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Infinity's Jukebox
A two-headed, eight-eyed monster of a book that moves in all directions, building hearts out of Legos and dreams out of mere existence. The possibilities and feelings and imagination in these stories are as endless as infinity itself, as fulfilling as a fistful of quarters in the jukebox of a lifetime.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 9, 2017
Burnside is brilliant and hilarious! I would read anything he wrote! Here are some quotes:
"Years later, someone would tell me Jell-O is made from the boiled bones of animals and this would come as no big surprise. Everything would make sense up to that point: the way anything good could only ever be bought with equal but opposite suffering."
"But all is right as rain, I am told.
Something is wrong with the rain."
"I had names for pills. The round milky tablet with the + sign, I called Holy Spirit. It was like eating radiation, a mouthful of bees buzzing at a hundred times per second. My teeth rattle and my tongue tingles all the way down my throat. Then I feel it fizzing in my bloodstream, pushing through veins and creeping into muscles like little neon streams of viscous starlight. The ends of my fingers shoot electricity. My knees become gushing volcanoes. The best part is, while the body's busy with all that, my mind empties and there's nothing left to think about. I'm free, like a rock, or a branch, or a germ."
"Years later, someone would tell me Jell-O is made from the boiled bones of animals and this would come as no big surprise. Everything would make sense up to that point: the way anything good could only ever be bought with equal but opposite suffering."
"But all is right as rain, I am told.
Something is wrong with the rain."
"I had names for pills. The round milky tablet with the + sign, I called Holy Spirit. It was like eating radiation, a mouthful of bees buzzing at a hundred times per second. My teeth rattle and my tongue tingles all the way down my throat. Then I feel it fizzing in my bloodstream, pushing through veins and creeping into muscles like little neon streams of viscous starlight. The ends of my fingers shoot electricity. My knees become gushing volcanoes. The best part is, while the body's busy with all that, my mind empties and there's nothing left to think about. I'm free, like a rock, or a branch, or a germ."
July 16, 2013
These stories really pack an emotional punch. Even in the more straightforwardly put together ones, even when you think you know where Burnside is going, it hits you like you didn't see it coming. There's a lot of notes in this playlist of a collection, but they're all resonant ones.
September 17, 2013
I blurbed Mr. Burnside's wonderful chapbook, to wit:
"Matthew Burnside does what all my favorite fiction writers do: he inhabits his own world. He travels around it. He seeks and finds whatever he can, and he brings it back for us all to marvel at. So we can watch as friends on a road trip together become their own demons, as a child fiercely defends his father’s lawn from outsiders looking for a shortcut, and the cruelty envisaged by man’s inhumanity to Dogfaced man. No matter where you are, the energy of Infinity’s Jukebox always feels boundless, and it has quite a few tunes that might leave you feeling nostalgic for plenty in particular."
But I don't know if that quite says it all. Matthew Burnside really does a nice job in this collection of blending the surreal and the everyday into something extraordinary. I quite like it. I'd recommend you read it as soon as you can. Or make the mistake of not doing that, and at least read it eventually soon.
"Matthew Burnside does what all my favorite fiction writers do: he inhabits his own world. He travels around it. He seeks and finds whatever he can, and he brings it back for us all to marvel at. So we can watch as friends on a road trip together become their own demons, as a child fiercely defends his father’s lawn from outsiders looking for a shortcut, and the cruelty envisaged by man’s inhumanity to Dogfaced man. No matter where you are, the energy of Infinity’s Jukebox always feels boundless, and it has quite a few tunes that might leave you feeling nostalgic for plenty in particular."
But I don't know if that quite says it all. Matthew Burnside really does a nice job in this collection of blending the surreal and the everyday into something extraordinary. I quite like it. I'd recommend you read it as soon as you can. Or make the mistake of not doing that, and at least read it eventually soon.
October 7, 2013
To say Matthew Burnside is a skilled writer simply isn't enough--he is a magician, a comedian, a soothsayer, a musician, a wizard, a wildly inventive artist who crafts puzzles and mazes, wonderfully complicated stories that mystify and confuse. This collection is sharp and entrancing from the first story to the last.
December 7, 2013
Well-Written And Well-Designed Chapbook
I love the design of this chapbook. It truly is a literary jukebox, complete with a nickel down the slot to get it all started. The index has the short story titles listed like song titles in jukebox labels. And the stories are great and varied. Tucked away in the mix is "Hey, Got a Light? (A Tribute to Jazz)," which is a standout.
I love the design of this chapbook. It truly is a literary jukebox, complete with a nickel down the slot to get it all started. The index has the short story titles listed like song titles in jukebox labels. And the stories are great and varied. Tucked away in the mix is "Hey, Got a Light? (A Tribute to Jazz)," which is a standout.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews