SONGS FOR THE UNRAVELING OF THE WORLD by Brian Evenson

There's nothing more exciting than reading work by an author who's completely singular and unique, an author that almost defies description. Brian Evenson is one of those writers. Anyone who's ever read any work by him knows what I'm talking about. I'm not quite sure how to even catogerize the stories included here, which is the first full story collection I've read by him. They're mostly horrifying, but not quite standard horror, there are some pieces with aliens and spaceships but I wouldn't quite call them science fiction or fantasy. What I love about the stories is that there is very little valuable time spent on going into full detail about the setting. The effect is that the stories have a timeless, otherworldy feel, where I wasn't quite sure if the story took place in the future, the present, on Earth, or even in another dimension. This adds so much to the heavy, oppressive atmosphere in most of these stories.

I was there for days, weeks perhaps, and the things that happened to me were far too terrible, are far too terrible still. There was light and noise, a flutter of wings that were not wings, a man screaming who both was and was not me. The press of other creatures tugging at my extremities, the seepage of one skin through another skin, the loss of most of one foot then the loss of most of the other, a man pounding on the door and begging in a voice not entirely his own to be set free. 

Evenson's unique imagination is on full display here as he weaves tales of identity, existensialism, and paranoia that are perfectly bite-sized. Some of my favorite stories here are:

"Wanderlust," about a man who gets the feeling that someone's watching him and goes to great lengths to avoid the ever-present gaze
"A Disappearance," a surprising tale about a man investigating the death of his best friend
"No Matter Which Way She Turned," a moody story about a girl with no face
"The Cardiacs," where a magician's trick fails in a dark and mysterious way
"Line of Sight" and "Room Tone," two stories of filmmakers obsessed with the devil in the details
and the title story, an unexpected, surprising story about a father's dedication to his daughter that takes dark turns.

If you're looking for stories that stray from the normal and will linger in your subconcious long after reading, read Brian Evenson's novels and short stories. And this collection is a perfect place to start.

After all, I already know I am not as stable as I have been led to believe. How hard could it possibly be to no longer be me?

GRADE: A-

THE WARREN by Brian Evenson

Brian Evenson has a knack for mood setting in his stories, and he delivers atmosphere for days in this existential psychological sci-fi portrait. It's a fascinating little mind-fuck that I'm not sure I fully understand but it definitely kept my interest. It defies description a bit but think of it in the same vein as the movies Solaris or Moon. But, you know how it can get super annoying when someone keeps answering your serious questions with other questions? That's also what this book felt like.

GRADE: B-

LAST DAYS by Brian Evenson

I first discovered writer Brian Evenson after reading his reprinted short story, "Any Corpse," in Gamut Magazine. The story was a bizarre and dazzlingly original sci-fi/dystopian/horror that really defies explanation. It led me to seek out more of his work. This novel is just as original and it's actually rather startling in it's boldness and novelty. Last Days is about an undercover cop named Kline who's deep in depression after his hand is chopped off by a bad guy. He's then approached by a cult of people who believe that amputation brings one closer to God, and is forced to solve a murder in their midst. The book gets crazier and crazier as Kline falls deeper into the rabbit hole that is the Brotherhood of Mutilation.

Evenson not only does a great job at showing the gradual loss of sanity that anyone would understandably go through if thrown into this world, he also maintains a really singular atmosphere. I doubt that there were more than two people in the whole book who had all of their limbs! The world in which this book exists is filled with people with multiple body parts chopped off, which creates a vibe that I haven't really witnessed in other books. And through all of it, Evenson's relentless writing moves through the strange tale at a nice tight clip. I'm now even more curious to read another book by Evenson to see what other ideas he can come up with.

GRADE: B+