a Black Dog by Jason Michel

Confessions of a Black Dog is a novel that defies categorization. It's an intoxicating, thoughtful, roller coaster of an experience.

Jason Michel (aka Dictator of Pulp Metal Magazine and Stories from Old Lurk) dives head-first into the mind of Sam Morgan, a reclusive fella who's girlfriend has just dumped him. He wanders near and far, in search of friends, smokes, booze, and peace of mind.

Like Michel's recent novella, And the Street Screamed Blue Murder!, this book gleefully jumps between genres--magical realism, crime, horror, mainstream--and is chocked full of delightful, incisive observations about nearly everything, from what makes people tick to the inner-workings of Bangkok and London.

Confessions, more than anything else, is a human book and that's why I really dig about it. Michel writes big characters--from neurotic and lovable Sam, to the complete asshole Figgis, to the free-spirited Joy, to the implacable Oz--each one distinct and enjoyable.

They fuck, they drink, they fight, they die, they defend each other.  They do what humans do in the little world Michel has fashioned for them.

And the reader gets a front row seat.

3 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the book. But I've struggled to catagorise and review it. I am of the opinion it has a depth to it that requires multiple readings.

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