Salmon

by Sebastian Castillo, Kit Schluter (Illustrator)

A young poet travels to a mysterious country named SALMON to escape “the dailiness of life” but his plan is thwarted by derelict trains, ambivalent pirates, and a deity-like mushroom that seems to disappear the world one object at a time.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

186 pages, Paperback

Published May 9, 2023

About the author

SEBASTIAN CASTILLO is a writer and teacher living in Philadelphia. He was born in Caracas, Venezuela and grew up in New York. His work has appeared in NY Tyrant, Peach Mag, Electric Literature, The Fanzine, BOMB, and elsewhere. He is the author of 49 Venezuelan Novels (Bottlecap press, 2017), NOT I (word west, 2020), and SALMON (Shabby Doll House 2023).

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

this happens to me all the time

[Zach Zoeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sort of like “In Watermelon Sugar,” but also drier and more scholarly and maybe even a little bleaker? A quick, madcap read that I’m sure I’ll return to. There was some bizarro stuff here that went over my head. I hope to look up and notice next go-around.

[Lillie Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the wrong hands (guy who just experienced ayahuasca ego death) this could become the inspiration for the worst debut EP you’ve ever heard. In my hands it’s a treasure

[Josh Iden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unhinged and shockingly well-written. Finished it and immediately started reading it again, which I never do. A reverberating psychedelic adventure of a Lost Soul exploding with originality. It’s just too good.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Flew through this one a single sit and felt by the end that I'd woken from a dream. I'm left thinking about all the things we do to ward off boredom / stay sane. Working, clowning, drinking, writing. Creativity is a basic survival mechanism. Society is just one manifestation of our creative habit and for someone to be trapped by its parameters can be an absurd tragedy.

Some specific things I enjoyed:
- The mention of streets as "a mere loading screen" between home and work.
- The author's thoughts on how people listen to each other and how it often seems that one could reach into the deepest depths of their soul to express something true about themselves and it would have about the same impact on the listener as mentioning the weather – I've definitely felt this way.
- The interactions between the poet narrator and his parents, found it to be the funniest part of the book.
- A life-changing tip to free oneself of insomnia.

[olivia!]

VERY vonnegut VERY brautigan i totally see it. i picked this up because it was described as such. like a mix of the two but castillo’s own refreshing subversion of a normal literary format. absurd, hilarious, well-crafted. it completely surprised me, taking an entirely different direction than i was expecting throughout the book. each turn was wonderfully STRANGE and i just loved the surreal little ride that was the poet’s journey. great characters great dialogue great world building. just entirely imaginative. but also simply goofy. anyways the ending was perfect but it was so fun i just wanted more ~~~~~

[Eaon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Castillo is an interesting writer however I did not enjoy this as much as I did Fresh, Green Life. Salmon takes us on a farcical, madcap adventure and while I enjoy Castillo’s ability to play with format and structure I felt myself slogging through parts of this novel. Silly nonetheless.

[Sagar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Part 1 a lot

[Tiffany Rucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Felt like a fever dream or like tripping on acid (I think).
It was a fun and short read, so really no complaints here.
It was just weird as hell and I don’t understand anything about it or its meaning (if it even has one), but I’m content with the fact that I read it and it was entertaining.
I love you Alphonse <3

[Andrew Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

SALMON is an excellent odyssey through the travels and travails of an alleged poet...imagine your 19th century continental literature class put in a blender with some sweet cheese stuff and then given a dose or two of psilocybin mushrooms. The first part of the book is a prose masterpiece of style and craft, the second half is a dramatic whirlwind. It reminded me of IN WATERMELON SUGAR for a bit but then it did its own thing. This was definitely a playful, refreshing breath of air in my reading life. One of those books you pick up, start reading, and can't put down. The only thing lingering to pause my pleasure was I wish I had written it myself. But alas, only Mr. Castillo could and did write it. Pick it up now unless you're a serious stooge.

[Chad Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and weird. Bright and light.

[Addison Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dee-lightful

[Nomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oozes charm, like some sort of salmon lifted from a sea of charm which oozes

[Luis Fraga Lo Curto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deliciosa, divertida, extraña, absurda. Qué maravilla Sebastian Castillo.

[Kristen Felicetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

has there ever been a book more suited to be described as a picaresque? i think not. it's well-known that moby-dick was an inspiration for the first chapter of sebastian castillo's novel, but in addition to those who admire melville's most famous sea tale, fans of samuel beckett, agota kristoff, jesse ball, alice notley, will find much to delight in SALMON as well. but castillo's style is all his own, he has a refreshingly old-fashioned voice in the trendy world of contemporary literature. and while i hope that profanity doesn't get my review flagged on goodreads, or whatever, i'll end with saying, enjoy SALMON, the country where they say they love you, but they fuck you to death.

[Winmonroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Castillo's novella follows a young poet who decides to "say no to the dailiness of life" and travel to a foreign country known as SALMON. The story is strange and hilarious. One strangeness is the deliberate playing with any sense of traditional setting. At first a reader might think this is the near future in our world. References to Spain, computers, some recent large war. On the other hand, there are two moons (mentioned twice, just to make sure you didn't miss it) and frequent use of outdated language. Instead of attempts to make sense of this, there is a feeling that these things simply do not matter more than vehicles for a moment that can be (and sometimes are) changed on a whim. This world makese no attempt to pass itself off believeable or corresponding to anything outside our imagintion. This is a more general theme and technique of the book - the characters at one point saying "Are we still human? We're plastic." (reminded me of some George Saunders a bit in this regard). Castillo is an excellent comic writer and his naive poet proves a wise vehicle for this, as his journeys bring him across wonderful absurdities that keeps the reader entertained. They may be clowns, they may be plastic, but they "are making the world less lonely because of the great laughter [they] engender."

7/10

[Benjamin Niespodziany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sebastian Castillo has a collection of one-page stories (49 Venezuelan Novels), a collection of experimental syntax (Not I), and now a novel (Salmon). Salmon is half coming-of-age and half dream logic stage play. It makes sense that the desired location is a faraway island, feeling both antiquated and surreal. Everything feels slightly sideways in the best of ways. Expansive and unique. Don Quixote meets Cast Away, or The Lobster meets Pinocchio. It's been a delight seeing Castillo expand the narrative beyond a single page (despite how much I love 49 Venezuelan Novels) and Salmon is one hell of a debut novel.

[Nico · Rating 5 out of 5]

I might have liked this more than Fresh, Green Life, but that could also be recency bias. Both made me feel similar amounts of insane.
The first half was intriguing and written in a beautifully ridiculous poetic-prose style, but the second half truly shone. The whole thing was a joy to read and me laugh out loud several times

[sema · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun and enticing read with some really beautiful lines. It’s less of a story and more of a testament to its own moral to reject the dailiness of life. The end is abrupt, characters are introduced somewhat flippantly, and the written format shifts from novel to stage play halfway through. That’s what it’s all about!

[alexggrandma · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW this is like if a bumbling fool who speaks in 1800s parlance stumbled into a richard brautigan plot

i fucking loved this its so funny and i need to make a play adaptation of this i have never done that once in my life but i need to and i need to bond with the “crew” and “make it happen”

[Mattschratz · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Fresh, Green Life is Castillo's The Trial, SALMON is his Amerika: written earlier, harder for this particular reader to understand, and maybe for that reason, less good in this reader's estimation.

[ay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not life changing and maybe closer to a 3.5, but I liked parts of it. I laughed at a discussion about clowns.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

Reminded me of Vonnegut in the second half. Solid read.

[Jasey Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly great if you like insane shit

[D.J. Desmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wild but unforgettable

[Isaiah Nunez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wacky, unhinged, and a little pretentious. Very clever and absolutely hysterical.

[Isabella Hausle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lightweight but fun and playful

[Ryan Lytle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny read, if you’re in the mood for wildly absurdist humor. Loved it for a quick vacation read.

[Clarissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

there were some fresh silly creative bits but being super quirked up alone does not a good novela make

[Huy · Rating 5 out of 5]

hehehehehe prety good