The Must Read of the Week: Revenge of the Apocalypse Donkeys

The must-read of this week was actually released in August of last year.  Why, then, would we toss it into the mix?  Several reasons, actually.  Firstly, we’re going to try a little trending – I want our readers to go out and get this book – at the very least get it in your library!  Most importantly, though, this book warrants your hard earned money and your attention.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. 

Long a fan of Jordan Krall, it is interesting to see where the author will go next.  PIECEMEAL JUNE, while great, is drizzled in the macabre and set the pace for Krall to become a very hard horror writer.  His sophomore effort, though, was almost homage to Elmore Leonard’s very best crime fiction.  SQUID PULP BLUES took us into a seedy alternate New Jersey where gangsters wear diapers, hardened criminals harbor Ginger Rogers fetishes, and people snort squid.  And just when you think he’s going to zig, the man zags.  His third book, FISTFUL OF FEET, was a spaghetti western.  What, then, is BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE APOCALYPSE DONKEYS? 

It’s actually quite a few things, and all of them are grand. 

Mind-bending is one way I’ve heard the book described, and I’ll go with that.  Krall does enjoy playing with the readers, and he does it here better than I’ve ever seen.  At the very core of the book, DONKEYS is a story of a man who is looking for a long lost film – THE APOCALYPSE DONKEY – and his journey to find it.  That’s it, pure and simple.  But dig deeper and you’ll see maguffins aplenty.  See, Krall peddles weird like a New York City hotdog vendor.  Conflict arises in odd ways, which include nude women in donkey masks and giant hummingbirds.  As the story unfolds, it reminds one of Cronenberg’s very best, more indescribable works.  By that I mean, you have an existential hero searching for the obscure, all the while falling deeper and deeper into a surreal nightmare (or is it a nightmare?).

This effect is augmented all the more by four other contributors.  The preface by Jason Wuchenich, the introduction by Gordan K. Smith, and the foreword by Garrett Cook (and no, that’s no joke) all work to sustain the weird vibe of the tale, making Krall about as mysterious as the missing film at the center of the book.  Matthew Revert’s 11,000 word afterword, though, may cement the book as a classic to behold for centuries.  Truly, when was the last time a reader has seen anything quite like this?  Krall says: “Continuity is a myth”, and reader, I must say I agree. 

So yes, we’re discussing a book that’s graced bookshelves for quite sometime.  Who cares?  This week, reader, your challenge is to make this book your must read.  And, if you’ve read it, please pass it along to someone or recommend it to your local library.  When this book dropped, the Authors Speak was on a brief hiatus.  Now that we’re back, we feel the need to give this book its due diligence.  Believe us, it is worth it. 

Tomorrow we’ll be back to take a look at author William Pauley III and his upcoming book, THE DOOM MAGNETIC TRILOGY.

 http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Valley-Apocalypse-Donkeys-Jordan/dp/098715611X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329748988&sr=1-1