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10 A Boot Stomping 20 A Human Face 30 GOTO 10
A little accidental necromancy on the way home and Eric's quiet life spirals out of control. Suddenly he's cavorting with shady government types, scientists and resurrected music legends. A cog in a poorly thought out conspiracy arranged by a man named Jones. A Possible agent/probable nutcase on a mission that could lead to complete knowledge or the complete destruction of the world
156 pages, ebook
First published April 16, 2010
2 people are currently reading
266 people want to read
About the author
Jess Gulbranson
11 books40 followersAn industrial attritionist from Portland, Oregon, Jess Gulbranson is also an author, critic, musician, and poet.
His first novel "MEL" was serialized at the arts and culture ezine NWDrizzle for four years, where he also wrote a pseudonymous advice column.
Coming in April 2010 from Evil Nerd Empire is "Antipaladin Blues," first of the LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY MOTHERFUCKERS trilogy, satirical dark fantasy bricolaging rpg tropes, philosophy, pop culture, and ultraviolence. Also coming soon from LegumeMan Press is "10 A BOOT STOMPING 20 A HUMAN FACE 30 GOTO 10", his 3-Day Novel of autism, rock n' roll necromancy, and Lovecraftean evil.
Jess writes Rinzai- and Frankfurt-school inspired reviews and criticism at Crappy Indie Music: The Blog, where he has also interviewed such personalities as 10-time Grammy nominee Meshell Ndegeocello, veteran hardcore/metal performer Mike Kirkland, and legendary producer/engineer Ron Nevison. His poetry has been featured in Umbrella Journal, The Portland Fiction Project, and Anderson Prunty's "Bradley Sands Is A Dick."
His first novel "MEL" was serialized at the arts and culture ezine NWDrizzle for four years, where he also wrote a pseudonymous advice column.
Coming in April 2010 from Evil Nerd Empire is "Antipaladin Blues," first of the LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY MOTHERFUCKERS trilogy, satirical dark fantasy bricolaging rpg tropes, philosophy, pop culture, and ultraviolence. Also coming soon from LegumeMan Press is "10 A BOOT STOMPING 20 A HUMAN FACE 30 GOTO 10", his 3-Day Novel of autism, rock n' roll necromancy, and Lovecraftean evil.
Jess writes Rinzai- and Frankfurt-school inspired reviews and criticism at Crappy Indie Music: The Blog, where he has also interviewed such personalities as 10-time Grammy nominee Meshell Ndegeocello, veteran hardcore/metal performer Mike Kirkland, and legendary producer/engineer Ron Nevison. His poetry has been featured in Umbrella Journal, The Portland Fiction Project, and Anderson Prunty's "Bradley Sands Is A Dick."
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 25, 2011
Nick Hornby's High Fidelity (Which I love) + Palahniuk (Whom I also dig) + Necromancy?
This book by Gulbranson has one of the best cover art pieces I have ever seen, I just love the cover.
10 A Boot Stomping was a great read, definitely in my top 5 that fit in the Bizarro genre box.
Gulbranson weaves a sci-fi tale that incorporates music/vinyl, conspiracy theories, computer nerd-dom, autism, ghosts/space aliens and even a sweet Dashiell Hammett reference, into a very engaging tale.
It starts slow but it amps up quick and before you know it Eric, our hero, who usually spends most of his life listening to music, lounging around a record store, and eating pizza, has a gun in his face, is breaking people's treasured momentos, and is raising the spirits of the dead. Sound intriguing enough for you? I submit that that answer should most definitely be a yes!
P.S. This book even has Elvis and Jim Morrison!
This book by Gulbranson has one of the best cover art pieces I have ever seen, I just love the cover.
10 A Boot Stomping was a great read, definitely in my top 5 that fit in the Bizarro genre box.
Gulbranson weaves a sci-fi tale that incorporates music/vinyl, conspiracy theories, computer nerd-dom, autism, ghosts/space aliens and even a sweet Dashiell Hammett reference, into a very engaging tale.
It starts slow but it amps up quick and before you know it Eric, our hero, who usually spends most of his life listening to music, lounging around a record store, and eating pizza, has a gun in his face, is breaking people's treasured momentos, and is raising the spirits of the dead. Sound intriguing enough for you? I submit that that answer should most definitely be a yes!
P.S. This book even has Elvis and Jim Morrison!
April 11, 2010
On the surface, this book is about a friendless loser who gets swept away in a more excellent adventure than Bill and Ted could ever dream of. It is clever and funny and smart and one of my favorite new releases.
On a deeper level, Gulbranson has incorporated philosophies, modern metaphysical theories, and social science studies that could fill a ton of other books. That alone wouldn't have won me over but the depth and reality of the characters would have entertained and endeared me even if the story had failed.
Don't misunderstand me, the book isn't dry. It is funny (one of the few I actually laughed out loud at), fast paced, and violent.
On a deeper level, Gulbranson has incorporated philosophies, modern metaphysical theories, and social science studies that could fill a ton of other books. That alone wouldn't have won me over but the depth and reality of the characters would have entertained and endeared me even if the story had failed.
Don't misunderstand me, the book isn't dry. It is funny (one of the few I actually laughed out loud at), fast paced, and violent.
August 20, 2010
With 10 a Boot Stomping 20 a Human Face 30 Goto 10, Jess Gulbranson has first exhausted me in conversation about the book thanks to its long title, and pleased me thanks to its short-but-sweet narrative of boy-meets-man-with-pirate-hat.
More specifically, man-with-pirate-hat (Captain Dragon) discovers the boy’s (Eric’s) talent for communicating with the dead via destroying objects related to the dead person. After Captain Dragon beats the pulp out of Eric for thinking Eric to be a murderer covering his tracks in the case of the Captain’s missing niece, he finds Eric in the hospital and offers him participation in a project. Eric has no idea what the project’s goals are, though he gets more practice by learning how to summon dead artists. Eric, having been introduced as someone working in a record store and having a worryingly-huge collection of music, obviously decides to invoke dead rock stars for this purpose. The first test is with Ian Curtis, then with Jim Morrison, and then with blowing up Graceland to bring forth Elvis Presley. With this gifted ability of paranormal communication, Eric is brought into the next stage of Captain Dragon’s project: communication with a being from the Void. It has been practiced by Captain Dragon’s cultivated crew of children with enough autistic severity to do so, and Eric unknowingly winds up in it in his attempt for sabotage accompanied by one of Dragon’s old partners. Granted, this is all an over-simplified explanation of the events which occur in 10 20 30 10. I could also talk about how Gulbranson illustrates the changes that the characters have in their relations to each other and the connections between consumer and artist, savants and their perceptions, the dead and the present, pizza and hospital trips, etc. if it wouldn’t pad this review out to an unreadable length. And in contrast to what some other reviews may say, I find the relatively short length to be inviting, as for the most part the details are relevant and don’t distract from the story at hand.
I do, however, feel that the story could have gotten to the meat of its plot a little sooner for a book of its length. The bit about autistic kids and the creature from the Void occurs in the final third of Boot Human, though the story itself gives so much focus to the necromancy-by-destruction idea that it can seemingly come from nowhere on a first read-through. Then there’s my issue with the title. On a petty level, it’s hard to find a way for the full title to roll off the tongue easily. On another, it seems somewhat irrelevant even when used by one of the characters. Because it bears the same meaning as George Orwell’s “imagine a boot stomping on a human face forever,” I expected some sort of totalitarian state to be involved or to be a rising conspiracy (hence the similar use of the phrase referring to the future). Or, failing that, something that would beat away the willpower of the human race instead of pulling a Lovecraft and exterminating all humans. In the absence of those possibilities, it feels like the character quoting the title could have just as easily said “You guys are screwed forever” and with more relevance. Whether-or-not “You Guys are Screwed Forever” makes a good title is up for debate. Lastly, it was a bit awkward to see Osborn’s final undoing by apparently being under an idiot spell for a few moments.
Stomping Face 10’s concepts are worth exploring and the plot behind it makes it even more worthwhile. It may itch a little from having a mouthful of a name, among a few other things mentioned, though not so badly that you’ll ignore the stretching pains in your head.
More specifically, man-with-pirate-hat (Captain Dragon) discovers the boy’s (Eric’s) talent for communicating with the dead via destroying objects related to the dead person. After Captain Dragon beats the pulp out of Eric for thinking Eric to be a murderer covering his tracks in the case of the Captain’s missing niece, he finds Eric in the hospital and offers him participation in a project. Eric has no idea what the project’s goals are, though he gets more practice by learning how to summon dead artists. Eric, having been introduced as someone working in a record store and having a worryingly-huge collection of music, obviously decides to invoke dead rock stars for this purpose. The first test is with Ian Curtis, then with Jim Morrison, and then with blowing up Graceland to bring forth Elvis Presley. With this gifted ability of paranormal communication, Eric is brought into the next stage of Captain Dragon’s project: communication with a being from the Void. It has been practiced by Captain Dragon’s cultivated crew of children with enough autistic severity to do so, and Eric unknowingly winds up in it in his attempt for sabotage accompanied by one of Dragon’s old partners. Granted, this is all an over-simplified explanation of the events which occur in 10 20 30 10. I could also talk about how Gulbranson illustrates the changes that the characters have in their relations to each other and the connections between consumer and artist, savants and their perceptions, the dead and the present, pizza and hospital trips, etc. if it wouldn’t pad this review out to an unreadable length. And in contrast to what some other reviews may say, I find the relatively short length to be inviting, as for the most part the details are relevant and don’t distract from the story at hand.
I do, however, feel that the story could have gotten to the meat of its plot a little sooner for a book of its length. The bit about autistic kids and the creature from the Void occurs in the final third of Boot Human, though the story itself gives so much focus to the necromancy-by-destruction idea that it can seemingly come from nowhere on a first read-through. Then there’s my issue with the title. On a petty level, it’s hard to find a way for the full title to roll off the tongue easily. On another, it seems somewhat irrelevant even when used by one of the characters. Because it bears the same meaning as George Orwell’s “imagine a boot stomping on a human face forever,” I expected some sort of totalitarian state to be involved or to be a rising conspiracy (hence the similar use of the phrase referring to the future). Or, failing that, something that would beat away the willpower of the human race instead of pulling a Lovecraft and exterminating all humans. In the absence of those possibilities, it feels like the character quoting the title could have just as easily said “You guys are screwed forever” and with more relevance. Whether-or-not “You Guys are Screwed Forever” makes a good title is up for debate. Lastly, it was a bit awkward to see Osborn’s final undoing by apparently being under an idiot spell for a few moments.
Stomping Face 10’s concepts are worth exploring and the plot behind it makes it even more worthwhile. It may itch a little from having a mouthful of a name, among a few other things mentioned, though not so badly that you’ll ignore the stretching pains in your head.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2011
Describing the plot will not be easy but I’ll give it a shot: Eric, who works at a music store and is a vinyl aficionado, finds himself with the ability to speak to the spirit of a missing girl. A misunderstanding with a relative of the girl leaves Eric beaten within an inch of his life and he wakes in the hospital and that relative, a man Eric refers to as Captain Dragon, sucks Eric into a bizarre adventure. He speaks to the spirit of Jim Morrison. He is on the scene when Graceland is blown to smithereens. Eric finally realizes he is being used as a pawn to accelerate armageddon because some sort of monster that lives in “the void” can communicate with autistic children and frankly, the actual plot gets a little hazy for me as I try to remember it and as I read it I recall thinking, “Huh?” But despite that, even as I had questions, those questions that went unanswered did not derail me. I wonder if this confusion was deliberate on Gulbranson’s part because he weaves a story that involves conspiracy and the paranormal, both of which are topics well given to a lack of clarity. So if you read this and find yourself at times wondering what the hell, you will be in good company. Also, I believe I mentioned that Graceland gets blown up. I like Elvis and all, but that was pretty cool. There is in me an odd love of reading as American symbols get blown up or violated. It’s a personal problem, I think. Read my entire review here.
January 24, 2011
I discovered Jess Gulbranson's writing in the bizarro tome: Bradley Sands is a Dick and liked his piece so much, I decided I needed to read his other books he has listed here on GoodReads.
When he befriended me he said I should start with this book, which I could get in e-book format on Smashwords for very little cost. Bingo, I was sold! He also told me that he had a soundtrack to accompany this story and that he would send me the link. What a cool idea and since I just love listening to music while I read, I couldn't wait to read a story that had it's very own sound track.
Let's just say I wasn't disappointed. The soundtrack rocked and the story was awesome too.
The story is basically about a guy named Eric who works in an obscure record shop. Then one day a mysterious stranger enters his place of work and he finds himself on an adventure like no other he has ever experienced before. However, the story goes much deeper than what I've just explained, but is so well written that it doesn't seem like overkill and the story never gets bogged down.
It's certainly a fast paced read that I think all music lovers and readers of interesting literature will find appealing.
When he befriended me he said I should start with this book, which I could get in e-book format on Smashwords for very little cost. Bingo, I was sold! He also told me that he had a soundtrack to accompany this story and that he would send me the link. What a cool idea and since I just love listening to music while I read, I couldn't wait to read a story that had it's very own sound track.
Let's just say I wasn't disappointed. The soundtrack rocked and the story was awesome too.
The story is basically about a guy named Eric who works in an obscure record shop. Then one day a mysterious stranger enters his place of work and he finds himself on an adventure like no other he has ever experienced before. However, the story goes much deeper than what I've just explained, but is so well written that it doesn't seem like overkill and the story never gets bogged down.
It's certainly a fast paced read that I think all music lovers and readers of interesting literature will find appealing.
March 27, 2011
I enjoyed this book. I read it long ago, so I will resort to making comparisons. It's sort of like if Philip K. Dick wrote a novel with the protagonist of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. It's an earth-based science fiction novel with paranormal elements that are explained in a science fiction-y way. The protagonist is able to contact the dead and the book features the ghosts of a few different rock stars. Unsurprisingly, Ian Curtis is not a happy ghost. The way the protagonist contacts the dead is to bring them around by destroying one of their valued possessions from when they were alive. And this leads to my favorite moment of the book, when (SPOILER ALERT!) the characters blow up Elvis Presley's Graceland.
March 30, 2018
I don’t know if this guy has written anything since he was a sixteen year old with a basic knowledge of post-rock classics and a few hours to kill, but I know I’m not bothering to find out.
Total trash; exhausting even at only 100 or so pages. There’s a headache behind my eyes from rolling them in response to every single awkwardly forced reference to the author’s favorite bands. Apparently written in a small handful of sittings and it shows.
Total trash; exhausting even at only 100 or so pages. There’s a headache behind my eyes from rolling them in response to every single awkwardly forced reference to the author’s favorite bands. Apparently written in a small handful of sittings and it shows.
July 5, 2012
Jess Gulbranson, 10 A Boot Stomping 20 A Human Face 30 Goto 10 (LegumeMan Books, 2010)
Those of you who are roughly my age—who grew up in the days when the personal computer was just starting to proliferate in the home market and early versions of BASIC still ruled the roost when it came to tinkering with programming at home—are probably going to be completely geeked out by this book's title. The rest of you, well, it probably turns you off as much as it turns me on. Don't let it fool you; the title is taken from a single line in the book, which actually has very little to do with computers (our protagonist is, in fact, a Luddite who has to loan his mp3 player to his boss every few weeks so she can change out the music on it), while it has a great deal to do with an eclectic mix of music, the odd bit of necromancy, incompetent conspirators who may or may not be government-related, profound autism, the health dangers of eating pizza, and the drudgery of working in a record store. And I probably missed another half-dozen fun angles. This is High Fidelity for the bizarro/conspiracy theory set.
Plot: Eric is your basic slacker, living on pizza and working at a laid-back record store where, basically, the staff do as little as they can while still staying in business. Life is great until, one night just before closing, a guy (who Eric immediately startes calling “Captain Darryl Dragon” in his head, and if you don't get the reference, it's still pretty damn funny) comes in and asks to hang a missing person poster in the window. Eric lets him, but the length of time the girl has been missing starts getting to him. Statistically, he knows she's probably dead, and he gets angry at the hopelessness of the situation. Thus, after the store closes, he goes down the street destroying the posters. Dragon, whose name is actually Jones, gets understandably angry... until the missing girl's ghost appears. Within the week, Dragon has roped Eric into learning to train his gift to help find other missing children, with the aid of a band of misfit computer hackers, a police department lieutenant, and Osborn, who may or may not work for the government. But, of course, things are never quite what they seem...
...and the farther you go in this book, the crazier things get, though at no point does it ever feel like Gulbranson loses the reins that are ateering this ungainly beast. He starts off with events that are over the top, and then has to outdo himself each time, but Gulbranson is quite capable of outside-the-universe thinking and lateral understandings of the term “outrageous”. This is a good thing indeed, and he's got enough character-building expertise to emotionally invest us in even the minor characters enough so that we care what happens to them. This is a good, solid (if existential) mystery that will tickle your inner conspiracy theorist. ****
Those of you who are roughly my age—who grew up in the days when the personal computer was just starting to proliferate in the home market and early versions of BASIC still ruled the roost when it came to tinkering with programming at home—are probably going to be completely geeked out by this book's title. The rest of you, well, it probably turns you off as much as it turns me on. Don't let it fool you; the title is taken from a single line in the book, which actually has very little to do with computers (our protagonist is, in fact, a Luddite who has to loan his mp3 player to his boss every few weeks so she can change out the music on it), while it has a great deal to do with an eclectic mix of music, the odd bit of necromancy, incompetent conspirators who may or may not be government-related, profound autism, the health dangers of eating pizza, and the drudgery of working in a record store. And I probably missed another half-dozen fun angles. This is High Fidelity for the bizarro/conspiracy theory set.
Plot: Eric is your basic slacker, living on pizza and working at a laid-back record store where, basically, the staff do as little as they can while still staying in business. Life is great until, one night just before closing, a guy (who Eric immediately startes calling “Captain Darryl Dragon” in his head, and if you don't get the reference, it's still pretty damn funny) comes in and asks to hang a missing person poster in the window. Eric lets him, but the length of time the girl has been missing starts getting to him. Statistically, he knows she's probably dead, and he gets angry at the hopelessness of the situation. Thus, after the store closes, he goes down the street destroying the posters. Dragon, whose name is actually Jones, gets understandably angry... until the missing girl's ghost appears. Within the week, Dragon has roped Eric into learning to train his gift to help find other missing children, with the aid of a band of misfit computer hackers, a police department lieutenant, and Osborn, who may or may not work for the government. But, of course, things are never quite what they seem...
...and the farther you go in this book, the crazier things get, though at no point does it ever feel like Gulbranson loses the reins that are ateering this ungainly beast. He starts off with events that are over the top, and then has to outdo himself each time, but Gulbranson is quite capable of outside-the-universe thinking and lateral understandings of the term “outrageous”. This is a good thing indeed, and he's got enough character-building expertise to emotionally invest us in even the minor characters enough so that we care what happens to them. This is a good, solid (if existential) mystery that will tickle your inner conspiracy theorist. ****
November 20, 2025
Well, I first want to apologize to my friend Jess Gulbranson who gave me a proof copy to read a dozen years ago and then I never read it. Back then I just wasn't very engaged with e-books, snobbishly preferring paper copies of books. But I put all my childish ways aside and finally read it e-cover to e-cover this week. Having known Jess for the better part of three decades (Ranger Macmanus + Ranger Ben together in the Wasteland 4ever!), I can only say that I know him a lot better having read this book!
But enough of my obsession with my epically bearded friend. The book shocks not once, not twice, but several times. Just when you think the last gunshot has been fired, wrong. Just when you think you can't rewrite the laws of physics or mathematics or computer programming anymore, wrong. Just when you think he wouldn't possibly put a reference to the greatest computer role-playing game, Wasteland, he put in two of them (Metal Maniac and Brian Fargo, I mean, Faran Brygo, fans, rejoice!) -- and in the same chapter! There's so much to love in this tome. I do have to wonder though, if there is a line 40 coded somewhere in his brain, waiting to be executed, or, if the point of the ending of the book is, there isn't a line 40. Definite [i]Cabin in the Woods[/i] there!
Maybe if I had read this a dozen years ago, my review and public support would have helped propel Mr. Gulbranson on a world wide tour of fame and glory. Alas, my review comes too late to help with that. He probably wouldn't want a world wide tour anyway. It would get in the way of his writing and family life!
Sadly there doesn't seem to be a legitimate way to acquire this story anymore, but perhaps if the Internet is kind to you, you can find a copy floating around. In the meantime you can see more goodies about this book at https://allthetropes.org/wiki/10_A_BO... !
But enough of my obsession with my epically bearded friend. The book shocks not once, not twice, but several times. Just when you think the last gunshot has been fired, wrong. Just when you think you can't rewrite the laws of physics or mathematics or computer programming anymore, wrong. Just when you think he wouldn't possibly put a reference to the greatest computer role-playing game, Wasteland, he put in two of them (Metal Maniac and Brian Fargo, I mean, Faran Brygo, fans, rejoice!) -- and in the same chapter! There's so much to love in this tome. I do have to wonder though, if there is a line 40 coded somewhere in his brain, waiting to be executed, or, if the point of the ending of the book is, there isn't a line 40. Definite [i]Cabin in the Woods[/i] there!
Maybe if I had read this a dozen years ago, my review and public support would have helped propel Mr. Gulbranson on a world wide tour of fame and glory. Alas, my review comes too late to help with that. He probably wouldn't want a world wide tour anyway. It would get in the way of his writing and family life!
Sadly there doesn't seem to be a legitimate way to acquire this story anymore, but perhaps if the Internet is kind to you, you can find a copy floating around. In the meantime you can see more goodies about this book at https://allthetropes.org/wiki/10_A_BO... !
January 8, 2012
I remember when I bought this, I was holidaying in Melbourne, the same time I bought V for Vendetta, and I was wandering through all manner of quirky book and music shops. I found this one, as well as numerous other bizarro books, predominantly Eraserhead Press and Legume Man books in a shop called Polyester Books. Needless to say, I was very excited. I’d heard a little about this book beforehand, and it looked interesting, and I was probably going to buy it anyway, so I got it at the shop. It was the only thing I got from there. And I brought it home and read it, and really enjoyed it. It’s got a lot of music references, lots of weird, conspiratorial stuff going on, and I think I remember something about a group of autistic kids in some secret government building. It’s pretty crazy shit, spirals out of control, people leading the protagonist astray in order to fulfil their own crazy plans. Great sci-fi bizarro. It’s really like nothing else around.
June 26, 2012
Eric works at a record store. After a brief spiritual encounter. Eric becomes a lab rat for ghost hunting. After some twist and turns it comes down to a fight to the end.
The opening to this book had me hooked. After the attack was excited for the outcome to the end of book. Not what I expected for the end, but a likeable one at that.
Ghosts, Guns and Rock 'N Roll. With a special appearance from Jim Morrison. A ghostly tale of a bizarre encounter.
The opening to this book had me hooked. After the attack was excited for the outcome to the end of book. Not what I expected for the end, but a likeable one at that.
Ghosts, Guns and Rock 'N Roll. With a special appearance from Jim Morrison. A ghostly tale of a bizarre encounter.
September 12, 2010
I liked the ideas in this book. As I was reading it, I kept thinking, this could use some editing and more drafts. Then, when I finished it, I read the back notes, which told me the author wrote this book in three days for a weekend novel contest. Woah! Take that into consideration and this book is GREAT.
July 22, 2010
Written with a Palahniuk-esque rhythm and motion of plot, my only problem with this book was that it was too short. I felt like there could have been more. Quite a fun mystery/sci-fi adventure that moved quickly from normal daily life to odd space conspiracy. I found myself thoroughly enjoying this book and Bam! story over. Short but well done.
Read
June 30, 2010I liked this one a lot.
Full review coming soon on my blog: www.gnbraun.blogspot.com
Full review coming soon on my blog: www.gnbraun.blogspot.com
May 31, 2013
Completely insane and fantastic. Never went anywhere I expected. Really cool.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews