Live from the Apocalypse

by Andrew Cruze

For nearly two decades, Jefferson Jones has wielded his widely syndicated talk show as a the apocalypse is coming, brought to you courtesy of the banksters, the Bilderbergs, the world’s nefarious elite.The second term of President Barry Soetoro—aka Barrack Hussein Obama—ushers in a mysterious eclipse, followed by reports of demon sightings and brutal decapitations. On November 7, 2012, his predictions finally come to pass. Jones covers the unfolding carnage, and the nation’s pundits cover him.  He relishes the attention, but is it too little too late?Live from the Apocalypse is a dark, political satire set in the era of hysterical pundits, absurd politicians, and conspiracy theories so crazy they just might be true."For anyone who's a fan of Alex Jones purely for entertainment value, this will be a fun thought experiment and clearly shows an understanding of the source material."—Ross Blocher, co-host of Oh No Ross and Carrie“Live from the Apocalypse is one of the best books I have read in the last five years. It's also one of the strangest, most surreal, and funniest novels I've *ever* read. Cruze knows the key to that crossroads where political satire meets the Kafkaesque. Within the very absurd lies some strain of the familiar....Read this book. I rank it with my favorite works of Poe, Calvino, and (Cruze's contemporary) the satirist Chris Bachelder. It is a marvelous accomplishment, both of the imagination and clear seeing.”—David Keplinger, author, The Most Natural Thing, The Prayers of Others (winner of the Colorado Book Award)“The writer's intelligence shines through, especially in his deep understanding of the media, politics, and the ‘prepper’ sensibility. Maybe most importantly, this book is incredibly entertaining. I read most of it in public at a cafe, and couldn't help laughing out loud. A lot.”—Gretchen Marquette, author, The Paris Review, Harper’s Magazine, forthcoming collection from Graywolf Press

Genres: Satire

466 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 5, 2013

About the author

Andrew Cruze is the author of Live from the Apocalypse, a dark political satire about a conspiracy talk radio host.

He holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from American University and a B.A. in English from St. Cloud State University.

He lives in St. Cloud, MN with his wife, Tiffany Clements, and their derpy mutt, Hank.

Find him on Twitter @andrewcruze.

Reviews

[Ross Blocher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thinly veiled spoof of conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones, Live From the Apocalypse presents a many-hours-long dramatization of what it would look like if the conspiracy theorists had been right all along. I was reminded of the film Signs, as it also is a global story told from the confines of a single house. It's an interesting premise, revealed piece by piece in such a way to keep you second-guessing quite far into the narrative. "Jefferson Jones" is the Alex Jones clone, and he rambles along to keep the airwaves filled with his blend of wild-eyed speculation, narcissism, bravado, and crass commercialism. All along the way he is analyzing and aggrandizing himself in a bizarre display of histrionics. He takes callers only to talk over them; he constantly demeans his prized intern, only to turn around and proclaim the young man's praises. It's almost not a parody, because the real Alex Jones is pretty close to this, but the real twist here is that things start to go according to his predictions of mayhem (due to the scurrilous Bilderbergs, Barry Soetoro - his preferred title for Barack Obama - and other powers that be). For anyone who's a fan of Alex Jones purely for entertainment value, this will be a fun thought experiment and clearly shows an understanding of the source material. The broadcast is often repetitive and replete with filler material. While this is true of the real-life counterpart as well, it can be a bit tedious at times. You definitely need to take the occasional break from this equally fascinating and frustrating megalomaniac.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had high hopes, but it's really just not that funny.