Reddit mentions: The best absurdist fiction books

Hi there, first of all, well done on finishing your projects. Many people wouldn't have got as far as you have. As to why your story might not be connecting:

a) your cover art isn't working for me. I found both the font and the imagery to be a bit bland. Think of the last time you bought a book solely based on the cover. What was good about that cover? What grabbed you? The last book I bought for the cover was Final Girls It's a thriller so the cover works well for the genre, and the bold font, hot pink color tells me it's going to be more fun than gory, also the imagery is relevant to the story. That cover made promises and the book inside kept them. What promises are your title, font and imagery making?

b) your blurb, "Tom is a haunted man..etc" is kind of hazy. There are a lot of 'is he?', and 'will he?' which would only work if the blurb had made me care about Tom. But I don't yet. This is the blurb for This Savage Song (fantasy/young adult). "Kate Harker and August Flynn's families rule opposite ends of Verity, a grisly metropolis where violent acts summon real monsters: bloodsucking Malchai; clawing Corsai; and soul-stealing Sunai. The truce that keeps the families at peace is crumbling, and August is sent to spy on Kate. But when Harker's men try to kill her and pin it on the Flynns, August and Kate find themselves running from both sides, in a city where monsters are real..." I get a good idea of who are the good guys (Kate and August), who are the bad guys (the monsters and also Harker's men), how bad things happen (violent acts), an alliance (August and Kate), what we don't want to happen (the peace to crumble), what position do August and Kate have in their world? (they belong to ruling families). So it's not quite a logline, ie. one-sentence synopsis, but it does spell out what to expect of the setting and the plot. Your blurb is mostly focused on the setting/world and tells me very little about plot. eg. does your MC want something? Are they being directly threatened? how does Tom fit in his world?

A hazy, non-linear plot can work, see books like [Palimpsest] (https://www.amazon.com/Palimpsest-Catherynne-Valente-ebook/dp/B001NLKXDE/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1506592127&sr=1-2&keywords=cat+valente) but I think they require a lot of trust from the reader and rely more on the beauty of the writing.

c) I learned about loglines in 'Save the Cat', and it taught me to avoid a story if I couldn't sum it up in a sentence. I actually put aside a book I'd spent a couple of months on because I realised the main character didn't want anything. He was completely reactive. Again, this might work, but it's harder to sell non-formulaic stories to both publishers and to readers.

d) yes, you've spent a long time on your current books but in Brandon Sanderson's (Mistborn) lectures (see youtube), he says this is perfectly normal. He tells his students they should expect to practice for 10 years before they put out publishable work. He also said that he worked on a number of 'first' novels. ie books that could become series, but he only wrote one book at a time. You can always write a sequel if the first one takes off.

e) I'll finish on a question. What is your end goal? Do you want your books to be widely read, to make money, or simply to be finished and published? If the last one, well, you are already there, and you don't need to worry about popularity or money. But if you want money, you probably need to change things up. Put the sequel aside and work on something else. Submit your next (unpublished) works to agents and publishers. Get their expert feedback. Write short stories. Read more in your preferred genre to see what others are doing, and don't get trapped in your first series. Good luck.

I posted in last's week thread but decided to repost this week since my novel is on sale this weekend for $0.99.

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Hi everyone,

I self-published my debut novel in October but due to no marketing or self-promotion (up until now!), sales have been borderline nil (in fact nil). Additionally, it was not written with any market in mind as it was a self-initiated project completely edited by yours truly.

I present to you: Where the Fox and the Hare Say Good Night

https://www.amazon.com/Where-Fox-Hare-Good-Night-ebook/dp/B07KCKGL22/

Price: 3.99 USD or 5.99 CAD

It can be purchased through the Kindle store as well as numerous other stores: https://books2read.com/foxandhare

Book back: Dani Kaposi is not satisfied. His romantic life is nebulous at best, he has the potential to relapse at a moment's notice, and his day job is no longer enough. He takes the same route to work every day, always walking the same streets and passing the same stores. Everything is always the same. That is until one morning, when he finds a stranger in his apartment. That is when everything changes, and he begins to question everything and everyone. People in his life behave unpredictably, and his own sensibilities start to fade.

When a local, online celebrity goes missing and an anonymous $4,000,000.00 reward is posted, Dani finds new purpose in life and makes the search for Dude Pacific his top priority.

Dani's investigation sends him on a quixotic journey through Bryce County and Toronto as he tries to uncover the truth.

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I would classify the novel as a campy "amateur detective" story with hints of the supernatural and of existentialism.

Thank you for your time and consideration -- Peter Lederer

If you don't mind all of the characters being animal-people, I highly suggest Kyell Gold's "Out of Position". It's hands down the best gay romance novel I've ever read (and there's a sequel!). Sure, the furry stuff can be weird at first, but it's written well enough that most people can look past it. Plus, it's a Kindle book, you can always sample the first chapter. Link

If you're looking for something of the bi pursuasion, I've heard good things about Catherynne Valente's "Palimpsest". I've only read the first few chapters, but it seems fairly decent so far. I'm not sure how much of a "Romance" novel it is however... right now it seems more like a "Fantasy Novel Who's Central Plot Revolves Around Sex", which is almost as good, right ;P? Link

Have you ever read any of Christopher Moore's other books? I loved Coyote Blue too, but I would personally rank Lamb, Practical Demonkeeping, Fool (this is based off Hamlet, so the language is very different from his other novels), and honestly, most of his books higher. I'd definitely look into those. Otherwise, I recommend Wake Up, Sir!, by Jonathan Ames. It has a really great (slightly more bawdy) Wodehouse style humor, including a valet named Jeeves. :)

A few good Italian authors that wrote prose are as follows:

• Italo Svevo (Zeno's Conscience)
  
  
• Italo Calvino (if on a winter's night a traveler)
  
  
• Elsa Morante (History: A Novel). I haven't read this, but I have heard great reviews.
  
  
• Tommaso Landolfi (Gogol's Wife and Other Stories) A pretty good collection of short stories.

Sweetheart, I don't know. Listen to your gut. Creative Writing sounded nice. Especially when you mentioned doing a double major, adding on something practical like marketing or business.

I mean, I went to college, took zero of the required bullshit classes, all the ones that looked interesting--Oh look! World Religions! Mythology!--and dropped out when I ran out of money. So I ain't no wise guide, Y/K?

That said, I have been self-employed as a glass artist for the past 10 years. I've acquired a massive load of the skills I need to publish myself. I had a gazillion jobs like stained glass-artist, houseplant greenhouse worker, factory bean sorter, gathering life experience, and now I'm diving into re-creating myself into a new vocation as a writer. No one person's path is the answer. And honestly, just like geometry, there is more than one way to get to where you want to go.

I'm also going to answer your initial question before leaving Reddit for the night. Here is one book that can shift your understanding of what a higher-level writer can do. It is not your genre (I don't think) and certainly not your voice. It is an example of someone who lived a full life before reaching her stride with writing words. She found her groove, her voice, and plucks words out of amazing spaces to put them just so into your mind. All with a light touch, an exquisite sense of plotting structure, and a deep bonding to the reader.
http://www.amazon.com/Palimpsest-Catherynne-Valente/dp/0553385763

Not exactly 16 year old reading material, but if you don't show your parents, you should be good. :-)

It's not exactly what you're looking for, but Matt Ruff's Sewer, Gas and Electric is all sorts of brilliant mayhem, and features Ayn Rand in a supporting role.

ETA: she wouldn't approve.

I read the excerpt of the book ([Amazon link] (https://www.amazon.com/Bob-Honey-Who-Just-Stuff/dp/1501189042/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8)) and honestly, I think the backlash is kind of overblown.

A couple of random thoughts: I get the impression that it's a "style" novel rather than a "content" novel. The prose is there to immerse you in the insane world of the book and establish the mood. I suspect Penn merely wanted to play around with the language. The alliteration is not as ubiquitous as the review makes it out to be, at least in the excerpt. A lot of them are pretty wince-worthy, I agree. I've never read Bukowski or Vonnegut, so I don't feel qualified to comment on the style of writing.

It's no Nabokov, true, but it's not offensively bad. For a first time writer, I'd say it's decent. Could do with less zany writing and more coherence, though.

I really like Christopher Moore's books; they contain almost no kids. The one that I can recall doing so is amusing in that regard.

I recommend "Bloodsucking Fiends" or "Lamb : The Life of Christ as told by his childhood pal, Biff" to start. :-)

https://www.chrismoore.com/

Also, another book I love is "Sewer, Gas and Electric : The Public Works Triology" - almost no kids in that one either.

https://www.amazon.com/Sewer-Gas-Electric-Public-Trilogy/dp/0802141552

For those commenting the lack of women authors, I agree.

I suggest Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente. She has other interesting books as well.

ALso, I did not see Paolo Bacigalupis The Windup Girl mentioned, very good

hmm good point. I'm liking your approach, though as you say it might look too busy.

In contrast, a point in favor of this "no" symbol as shown is a straightforward and rapid communication of what this sub stands for: NO fifthglyph. *Adding: it also mimics A Void's front

What about adding that grid of symbols on back, with fifthglyph conspicuously missing...? Or I could draw up a 2nd shirt, if AV-oids want that option.

I recommend you read the short story 'The Life and Adventures of Shed Number XII.' The emotional lives of sheds are far more complex than you think.

i'll admit, I've only seen Legend once! I'll have to give it a re-watch to see if it fits with the themes i'm going for.

Palimpsest is a novel about a sexually transmitted city that can be reached only in your dreams. https://www.amazon.com/Palimpsest-Catherynne-Valente-ebook/dp/B001NLKXDE?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&redirect=true&ref_=dp-kindle-redirect

>Everyone lucky or doomed enough to go to Palimpsest, a city visited only in dreams, awakes bearing a tattooed map of its neighborhoods. Each of four travelers linked by ink stains in a frog-headed fortune-teller’s shop finds an unimaginable fate in the city, such that waking life becomes a search for readmission to Palimpsest. Sei dreams of trains, November of mechanical bees, Ludovico of the unwritten etymology of the city, and Oleg of his drowned sister. Palimpsest becomes what each most desires in ways only a city of sentient trains, mechanical insects, and shark-headed generals could. History unfolds as the four learn the ways of Palimpsest and discover the price of becoming more than tourists. Each has found something he or she lost in the waking world that is reimagined in the ways of Palimpsest, and nearly everyone who goes there yearns to emigrate. Overflowing with poetic images and epic repetition, Valente’s story washes us to an unexpected shore. --Regina Schroeder

Got to recommend:
House of Leaves, Mezzanine and Nadja. The Raw Shark Texts, Astronomical

My favorites:

• Nadja by André Breton
  
• The Libertine by Louis Aragon

A Void by Georges Perec. The novel was written in French without the "e", then translated into English following the same rule. Apeshit.

Possibly this.

It's described as a "metaphysical who-dun-it".

Esti Kornél by Dezső Kosztolányi

The Toth Family by István Örkény

Embers by Sándor Márai

Whenever someone mentions Disney and Ayn Rand, I always think of Sewer, Gas and Electric.

Anything by Matt Ruff, but especially Fool on the Hill and Sewer, Gas & Electric.

Portrait of the Walrus by a Young Artist by Laurie Foos

Eighteen e-books by Harlan Ellison:

1 to 4: "Approaching Oblivion" , "Children Of The Streets" , "The Deadly Streets" , "An Edge In My Voice"

5 to 8: "From The Land Of Fear", "Gentleman Junkie", "The Harlan Ellison Hornbook", "Harlan Ellison's Movie"

9 to 12: "Harlan Ellison's Watching", "Love Ain't Nothing But Sex Misspelled", "Memos From Purgatory", "The Other Glass Teat"

13 to 16: "Sleepless Nights In The Procrustean Bed", "Spider Kiss", "Stalking The Nightmare", "Troublemakers"

17 and 18: "Ellison Wonderland", "No Doors, No Windows"

Yes, but I'm trapped in this weird kind of lamp.