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Eyeballs Growing All Over Me ...Again
A man comes home to discover a Bigfoot-like creature watching his tv, a giant robot pays a visit to a couple, a new kid has some unusual toys to share, an inventor creates a gorgeous robot in order to meet women, a girl becomes so ill she has her head replaced with a goat head, someone wakes to discover little eyes growing all over his body, small, hairy creatures come looking to retrieve an object they had misplaced, and a boy finds an unusual pair of sunglasses in the weeds. These are the whimsical, surreal adventures of Tony Rauch.
"Absurd, surreal, playful, dream-like, whimsical, and a lot of fun to read. Tony Rauch has been one of my favorite short story writers for a long time. Like Richard Brautigan, he's an uncompromising artistic visionary with one heck of an imagination." - CARLTON MELLICK III , author of The Egg Man
"Tony Rauch's storys are comical, absurd, bittersweet, and simply a joy to read. Highly recommended." - CAMERON PIERCE , author of The Pickled Apocalypse of Pancake Island
"Absurd, surreal, playful, dream-like, whimsical, and a lot of fun to read. Tony Rauch has been one of my favorite short story writers for a long time. Like Richard Brautigan, he's an uncompromising artistic visionary with one heck of an imagination." - CARLTON MELLICK III , author of The Egg Man
"Tony Rauch's storys are comical, absurd, bittersweet, and simply a joy to read. Highly recommended." - CAMERON PIERCE , author of The Pickled Apocalypse of Pancake Island
144 pages, Paperback
First published October 24, 2010
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Tony Rauch
14 books7 followersTony Rauch is an architectural and urban designer, and an all-around great guy filled with nothing but good things. Good things.
He has two books of funky/jazzy/arty short stories in print: I’m Right Here (Spout Press) and Laredo (Eraserhead Press). Some dark and gothic, some kinda sci-fi, some absurdist, some experimental, some fairytale, some fantasy-ish, some dream-like and surreal, some social satire.
His two screenplays are available for reading on his website.
Eraserhead Press plans to publish additional collections of his short stories, beginning with Now We Can Buy a Monkey (surreal, action adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, dream-like pieces) and then Despite Our Best Efforts (absurdist pieces).
He has two books of funky/jazzy/arty short stories in print: I’m Right Here (Spout Press) and Laredo (Eraserhead Press). Some dark and gothic, some kinda sci-fi, some absurdist, some experimental, some fairytale, some fantasy-ish, some dream-like and surreal, some social satire.
His two screenplays are available for reading on his website.
Eraserhead Press plans to publish additional collections of his short stories, beginning with Now We Can Buy a Monkey (surreal, action adventure, fantasy, sci-fi, dream-like pieces) and then Despite Our Best Efforts (absurdist pieces).
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 25, 2011
A man comes home to find a smelly bigfoot in his living room. A paperboy's curiosity gets the better of him and investigates an odd neighbor's house. A giant robot tears the roof off a couple's house. A man goes to a parallel dimension to hook up with an ex-girlfriend (nice Philadelphia Experiment reference!). A new kid starts school. All of these tales and more can be found inside Eyeballs Growing All Over Me ...Again!
Normally, I subscribe to Johnny's Law when it comes to short story collections. “Short stories are like lap dances—short and unlikely to engage you emotionally.” Eyeballs Growing All Over Me ...Again makes me think of changing Johnny's Law into Johnny's Guideline.
Tony Rauch presents a wide variety of tales in this slim volume. Aside from the ones I already mentioned, there's a sexy robot, a man who's head grows to gigantic size, a girl who gets sick and has her head replaced by a goat's, and all kinds of other oddities. You get a good dose of humor and a near overdose of strangeness. The writing style is very accessible and somehow makes the absurd assault that much more effective.
None of the tales wear out their welcome. In fact, the opposite is true. Rauch has a knack for ending his stories in such a way that you continue thinking about them after you're finished. Some stories end with a question, others just before something horrendous is about to happen. Yeah, Rauch's kind of a tease that way.
Note: I did an interview with Tony Rauch on my book blog.
Normally, I subscribe to Johnny's Law when it comes to short story collections. “Short stories are like lap dances—short and unlikely to engage you emotionally.” Eyeballs Growing All Over Me ...Again makes me think of changing Johnny's Law into Johnny's Guideline.
Tony Rauch presents a wide variety of tales in this slim volume. Aside from the ones I already mentioned, there's a sexy robot, a man who's head grows to gigantic size, a girl who gets sick and has her head replaced by a goat's, and all kinds of other oddities. You get a good dose of humor and a near overdose of strangeness. The writing style is very accessible and somehow makes the absurd assault that much more effective.
None of the tales wear out their welcome. In fact, the opposite is true. Rauch has a knack for ending his stories in such a way that you continue thinking about them after you're finished. Some stories end with a question, others just before something horrendous is about to happen. Yeah, Rauch's kind of a tease that way.
Note: I did an interview with Tony Rauch on my book blog.
March 28, 2012
You can read my entire discussion here.
Review snippet: "I’ve read Rauch before and found his collection of short stories in the book Laredo to be serviceable and entertaining enough to be worthy of a good review. However, Eyeballs Growing All Over Me… Again is a better collection. Less verbose, less neurotic, more confident – this collection is all together a tighter, cleaner, more relevant book. Rauch’s confidence as a storyteller has improved since I last read him. His stories show their purpose without a lot of hemming and hawing, sometimes even eschewing what I would consider a typical ending or a normal resolution. Not every story in this collection worked for me, but those that did not strike a chord likely failed to reach me for subjective reasons. With one exception, there isn’t an objectively bad story in the bunch."
Review snippet: "I’ve read Rauch before and found his collection of short stories in the book Laredo to be serviceable and entertaining enough to be worthy of a good review. However, Eyeballs Growing All Over Me… Again is a better collection. Less verbose, less neurotic, more confident – this collection is all together a tighter, cleaner, more relevant book. Rauch’s confidence as a storyteller has improved since I last read him. His stories show their purpose without a lot of hemming and hawing, sometimes even eschewing what I would consider a typical ending or a normal resolution. Not every story in this collection worked for me, but those that did not strike a chord likely failed to reach me for subjective reasons. With one exception, there isn’t an objectively bad story in the bunch."
February 5, 2011
Eyeballs growing all over me…again is Tony Rauch’s third book. It’s a short story collection full of giant robots, miniature football figures that come to life, time travel, scientists, and giant chickens.
The stories inside vary in subject matter, but most seem to be sci-fi. They reminded me of old episodes of Twilight Zone and as I read many of these I couldn’t help thinking these would make excellent episodes. Rauch is like the bizarro version of Ray Bradbury.
One of the standout stories is “send krupac through the portal”. It’s about a man who wants to win his love, Margo, back, but can’t seem to do it no matter how hard he tries. So he decides to slip into another time stream where they have never met to try again. This could easily be developed into a novella or even a novel.
Many times Rauch’s stories end pretty quick. This works fantastically at times, leaving the reader pondering the story long after it has ended. Other times stories end abruptly and feel as if they should have been developed just a bit more.
At its heart, Eyeball’s growing all over me…again is an endearing short collection about everyday problems such as love, fear, and paranoia growing to horrific proportions of absurdity.
The stories inside vary in subject matter, but most seem to be sci-fi. They reminded me of old episodes of Twilight Zone and as I read many of these I couldn’t help thinking these would make excellent episodes. Rauch is like the bizarro version of Ray Bradbury.
One of the standout stories is “send krupac through the portal”. It’s about a man who wants to win his love, Margo, back, but can’t seem to do it no matter how hard he tries. So he decides to slip into another time stream where they have never met to try again. This could easily be developed into a novella or even a novel.
Many times Rauch’s stories end pretty quick. This works fantastically at times, leaving the reader pondering the story long after it has ended. Other times stories end abruptly and feel as if they should have been developed just a bit more.
At its heart, Eyeball’s growing all over me…again is an endearing short collection about everyday problems such as love, fear, and paranoia growing to horrific proportions of absurdity.
July 3, 2012
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
I never quite know what to say whenever a book like Tony Rauch's Eyeballs Growing All Over Me…Again comes in, because it seems that there are so many things stacked against its chances of being memorable; it's a collection of unrelated stories to begin with, never a good thing as far as trying to be distinctive, not just a genre book (horror) but filled with very typical genre tropes, with only workmanlike dialogue and plots that seem to come and go before they've even had a chance to sink in. So in other words, not a bad book, but certainly a very typical mediocre one; and that's how the majority of the books that are sent to me end up being, which I suppose is why such books virtually define the term "middle of the road." If you're a horror or bizarro fan with a large sense of curiosity, definitely I encourage you to pick up a copy, although otherwise you can pretty safely skip it.
Out of 10: 7.5
I never quite know what to say whenever a book like Tony Rauch's Eyeballs Growing All Over Me…Again comes in, because it seems that there are so many things stacked against its chances of being memorable; it's a collection of unrelated stories to begin with, never a good thing as far as trying to be distinctive, not just a genre book (horror) but filled with very typical genre tropes, with only workmanlike dialogue and plots that seem to come and go before they've even had a chance to sink in. So in other words, not a bad book, but certainly a very typical mediocre one; and that's how the majority of the books that are sent to me end up being, which I suppose is why such books virtually define the term "middle of the road." If you're a horror or bizarro fan with a large sense of curiosity, definitely I encourage you to pick up a copy, although otherwise you can pretty safely skip it.
Out of 10: 7.5
October 22, 2011
Aliens. Goblins. Giant robots. Regular-sized sexy robots. Big hairy, smelly beasts. Dimensional travel. Mutations.
These elements make up the series of fever dreams that is Eyeballs Growing All Over Me...Again, a collection of short stories by Tony Rauch.
Each story packs a punch of weird into it, which makes it a good things that this is a short story collection. Eyeballs is a book best taken in small doses, and it feels like it would be very easy to get a Bizarro overdose if reading too much at once.
How to describe it? Well, that's actually really hard to do, especially when it come to short story collections like this. There can be different ways of interpreting the stories and if they're related at all. For example, I got the feeling that all these stories could have taken place in the same community or small town. There's nothing to suggest that in any of the stories, as there are no common characters or threads through anything, but I somehow got that impression. It probably has to do with the consistent writing style throughout the book.
There's also a sense of humor about everything. With a couple of exception (the story of the nosy paperboy, or the one where the man's head starts growing to gargantuan size), you get the feeling that the characters aren't that bothered by the strange and unusual going on around them. Yeah, Boone builds a sexy robot to help him meet women. We try to disuade him from doing so. He does it anyway. Life goes on. Huh. It's like a scifi version of “Airplane!” or “The Naked Gun.” Yeah, there are eyeballs growing all over me. It'll probably pass. Let's go yell at airplanes. (This actually happens in one of the stories.)
As I started writing this review, I was going to suggest that it could be a good starter to Bizarro fiction being a short story collection. But as I think about it some more, I'm starting to question that conclusion. First, as I said above, it's much better taken in small doses, as a story or two at a time. Given how short some of the stories are, a reader could be very tempted to keep plugging through, but they'll probably regret it. It's kind of like how it takes twenty minutes for a person to feel full after eating, so they keep eating not realizing this. These stories are like a literary superfood, small in portion size but packing a heavier-than-expected nutritional punch that needs a little time to sink in. But if you don't give it time to digest, you'll probably make yourself sick. Mentally.
Second, some of these stories have a subtext to them and go outside the norm enough in other ways that some people might not grasp. I'm familiar with the Bizarro line of books, and the subtext in some of these stories took a little while to sink in. The storytelling style itself is unusual, to say the least. It definitely gets the author's distinctive flavor (ewww!), but it's unconventional enough that I would find it hard to recommend to a casual reader.
One thing that is notable, however, is how tame a lot of the stories are. There's a distinct lack of profanity, violence, or “adult” situations. Rauch chooses to mess with your mind in other ways. I'm not a prude in any sense, but it's something that I think a lot of newer authors could learn from. For some reason, reading profanity on the page can be a lot more jarring than hearing it from a movie screen, and can yank a reader out of a story more easily. Bravo to the author for taking this route, and choosing to challenge the reader in other ways. I might even go so far as to call it a Bizarro book aimed at young adults. It made the book feel different and refreshing.
Eyeballs Growing All Over Me...Again works most of the time, but there's a couple stories that went a little wide of the mark for me. This invariably happens with most short story collections. In addition, I didn't have the foresight to take my own advice and read the book in small doses. Use the benefit of my hindsight when reading this book.
Eyeballs Growing All Over Me...Again by Tony Rauch earns 3 out of 5 stars.
These elements make up the series of fever dreams that is Eyeballs Growing All Over Me...Again, a collection of short stories by Tony Rauch.
Each story packs a punch of weird into it, which makes it a good things that this is a short story collection. Eyeballs is a book best taken in small doses, and it feels like it would be very easy to get a Bizarro overdose if reading too much at once.
How to describe it? Well, that's actually really hard to do, especially when it come to short story collections like this. There can be different ways of interpreting the stories and if they're related at all. For example, I got the feeling that all these stories could have taken place in the same community or small town. There's nothing to suggest that in any of the stories, as there are no common characters or threads through anything, but I somehow got that impression. It probably has to do with the consistent writing style throughout the book.
There's also a sense of humor about everything. With a couple of exception (the story of the nosy paperboy, or the one where the man's head starts growing to gargantuan size), you get the feeling that the characters aren't that bothered by the strange and unusual going on around them. Yeah, Boone builds a sexy robot to help him meet women. We try to disuade him from doing so. He does it anyway. Life goes on. Huh. It's like a scifi version of “Airplane!” or “The Naked Gun.” Yeah, there are eyeballs growing all over me. It'll probably pass. Let's go yell at airplanes. (This actually happens in one of the stories.)
As I started writing this review, I was going to suggest that it could be a good starter to Bizarro fiction being a short story collection. But as I think about it some more, I'm starting to question that conclusion. First, as I said above, it's much better taken in small doses, as a story or two at a time. Given how short some of the stories are, a reader could be very tempted to keep plugging through, but they'll probably regret it. It's kind of like how it takes twenty minutes for a person to feel full after eating, so they keep eating not realizing this. These stories are like a literary superfood, small in portion size but packing a heavier-than-expected nutritional punch that needs a little time to sink in. But if you don't give it time to digest, you'll probably make yourself sick. Mentally.
Second, some of these stories have a subtext to them and go outside the norm enough in other ways that some people might not grasp. I'm familiar with the Bizarro line of books, and the subtext in some of these stories took a little while to sink in. The storytelling style itself is unusual, to say the least. It definitely gets the author's distinctive flavor (ewww!), but it's unconventional enough that I would find it hard to recommend to a casual reader.
One thing that is notable, however, is how tame a lot of the stories are. There's a distinct lack of profanity, violence, or “adult” situations. Rauch chooses to mess with your mind in other ways. I'm not a prude in any sense, but it's something that I think a lot of newer authors could learn from. For some reason, reading profanity on the page can be a lot more jarring than hearing it from a movie screen, and can yank a reader out of a story more easily. Bravo to the author for taking this route, and choosing to challenge the reader in other ways. I might even go so far as to call it a Bizarro book aimed at young adults. It made the book feel different and refreshing.
Eyeballs Growing All Over Me...Again works most of the time, but there's a couple stories that went a little wide of the mark for me. This invariably happens with most short story collections. In addition, I didn't have the foresight to take my own advice and read the book in small doses. Use the benefit of my hindsight when reading this book.
Eyeballs Growing All Over Me...Again by Tony Rauch earns 3 out of 5 stars.
October 19, 2011
First off i would like to thank the author for asking me to review his book.
From finding a Bigfoot in your living room, a robot who can get you a date, traveling back in time with aliens. Tony touches all genes here. His short stories are strange but interesting a laugh you will get, and you'll be scratching your head like what did I Just read. I read a few of the stories twice. my favorites:
★People have been drifting away
★Big Head
★The Bug
Overall its a read you will enjoy!
From finding a Bigfoot in your living room, a robot who can get you a date, traveling back in time with aliens. Tony touches all genes here. His short stories are strange but interesting a laugh you will get, and you'll be scratching your head like what did I Just read. I read a few of the stories twice. my favorites:
★People have been drifting away
★Big Head
★The Bug
Overall its a read you will enjoy!
February 8, 2013
Single-author story collections can be problematic. Every story could have issues that might detract from the greater whole, spoiling the experience and possibly souring the reader to other works by an otherwise great author. After all, even Stephen King has his bad days.
Fortunately for Tony Rauch, his collection "Eyeballs Growing All Over Me... Again" avoids much of those many possible problems that can crop up in a collection. He presents an nice sampling of his range, and clearly shows his skill with short-form writing.
Overall "Eyeballs..." is a mixed bag. I mean this in a good way. Even though all the stories share Rauch's voice, and some share structure, all are fun, light bits of cross-genre storytelling. Even the darker pieces like "Giant Chicken Menacing Me from Above" are not horrific, rather examinations of internal forces like self-doubt and classic existential dilemmas.
My personal favorites were the ones that really don't take themselves too seriously. The tales that Rauch tells that are a little tongue-in-cheek and turn genre tropes and conventions on their noses. In particular: the first story "The Stench," "Gilbert the Sexy Robot" from the second section, and in the third "Red Ball Jet." Each of these stories are just fun, especially the abduction-gone-wrong of "Red Ball Jet."
I dinged my rating by one star only for the pacing. The collection has a very even tempo, but it can get bogged down a little by the lush description. Not enough to turn a reader away, just enough to want to carefully consider the imagery before moving on.
In any case, Tony Rauch is a writer worth checking out. I'd recommend this one for any science fiction or fantasy lover as a nice diversion from the standard offerings.
Fortunately for Tony Rauch, his collection "Eyeballs Growing All Over Me... Again" avoids much of those many possible problems that can crop up in a collection. He presents an nice sampling of his range, and clearly shows his skill with short-form writing.
Overall "Eyeballs..." is a mixed bag. I mean this in a good way. Even though all the stories share Rauch's voice, and some share structure, all are fun, light bits of cross-genre storytelling. Even the darker pieces like "Giant Chicken Menacing Me from Above" are not horrific, rather examinations of internal forces like self-doubt and classic existential dilemmas.
My personal favorites were the ones that really don't take themselves too seriously. The tales that Rauch tells that are a little tongue-in-cheek and turn genre tropes and conventions on their noses. In particular: the first story "The Stench," "Gilbert the Sexy Robot" from the second section, and in the third "Red Ball Jet." Each of these stories are just fun, especially the abduction-gone-wrong of "Red Ball Jet."
I dinged my rating by one star only for the pacing. The collection has a very even tempo, but it can get bogged down a little by the lush description. Not enough to turn a reader away, just enough to want to carefully consider the imagery before moving on.
In any case, Tony Rauch is a writer worth checking out. I'd recommend this one for any science fiction or fantasy lover as a nice diversion from the standard offerings.
February 12, 2011
‘Eyeballs growing all over me... again’ is a collection of short stories by Tony Rauch. Some are *very* short: just a paragraph or two. Some are pages long and split into parts. But the whole book is a carefully staged show of playfulness, and like anything playful, could be read by any age that could deal with the concepts. There are no viscerally grisly moments here, and no bad language.
If a good narrative should hold a mirror up to life and make you look again, Rauch’s book wants to do this by going out to play with you. In content and presentation, as well as choice of non-sequiteur titles for the book and the stories, is intended to shake up ideas of normalcy and rock usual narrative complacency. There’s a rude, unpolished feeling about the whole book that seems entirely on purpose.
I wanted strange and wonderful things to happen to me after reading this. Rauch has helped me to believe in the power of fairy-tales, and this book, his book of weirdly cool fables and parables, shakes away the ridiculous and precarious nature of ‘adult’ perception and ‘adult’ expectations. The stories test and tease; but we come out the other side feeling hopeful and more light hearted. This is the sort of book I wish I’d had to discuss during literature classes at school: clever, erudite, but funny, too, and very surprising and a damn good read.
Review courtesy of Future Fire Reviews: the website and magazine for alternative writing. Pay us a visit for more!
For full review, please visit:
http://tiny.cc/n8rnr
If a good narrative should hold a mirror up to life and make you look again, Rauch’s book wants to do this by going out to play with you. In content and presentation, as well as choice of non-sequiteur titles for the book and the stories, is intended to shake up ideas of normalcy and rock usual narrative complacency. There’s a rude, unpolished feeling about the whole book that seems entirely on purpose.
I wanted strange and wonderful things to happen to me after reading this. Rauch has helped me to believe in the power of fairy-tales, and this book, his book of weirdly cool fables and parables, shakes away the ridiculous and precarious nature of ‘adult’ perception and ‘adult’ expectations. The stories test and tease; but we come out the other side feeling hopeful and more light hearted. This is the sort of book I wish I’d had to discuss during literature classes at school: clever, erudite, but funny, too, and very surprising and a damn good read.
Review courtesy of Future Fire Reviews: the website and magazine for alternative writing. Pay us a visit for more!
For full review, please visit:
http://tiny.cc/n8rnr
October 2, 2011
This is a nice little compilation of bizarro shorts. Not as in I went and bought some hideously patterned Hawaiian shorts, but actual bizarro short stories.
There is a bit of everything in there. If you like bizarro, chances are that you will find multiple stories in here to tickle your fancy. I know I did.
There were stories in there that I felt that had not quite been completed...or they just left me feeling a bit empty. But then again, maybe I just didn't get them. The writing was diverse, and you honestly did not know what you were going to get from one story to the next. If you are a fan of short stories and of bizarro, you can't go wrong with this collection of stories.
I will say one thing that I really appreciated about this book is the language - and lack of bad language in it. Not that I am a prude by any means, but as a huge fan of bizarro, there is very little that I can share with my older children. I feel like I could let my 13 year old get a taste of bizarro with this book.
It gives great examples of bizarro without graphic details or words. Thanks, Tony, for making a bizarro book that can be enjoyed by more than one age group!!
There is a bit of everything in there. If you like bizarro, chances are that you will find multiple stories in here to tickle your fancy. I know I did.
There were stories in there that I felt that had not quite been completed...or they just left me feeling a bit empty. But then again, maybe I just didn't get them. The writing was diverse, and you honestly did not know what you were going to get from one story to the next. If you are a fan of short stories and of bizarro, you can't go wrong with this collection of stories.
I will say one thing that I really appreciated about this book is the language - and lack of bad language in it. Not that I am a prude by any means, but as a huge fan of bizarro, there is very little that I can share with my older children. I feel like I could let my 13 year old get a taste of bizarro with this book.
It gives great examples of bizarro without graphic details or words. Thanks, Tony, for making a bizarro book that can be enjoyed by more than one age group!!
August 4, 2017
This book of short stories is as disjointed as its title. Overblown purple-prose descriptions vie with too-obvious and “why should I care?” openings. Blunt traumas via words share shelf-space with obscure metaphors. Lists masquerade as description, and unnecessary detail weighs any chance of pacing down as surely as a stone anchor. And it’s all in first person, present tense, which is further off-putting: especially when this choice becomes a vehicle for showing, not telling, POV character motivations.
Despite the Amazon book description I find this neither whimsical nor surreal. This is yet another example of a writer who has not yet perfected their craft, and was published way too early. To the folks at Eraserhead Press, I have a simple question: what were you thinking when you published this?
Despite the Amazon book description I find this neither whimsical nor surreal. This is yet another example of a writer who has not yet perfected their craft, and was published way too early. To the folks at Eraserhead Press, I have a simple question: what were you thinking when you published this?
November 2, 2013
I feel Tony Rauch is one of the greatest short story writers working today. His voice is one that is utterly alien, but also warm, friendly and familiar. He infuses the fringes of life and reality with a rarely seen measure of heart and soul.
In 'i discover an army of...', there's a dreadful but not hopeless finality as the main character discovers an army of things growing in tubes.
In 'Send Krupac Through the Portal', one can identify with the title character's misfortunes as the girlfriend he gave his soul to abandoned him, and he wants so badly to bring her back, that he agrees to be a government guinea pig. Why? So he can travel to an alternate reality that is almost like the one he's left behind, but with subtle differences. We don't know if he gets the girl or not, but that's not the point. The story beautifully sets him up for a new future.
'People Have Been Drifting Away Lately' uses the old 'epidemic' archetype and puts a humorous spin on it.
'The New Kid' sees two students bond over their differences. It could be interpreted that the new kid of the title has bad intentions based on some of the items he shows off to his new friend, but Tony takes it in a different direction by showing the main character is just as strange.
'The Procedure' is as creepy as anything you're likely to read by Brian Keene or Edward Lee, but there's not a single instance of violence in its few short pages. I had the pleasure of hearing Tony read this one aloud on the Surreal Grotesque podcast, and it was an honor. The Procedure is about a young girl who befalls a serious accident which sees her emerge with a goat's head. The fact that Tony doesn't delve into the details of how or why shows that he is committed to the surrealistic experience.
Tony Rauch is merely here to hold up a mirror up to his subconscious. It is up to you whether you choose to glare into it or not. His work has been compared to literary jazz, and while this description is accurate, I prefer to think of Tony as a rorchach test of words.
And God help us the day Tony decides to unleash his talents with a full length novel! The weirdness will be unparalleled in the Bizarro genre, or any other genre for that matter! To read a story by Tony Rauch is to encounter new forms of life.
In 'i discover an army of...', there's a dreadful but not hopeless finality as the main character discovers an army of things growing in tubes.
In 'Send Krupac Through the Portal', one can identify with the title character's misfortunes as the girlfriend he gave his soul to abandoned him, and he wants so badly to bring her back, that he agrees to be a government guinea pig. Why? So he can travel to an alternate reality that is almost like the one he's left behind, but with subtle differences. We don't know if he gets the girl or not, but that's not the point. The story beautifully sets him up for a new future.
'People Have Been Drifting Away Lately' uses the old 'epidemic' archetype and puts a humorous spin on it.
'The New Kid' sees two students bond over their differences. It could be interpreted that the new kid of the title has bad intentions based on some of the items he shows off to his new friend, but Tony takes it in a different direction by showing the main character is just as strange.
'The Procedure' is as creepy as anything you're likely to read by Brian Keene or Edward Lee, but there's not a single instance of violence in its few short pages. I had the pleasure of hearing Tony read this one aloud on the Surreal Grotesque podcast, and it was an honor. The Procedure is about a young girl who befalls a serious accident which sees her emerge with a goat's head. The fact that Tony doesn't delve into the details of how or why shows that he is committed to the surrealistic experience.
Tony Rauch is merely here to hold up a mirror up to his subconscious. It is up to you whether you choose to glare into it or not. His work has been compared to literary jazz, and while this description is accurate, I prefer to think of Tony as a rorchach test of words.
And God help us the day Tony decides to unleash his talents with a full length novel! The weirdness will be unparalleled in the Bizarro genre, or any other genre for that matter! To read a story by Tony Rauch is to encounter new forms of life.
October 10, 2011
Very Strange, Very Weird, and Very Entertaining!
Tony Rauch has an eye and an ear and writing skill that manages to put hallucinations or fantasies or nightmares into words. EYEBALLS GROWING ALL OVER ME...AGAIN is a collection of short stories that will startle the reader, fool the mind, and introduce the public to a writer with a keen sense of humor wrapped in weird stories. His technique of offering this strange tales in short story fashion suits him well and he definitely has that idiom down to a science. No matter how strange the story seems as we are reading each of them, Rauch manages to punch us in the gut with the closing paragraph.
The book is divided into three sections, each section opens with a photograph as imaginative as the stories that follow: Part I: 'tomorrow, through the portal' opens the book with one of the best of his tales -an extended 'discovery' of a brew that contains homunculi too familiar to ignore...Part II 'I found them in the weeds' continues his preoccupation with alien forms - or diversions thereof, and Part III: 'Now we can but a monkey' -well, they just get more weird and more intoxicatingly fun to read.
Some writers who approach this genre just can't carry it off because they take themselves too seriously. That is where Tony Rauch differs. No matter how bizarre the story there is always a sense of underlying good humor - so you don't have to leave the light on if you read these at bedtime....!
Grady Harp
Tony Rauch has an eye and an ear and writing skill that manages to put hallucinations or fantasies or nightmares into words. EYEBALLS GROWING ALL OVER ME...AGAIN is a collection of short stories that will startle the reader, fool the mind, and introduce the public to a writer with a keen sense of humor wrapped in weird stories. His technique of offering this strange tales in short story fashion suits him well and he definitely has that idiom down to a science. No matter how strange the story seems as we are reading each of them, Rauch manages to punch us in the gut with the closing paragraph.
The book is divided into three sections, each section opens with a photograph as imaginative as the stories that follow: Part I: 'tomorrow, through the portal' opens the book with one of the best of his tales -an extended 'discovery' of a brew that contains homunculi too familiar to ignore...Part II 'I found them in the weeds' continues his preoccupation with alien forms - or diversions thereof, and Part III: 'Now we can but a monkey' -well, they just get more weird and more intoxicatingly fun to read.
Some writers who approach this genre just can't carry it off because they take themselves too seriously. That is where Tony Rauch differs. No matter how bizarre the story there is always a sense of underlying good humor - so you don't have to leave the light on if you read these at bedtime....!
Grady Harp
July 19, 2015
I received this book to give an honest review. So I read the synopsis on this and figured okay it was going to be one of those weird books I am sure I could get into it. I was wrong. I tried everything to really enjoy the book but it just didn’t call to me like I hoped it would, I am down for weird and different stories but sometimes they are not all right for me. Some of the stories were really way to short for me to really get into the story being told so I couldn’t fully enjoy it. I think for me the best story told was I discover an army of…. where a young boy discovers that there is an army of himself in a house that a mysterious man lives. I read some of the reviews and it seems some people enjoy this type of read I believe they call it bizarro I believe is how it is spelled. I think these collections of story stories would be good for the type of people who like that genre of books. There is some sci-fi, humor and some horror type reads. So I believe there is probably a little of everything for someone. For me it just didn’t work out. I may try later on to give this book another try and see if I could get into it but I am not totally sure on that.
March 20, 2013
Eyeballs Growing All Over Me ...Again by Tony Rauch is an interesting collection of short stories.
They range in style and tone, but invariably they offer some food for thought about our daily interactions and relationships, our morals and ethics. Though sometimes expressed on the nose, these questions about our behaviour are deeply ingrained in the stories, and they feel stronger and more meaningful for it.
Overall I found reading most of the stories enjoyable, but towards the end I found myself feeling they were getting repetitive, even as the subject matter changed.
The man can write, though. Tony presents beautiful descriptions and amazing ideas on almost every page.
I recommend it to fans of weird fiction, though you may like to check his work in the The Bizarro Starter Kit before you go for a whole book.
I'll definitely keep my eye out for more of his work in the future.
They range in style and tone, but invariably they offer some food for thought about our daily interactions and relationships, our morals and ethics. Though sometimes expressed on the nose, these questions about our behaviour are deeply ingrained in the stories, and they feel stronger and more meaningful for it.
Overall I found reading most of the stories enjoyable, but towards the end I found myself feeling they were getting repetitive, even as the subject matter changed.
The man can write, though. Tony presents beautiful descriptions and amazing ideas on almost every page.
I recommend it to fans of weird fiction, though you may like to check his work in the The Bizarro Starter Kit before you go for a whole book.
I'll definitely keep my eye out for more of his work in the future.
September 5, 2013
FULL REVIEW HERE
eyeballs growing all over me ...again is overall a pretty good collection of short stories and flash fiction. It would be one I would especially recommend to science fiction fans or to people who want to read a lighter kind of Bizarro fiction.
eyeballs growing all over me ...again is overall a pretty good collection of short stories and flash fiction. It would be one I would especially recommend to science fiction fans or to people who want to read a lighter kind of Bizarro fiction.
September 14, 2011
Whimsical is a good description for this book but surreal might be pushing it. It is a solid collection of down-to-earth, relatable speculative fiction. Nothing offensive, for good or bad. Your enjoyment of this book really depends on your taste.
January 29, 2013
My review here.
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