TOTAL DESTRUCTION

by John Trefry

378 pages, Paperback

Published December 18, 2025

About the author

John Trefry lives in Lawrence, Kansas.

Reviews

[Max Restaino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most I’ve ever laughed aloud while reading a book.

[Phillip Freedenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

First completed read of 2026, at its simplest…if you love submitting to the profound, intoxicating, cognitive ascendent potential of a creative taxonomy of the deluge of the brilliance of the arabesques of the entropy, beauty, and horror of the post-modern information stream, there is no greater book for you to W.O.M.P. your way toward than to The Total Destruction of John Trefry.

Phillip Freedenberg
America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: A Diagnostic
1/10/26
Buffalo, NY

[Gianluca Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was debating in my head whether to give this a three or four star rating but I've gone for the latter because of the funnier elements of this book as well as the ingenious structural elements and the blending of criticism, poetic motifs and fiction. This sort of articulation of an art for art's sake impulse as well as the creation of a book-object that has an analogous impact to a painting is fascinating. I did kinda find some elements a little frustrating but those were essentially just jabs at artists I rather liked that were due to the nature of the book just kinda said and then moved on from as well as some elements I perhaps philosophically disagreed with as I question whether the disparate elements that form a "non-sequitur" within a text are as disparate as Trefry claims (a discordant set of notes are still part of the overall score and only have the impact they do because of the surrounding context). Again, maybe this is exactly what Trefry was saying and I misconstrued the philosophical element. I don't necessarily share his pessimism regarding the literary form and also am perhaps less neutral and more positive about the way that unintentional elements within a work can create wonderful alternate worlds were symbols attain new meanings and specificity. At the beginning, I definitely had more of a feeling of "I think there's something here but I'm not sure if I quite agree with the content despite the intriguing form". However, the book very much challenges this distinction and I think the expression of human frailty through the bodily motifs was pretty emotionally affecting.

Again, some of the critical stuff had me thinking "Well, you've got a point but it depends."

However, maybe that's my reaction to a fair amount of criticism: "You've got a point but it depends."

[Maurice Crehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book I have ever seen reference Pissgrave. That is enough to get 5 stars from me on its own. I went into this book not really knowing what to expect, and I finished it not really knowing what to expect. What I do know though, is that I didn't want to stop reading it. A jarring, confronting, morbid jaunt through a field of scattered thoughts. I loved it. I'll read it again probably.

I hope the colour scheme and inclusion of Morbid Tales in the subheading is a Celtic Frost reference, which I'm almost positive it is. I initially bought the book because it reminded me of Celtic Frost.

More literary criticism should mention Pissgrave.

"I don't really enjoy reading books, but I still look at them. They are real things."

[Jesse Hilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book we all tried to write and failed. Review apparitioning elsewhere.