Bottom Feeder

by Mark Spitzer

Fiction. Holy Lunker Catfish! The Great American eco-novel starring the legendary bottom feeder Old Shithead has just been re-released. In a manner reminiscent of Ed Abbey, a wacky cast of monkeywrenching characters battles the Anal General's forces of Industrial Cheese to preserve a metaphoric fish that's larger than us all. A cult-classic of Guerilla Lit and one hell of a fish story!

285 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Mark Spitzer is the author of ten or twelve books, including "Season of the Gar" (creative nonfiction, University of Arkansas Press), "CHODE!" (novel, Six Gallery Press), "Age of the Demon Tools" (poetry, Ahadada Books), "The Pigs Drink from Infinity" (poetry, Spuyten Duyvil), "Chum" (novel, Zoland Books), "Bottom Feeder" (novel, Creative Arts), "Riding the Unit" (creative nonfiction, Six Gallery Press), "From Absinthe to Abyssinia" (Rimbaud translations, Creative Arts), "The Collected Poems of Georges Bataille" (Dufour Editions), "Divine Filth" (Bataille translations, Creation Books), "The Church" (Céline translation, Green Integer), "After the Orange Glow" (forthcoming from Monkey Puzzle Press), and "Writer in Residence" (forthcoming from the University of New Orleans Press). He has published hundreds of essays, poems, stories, literary translations, etc., and has cultivated a semi-cult following as an editor of the legendary lit journal "Exquisite Corpse" (www.corpse.org). After earning three degrees in Creative Writing (a BA from the U of MN, an MA from CU, and an MFA from LSU) he taught Creative Writing and Literature for five years at Truman State University in Missouri. He is now a professor in the Department of Writing at the University of Central Arkansas, where he lives on the shores of Lake Conway and checks his droplines daily for mongo one-eyed catfish, fugly prehistoric gars, and garbage-fish like largemouth bass. He is now Managing Editor of "The Exquisite Corpse Annual," and is married to the zombie writer Robin Becker.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book didn't go where I thought it would.
This book ends like it the first in the series. This book engaged me from the beginning. I liked both Maddie and Jacksons's POV. this book did not go where I thought it would. I thought Jackson was the hero...but not so much. He was often quite a douche, not so unusual for a 19 year old. However he was slowly working toward redemption. The bad guys ( Mattie's father and his work partner, Larry) were so evil they should have been twirling their mustaches and snipping the blooms off of flowers. I just didn't buy how Mattie could forgive people so easily. Finally, they author rushed the ending. That being said, I could stop reading it. If there is a sequel, I will read that too.

[Josh Olsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Cynical and charming at the same time. The great reveal in the book was a bit transparent for me, but the ending itself was beautiful. Loved it.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

another great book on learning about what goes in our mouths

[MarkMcgwire · Rating 3 out of 5]

gotta love fishing and saying "shit!"