From G to PG to R to X

by Stephen C. Bird (Illustrator)

Sunnie and Brother mourn Mother; an apparition visits Sunnie. Mother appears in Sunnie's disturbing dreams; Sunnie meets Momma Leg, a vicious dominatrix … Comedy writer Pamm Demmyck is the boss; she just wants to write jokes. Her partner Remmy Dessyvyr has principles; she fights back … Politically polarized Amourrica Profunda descends into chaos; Amourrica Profunda becomes "Mourrzicka" … Pamm and Remmy find success with their musical in the Triplethreat District of Megalopola … The Anarchic Rebel Patriots take over Mourrzicka, which becomes "Isolamicka" … Turmerico Inflammatorio and his wife, Curcuma Moulu, develop the best-selling "Turmerican Wonder Fabric". Turmerico's daughter, Francka Inflammatorio, expects her eight-year old daughter Deandra to become a predatory capitalist; Deandra defies her Mommy … Sunnie's brother Bobbie encounters Chester, a "shaman for good"; Bobbie helps Chester investigate a nearby cult ceremony. Two women converse as they wait for the ceremony to begin. Female One, a "hustler", is dominant; Female Two is passive and academic. At the ceremony, a collection of perverse and eccentric characters gathers by a torch-lit pit. At the bottom of the pit, an older man and a middle-aged woman lay side by side on two cement slabs. The woman is dressed as a scarecrow; the man as a clown … Bobbie flees the cult ceremony; he drives to his friend Tommie's home. But Tommie's not there; Bobbie enacts a destructive plan. A space goddess appears; two witches greet Bobbie … A cataclysm occurs.

Please refer to the Blog Posting on the Stephen C. Bird Author Profile Page for Reviews and Quotes from Goodreads Reviews for "From G to PG to R to X".

Genres: Fiction, Novella

178 pages, Paperback

First published October 9, 2022

About the author

Stephen C. Bird is a fiction writer and visual artist. He has written the following books: "Hideous Exuberance" (2009, 2013); "Catastrophically Consequential" (2012); "Any Resemblance to a Coincidence is Accidental" (2015); "To Be to Is to Was" (2018); and "From G to PG to R to X" (2022). He was born in Toronto and grew up in Erie County, New York. Mr. Bird has lived in New York City for most of his adult life.

Reviews

[Kristen Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading this book felt like I was being pranked.
Was I being pranked?
Is this even a real book?
What is this steaming pile of garbage?

[Michelle Sharp · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads. It’s the worst book I have ever read. To be fair, I do not like sci-fi books, so I am sure some would love it. My biggest problem is the style of writing. Names of people and places was not creative. Honestly felt like my 11 year old wrote it with just a stream of consciousness. Do not recommend.

[Barbara · Rating 1 out of 5]

At first, my reaction is to set this one aside, because of the storyline about losing a mother. I am not ready for this. Persevering, however, I discover that this is really a purposeful, if sloppily composed, satire on our life in the US today. Not really sure if it works. Will have to give it some more thought -- maybe. Not sure if I want to. "Blue" readers will sing its praises, whereas "red" readers will probably burn it. Come to think of it, I feel like I'm reading something some of my creative and bright ninth-graders might write. Turning it over to an "editor" will probably destroy its style, but its uniqueness certainly needs to be toned down.

[Karen Rajczewski · Rating 1 out of 5]

First time in my entire life I DNFed a book! This book, what I read of it, is deplorable. The use of words that could have been in simpler form, the lack of any sort of story line or plot or anything that makes sense just gave me a headache. I could go on but this book doesn’t deserve any more of my time. Doesn’t even deserve the star I had to give it! Complete garbage!!

[Abner · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads. This book is just terrible. It needs 0 stars. The use of hyphens, elipses, and parenthetical thoughts make me think the author has never written before. The story is disjointed and very political. There was no effort in naming characters or places. The only thing this book taught me is that using drugs and writing are a bad combination.

[Christie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is trash. DNF. It’s very rare I can’t finish a book. As this was a book I won in a Goodreads giveaway I really wanted to finish it to give my honest review, especially as it is such a short book -more like a novella, really. I’m sorry. It upsets me to have to be so negative about anyone’s work, but this is trash.

The entire thing lacks cohesiveness and desperately needed an editor. I was imagining a more sci-fi feel and I GUESS it KIND OF could be construed that way, but in reality it’s just junk political commentary disguised as science-fiction. But even before it got to the crap political commentary, it just dragged with excessive details that were completely inconsequential such as how many doors in a hallway and intricately describing them. Apparently, all buildings looked to have been built in the 1930’s. And you know what? Doesn’t matter.

I did try to skim through to see if it eventually got somewhere worth being, but no. Maybe there are people out there who can appreciate this, but I’m not one of them.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for choosing me.

I'm going to start this by saying this is not a book I'd usually pick for myself, but it sounded interesting when I was browsing the giveaways, and I'm glad I won. I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Bird's writing. It's different, it's new (to me), and it's captivating.

His writing style is easy to follow, kept me wanting to know more, and I found myself interested from beginning to end.

It was definitely an odd yet fun way to spend a couple of hours.

[Stephen Bird · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death, dreams, dystopia, hallucinations ... Abuse, rebellion, political turmoil, gender confusion and morphing identities ... Secret ceremonies, sacrifice, epiphanies and transformation ... Inform the chaotic worlds of this tragicomic novella.

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

Won the book from Goodreads. Simply don’t waste your time.

[Rae Bradshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

*From G to PG to R to X* by Stephen C. Bird is a satirical novel that delves into the chaotic devolution of national politics, societal norms, and cultural dynamics in the fictional nation of Amourrica Profunda. The narrative follows a cast of exaggerated characters, including the former chancellor Turmerico Inflammatorio and his eccentric family, as they navigate a landscape marked by political turmoil and societal absurdities. Bird employs a stream-of-consciousness style, interspersed with surreal and comedic elements, to critique the polarization and cultural shifts within the society. While the novel's unconventional structure and caricatured figures offer a unique and humorous perspective, some readers may find the fragmented storytelling challenging to follow. Overall, the book presents a thought-provoking exploration of contemporary issues through a satirical lens.

[Stuart Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read a good book about many diverse issues, this is your book!

A satirical if there ever was one...you'll get a birds eye view of much of everything currently going on in today's USA...

While we have issues on national politics, the author tackles these through the lens of our interesting citizens in the book...

You'll be introduced to a set of cultural issues that'll make you think...and be aware of the subtleties...

And our societies norm's have never been handled like this author handles them...through the outrageous and endearing characters in this book...

If you want a good read...and a fun read...and a thought-provoking read, this is your book!

Highly Recommended!

[Heather Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won an ARC. If this were a movie I'd have to watch it twice to appreciate it. Political satire. Kurt vonnegut vibes. It's took me a minute to get into the style/vibe/wait wtf am I reading of it, but once I did it was good.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ominous, funny, odd —I’m not entirely sure what I just read, but LOVE the satire!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

“From g” is a satirical look at society. In totality, along with the included art from the author at the end of the book, it’s an experience.

Some parts had me laughing, while others stretched my way of thinking.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

wasabi for the mind.
surprises around every turn of every page.
seemingly random factoids that add vectors of stories not told,
minimalist character sketches that are just enough,
that are sculptures meant to be seen and re-seen,
from different angles, leaving the reader wondering
about the unseen, about angles not explored.
very satisfying. (still reading)

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen C. Bird's fifth novel takes a turn towards the Gothic in the opening chapters as Sunnie and Brother explore strange, dimly lit hallways and rooms after the death of their mother. These chapters remind one of a David Lynch movie. Soon Bird is back to his send-up of the political scene, as the country changes names once again, from Amourricka Profunda to Mourrzicka, and then splits up, with North and South Neanderthalya seceding, eventually becoming Isolamicka (not sure if I have all that right!) The orange-haired leader, Turmerico Inflammatorio, still leads Isolamicka. I found myself wanting Bird to satirize Giovanni and Julianna Azul, leaders of the Blues, who took the Off-White House, more. They get off too easy; Bird doesn't have a lot to say about them. But the progressive mentality, at least when it comes to sexual and gender matters, gets a nicely rough going over in the final chapters as Sunnie's brother Bobbie and a man he meets named Chester witness an orgiastic cult ceremony in the woods, with two Females (One and Two) having an intensely academic dialogue as they wait for the ceremony to begin. The book ends with, let's just say, a lot of burning bridges.

[Brian Homa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Amourica Profunda saga continues. In a fictional universe eerily similar to our own, a mother's passing is mourned, emotional trauma is processed, and a warning is issued about becoming angry and hateful in response to said emotional trauma. In the meantime, an incendiary orange leader takes over the country with mob of loyal extremists, a new musical becomes an astounding success, and a cult ritual takes place in the woods with catastrophic consequences. A satirical, fun, and unexpectedly poignant entry in the series that you won't want to miss.

[Emily Barsness · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was….weird. Started out with some 1984/dystopian vibes, then LEAPED off the deep end. Governmental parody meets your best acid trip? I finished it because it had to make sense eventually, right? Wrong. The author — adds dashes — in places that — make no sense. The flow of the book was ALWAYS INTERRUPTED BY RANDOM CAPITALIZATION. I’m still confused by this book.

[Jeff Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just lost both parents I loved this satire. In another tera Stephen Bird would been a famous writer ala Kurt Vonnuagate

Some of it is disturbing..but most of it hilarious

Impeccably written as always.

In a word: brilliant

[Kaitlyn Catalano · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Eli]

very excited and grateful to be a giveaway winner!!! cannot wait for my copy of from g to pg to r to x!!

[Wendy Cheairs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads to start.

This book left me conflicted. The grammar was beyond unusual throughout, so I had to guess it was an author's choice, but it was distracting. By the end of this book, I wanted to destroy the em-dashes in a way I had never felt before. There were a lot of ellipses, em-dashes, and such instead of just regular periods to end sentences, which left a disjointed feel to the entire book. Once again, this had to be an author's choice, and I am still unsure why. It didn't add anything to the book except to make it strange and, at points, challenging to read. I wanted this to be better edited to remove this choice, but to each their own, I guess.

This is put under sci-fi, which at points is sci-fi, and then it shifts to what I could call contemporary, almost fantasy, and has massive social-political commentary over the bulk of the prose. I am not sure I would call this anywhere near a typical sci-fi novel, which I thought I was starting to read when I went for this contest. This is not typical sci-fi. This is set in a more modern-day setting, sort of, and isn't much of a sci-fi until it kind of is. It is hard to explain without giving things away. This is a genre-splitting book, to say the least; I would say it is better as speculative fiction would probably be a better fit for this type of genre than sci-fi.

The plot meanders, the character naming convention and the spelling are derivative of better works and could have been done better.

Overall, this book could use an editor to help with some of the wandering plotlines and grammar choices that make this a difficult read, since I can see where it is trying to go. Still, it could use a polish to help make this shine into a better speculative fiction piece instead of several genre pieces fighting for attention simultaneously. I wanted to like this better, but it needs some help to clean this up and make it come into focus more. I can see where the framework is and what story is there to become stronger with some help.

[Paul Lester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another tome of greatness from the warped mind of Sir Bird…I do have to “out” myself as an ardent fan of his as well as his surrealist take on “literature” and the world itself…not for the faint hearted or walnut brained, this is heavy heady stuff but like a gargantuan dollop of whipped heavy cream on a molten sea of dark chocolate, deliciously decadent for both mind and soul…get your copy today!!!

[Amy Dee Eidson Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

I appreciated the author's style - I don't mind run-on sentences with ellipses and hyphens. It's fun for me to read a different writing style. And it is well-written. However, I found the story hard to follow and I couldn't connect with any of the characters. Definitely not my kind of book. I could tell there was a deeper meaning behind the words on the page, but it wasn't clear enough for me to get anything from it. Sometimes I wondered exactly what I was reading and what was happening??

[Gina Sims · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overall this book was not for me. The summary seemed interesting and I was looking forward to the complexity of how the character’s stories mixed, but the book did not deliver that perception. The book almost seemed like short stories written in chapters out of order. I had a hard time following the characters, the story line and the time line. Thank you to Good Reads for the giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won this book on a Goodreads Giveaway Not even sure what to think about this book, ending brought it up from a two star for me. Felt like it moved from fantasy to satire to science fiction by the end.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea. I'm a bit of a punctuation, grammar, and spelling snob, and I would like to say I could get past all of that for a good read (á la e e cummings), but this book did not resonate with me at all.

[Mary Tharp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sorry but had a difficult time reading this book. Just did not make sense.

[Kim Gray · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this as an ARC. Terrible story. Totally disjointed. Some politically stuff with thinly veiled character who is cleared Trump. Seemed like a bad stream of consciousness book.

[Andy Froehlich · Rating 1 out of 5]

To be fair, it may be a good book. I couldn’t get through the first chapter before quitting it was so bad. Maybe it gets better? I won’t be finding out.