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A Series of Pained Facial Expressions Made While Shredding Air Guitar
Have you ever listened to heavy metal albums on a tape deck while playing Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! Over at your best friend’s trailer? Are you a Shia LaBeouf completist? Have you ever wondered what would happen if you suddenly peed on your cat? Have you ever tried drunkenly convincing loved ones that Goodfellas is mandatory Christmas viewing? Do you long for the days when Hulkamania was the strongest force in the universe? Do you scream into pillows? Do you get sad pleasure from watching Chuck Norris kick the shit out of dudes on coke? Do you eat cream cheese sandwiches for dinner and then cry yourself to sleep every night? Have you somehow Jacque Cousteau’d a new depth to the ocean that is your self-hate? Is this the year you finally give up and start a food truck and then immediately crash it into something? If so, then congratulations: You’ve just graduated into your total dark side persona, and Brian Alan Ellis is here to text you “Zzzzzzz…” and other sweet nothings using a Virgin Mobile flip phone purchased at a Dollar General before Obama was president, so get hella stoked!
148 pages, Paperback
First published March 13, 2016
1 person is currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Brian Alan Ellis
35 books129 followersBRIAN ALAN ELLIS runs House of Vlad Press, and is the author of several books, including Sad Laughter (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2018). His writing has appeared at Juked, Hobart, Monkeybicycle, Fanzine, Electric Literature, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Funhouse, Heavy Feather Review, and Queen Mob’s Tea House, among other places. He lives in Florida, and tweets sad and clever things at both @brianalanellis and @HouseofVlad.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 12, 2016
Books are like people: there are too many and most are garbage but we keep producing them because maybe a really amazing one will turn up though it’s doubtful as fuck.
Geez, I didn't realize how much BAE and I had in common... Then again, we're also quite different:
I also lived in my share of trailers growing up, but I never had to share a room with my grandma.
I too shit my pants at school, but I was never the fat kid.
I went through my own goth/industrial phase as well, but pro wrestling was always kinda lost on me.
I too have my bouts with depression/psychic terror/self-loathing, but rarely do I punch things.
I still cling to my own shitty flip phone as well, but mine is from Verizon and not Virgin Mobile.
I also harbor great disdain for most forms of social media, yet here I am proclaiming this on social media.
I'll admit, I might prefer BAE's short stories, but this collection of tweets, flash, think pieces, and other miscellanea really did it for me. There's a certain comfort/sense of accomplishment to be had in donning one's favorite "The Dream Died" or "Dream's Dead" or "Dreams R.I.P" shirt, eating life's shit sandwich with great relish, and actually pulling something positive/productive out of the ordeal. That something would be this book, and I'd advise that you read it whether you hate yourself or whether you'd just like a few laughs at the expense of some poor schmuck who ain't afraid to admit what you won't.
Geez, I didn't realize how much BAE and I had in common... Then again, we're also quite different:
I also lived in my share of trailers growing up, but I never had to share a room with my grandma.
I too shit my pants at school, but I was never the fat kid.
I went through my own goth/industrial phase as well, but pro wrestling was always kinda lost on me.
I too have my bouts with depression/psychic terror/self-loathing, but rarely do I punch things.
I still cling to my own shitty flip phone as well, but mine is from Verizon and not Virgin Mobile.
I also harbor great disdain for most forms of social media, yet here I am proclaiming this on social media.
I'll admit, I might prefer BAE's short stories, but this collection of tweets, flash, think pieces, and other miscellanea really did it for me. There's a certain comfort/sense of accomplishment to be had in donning one's favorite "The Dream Died" or "Dream's Dead" or "Dreams R.I.P" shirt, eating life's shit sandwich with great relish, and actually pulling something positive/productive out of the ordeal. That something would be this book, and I'd advise that you read it whether you hate yourself or whether you'd just like a few laughs at the expense of some poor schmuck who ain't afraid to admit what you won't.
March 15, 2016
Here's the thing about Brian Alan Ellis. When I can't wrap my brain around anything else because I'm too anxious or overwhelmed or lost or so bored I can't function, I can still read him. In fact I turn to it. Why? It's the way he writes like a voice in your ear, or a voice in your head. You read his work and you feel like you know him. Like he's the only good cousin at your godforsaken macaroni salad family reunion so you stick to him like glue to survive it. Like he's the friend in the backseat in high school who won't shut up and you can't stop laughing. You can tell he's cool but also pretty fucked up, the way people are, the way you are.
So reading something like A Series of Pained Facial Expressions...- his bizarre and hilarious inner thought monologue in the form of aborted tweets and pop culture worship poetry and half-cocked rants and dissected movie lines - it feels good. It feels like being entertained, but in a deeper way, it feels like being understood. It feels like you know him, but it also feels like he knows you, and he achieves this in a signature way that no one else is capable of pulling off to the same degree of success.
In this book and all his work, Ellis is creating a genre within a genre, in the way a cover band plays the same songs we're all used to but in an irreverent and unexpected way. I think of his work as dirty lit. Breaking structure and form, spanning fiction and creative nonfiction and satire and confession in the same line, utterly deconstructed and subtle to the extreme. His work feels almost sloppy, slapped together, but this is very much by design. It's a voice he's affecting, lulling you into a false sense of security so as you read you're half-laughing, thinking, this fuckin guy, and then he hits you with a moment of emotional insight that slides in like a scalpel. And you weren't ready.
Ellis knows what he's doing even when he pretends like he doesn't. He trades in don't give a fuck attitude. In A Series of Pain Facial Expressions, expect to be entertained. Expect to relate. Expect to wonder who the fuck he thinks he is. And brace for some backhand realness that only he can give you, with his voice sliding up off the page, into your ear, into your head.
So reading something like A Series of Pained Facial Expressions...- his bizarre and hilarious inner thought monologue in the form of aborted tweets and pop culture worship poetry and half-cocked rants and dissected movie lines - it feels good. It feels like being entertained, but in a deeper way, it feels like being understood. It feels like you know him, but it also feels like he knows you, and he achieves this in a signature way that no one else is capable of pulling off to the same degree of success.
In this book and all his work, Ellis is creating a genre within a genre, in the way a cover band plays the same songs we're all used to but in an irreverent and unexpected way. I think of his work as dirty lit. Breaking structure and form, spanning fiction and creative nonfiction and satire and confession in the same line, utterly deconstructed and subtle to the extreme. His work feels almost sloppy, slapped together, but this is very much by design. It's a voice he's affecting, lulling you into a false sense of security so as you read you're half-laughing, thinking, this fuckin guy, and then he hits you with a moment of emotional insight that slides in like a scalpel. And you weren't ready.
Ellis knows what he's doing even when he pretends like he doesn't. He trades in don't give a fuck attitude. In A Series of Pain Facial Expressions, expect to be entertained. Expect to relate. Expect to wonder who the fuck he thinks he is. And brace for some backhand realness that only he can give you, with his voice sliding up off the page, into your ear, into your head.
March 6, 2016
I read this book in the parking lot of a rich people's tennis club in full view of a construction crane because that seemed the subversive thing to do. Also, that's where I happened to be. Good stuff either way. Zen koans mixed with equal amounts of doom and hilarity. Highly recommended for anyone who either once bummed rides to 7-11 from former president Zachary Taylor or has to eat to continue being alive. Enjoy!
March 14, 2016
If I give this a bad review I'm afraid that Ellis will RKO one of his cats, or quite possibly cry himself to sleep after binge watching John Cena's Greatest Hits so what am I supposed to do lie? Here's the interesting thing about Ellis. If you haven't heard of this dude you should have. He's taking bizarro and emo fiction to new levels and then if he's feeling sad he's going to jump from that level and damn it he's taking you all with him! This is a writer that clearly has either a lot issues or a sick sense of humor. Either way anytime you pick up one of his books you have no idea what you're in for.
This is a book of tweets, lists, and other randomness that should be on a Twitter feed somewhere. This is a book full of sadness and crushed dreams. It's that feeling you get when you wink at a girl and she looks at some other dude so all you can do is stand there and swallow sadness. That's what makes this book so damn good. You can't tell if he's kidding. You read some of this and you wonder if these are a cry for help or someone poking fun at people that are truly dead inside. We all are in some way and while you may cringe at most of these you can't help but laugh because they're all pretty damn funny. Ellis is the guy that's so Emo he might be actually be gay. He's every Bloodhound Gang lyric that Jimmy Pop was too busy to write.
A Series is a book that you either get or you don't. It's not a story just a series of random stuff. A few poems here and there and enough self hate and fear to make a therapist cry. For a moment it you think this is pretty bizarre but then you laugh and feel guilty because there millions of people out there just like this. They eat ice cream out of the carton, they throw on Kiss' Asylum and cry because this is the last great 80's Kiss album. Ellis is the kind of writer that uses whatever he can to fill pages and those pages are never boring. Just a lot of fun to read.
This is a book of tweets, lists, and other randomness that should be on a Twitter feed somewhere. This is a book full of sadness and crushed dreams. It's that feeling you get when you wink at a girl and she looks at some other dude so all you can do is stand there and swallow sadness. That's what makes this book so damn good. You can't tell if he's kidding. You read some of this and you wonder if these are a cry for help or someone poking fun at people that are truly dead inside. We all are in some way and while you may cringe at most of these you can't help but laugh because they're all pretty damn funny. Ellis is the guy that's so Emo he might be actually be gay. He's every Bloodhound Gang lyric that Jimmy Pop was too busy to write.
A Series is a book that you either get or you don't. It's not a story just a series of random stuff. A few poems here and there and enough self hate and fear to make a therapist cry. For a moment it you think this is pretty bizarre but then you laugh and feel guilty because there millions of people out there just like this. They eat ice cream out of the carton, they throw on Kiss' Asylum and cry because this is the last great 80's Kiss album. Ellis is the kind of writer that uses whatever he can to fill pages and those pages are never boring. Just a lot of fun to read.
March 19, 2016
I'm probably overanalyzing this. It was a question of time before someone released an entire book based on writings that are not longer than an elaborate Facebook status. Has it been done already? Maybe La Rochefoucauld is turning over in his grave right now, I don't know. "Air Guitar" is a portrait of a youth built on bits and pieces of popular culture at a time where culture itself is spinning out of control. Obviously, I've identified with the subject very hard because I'm one of these young people who was raised on culture myself. A personality shaped from a series of iconic personalities. A deforming mirror if you will.
It could be the beginning of a literary revolution or nothing at all. In both case, it's a powerful and honest depiction of how we've all accepted alienation. I'm probably overanalyzing this.
But it's great.
It could be the beginning of a literary revolution or nothing at all. In both case, it's a powerful and honest depiction of how we've all accepted alienation. I'm probably overanalyzing this.
But it's great.
June 2, 2016
super hilarious status update lit and i laughed out loud several times. rlly good at writing humorous tweets/status updates, i bookmarked like every page
August 31, 2016
An interesting book that made me often laugh,smile or shake my head. It was full of many trivial things that we either have lived through or know something about and can somehow relate to.
April 26, 2021
Book review made up solely of quotes from the book to justify the five star rating
"Whenever I tweet I hear the sound of glass breaking followed by the Stone Cold Steve Austin theme music, which is super weird." - Fourth line in the book and moment I decided it was getting five stars.
"Think I'm getting close to that age of feeling at peace with my own irrelevancy. Check back."
"Is the act of sharing proof of yourself doing IRL things on the internet the only incentive to doing IRL things?"
"When your Netflix playback times out and the "Whoops, something went wrong..." message pops up and you slowly nod in agreement but about entirely other things."
"Dreamed I still had the ability to genuinely look forward to things."
"Obituary: He/she is survived by his/her Want-to-Read/Currently-Reading Goodreads shelf."
"Does anything cool happen when you reach a certain number of tweets or do these feelings of emptiness and crippling self-hate remain till death?"
"POP QUIZ: You've stopped caring about most things, especially things you once cared for a lot: Old or depressed?"
"Twilight Zone episode where a group of alienated ex-punks aged 30-40 are horrified that everyone younger or older than them has never heard Fugazi."
"Whenever I tweet I hear the sound of glass breaking followed by the Stone Cold Steve Austin theme music, which is super weird." - Fourth line in the book and moment I decided it was getting five stars.
"Think I'm getting close to that age of feeling at peace with my own irrelevancy. Check back."
"Is the act of sharing proof of yourself doing IRL things on the internet the only incentive to doing IRL things?"
"When your Netflix playback times out and the "Whoops, something went wrong..." message pops up and you slowly nod in agreement but about entirely other things."
"Dreamed I still had the ability to genuinely look forward to things."
"Obituary: He/she is survived by his/her Want-to-Read/Currently-Reading Goodreads shelf."
"Does anything cool happen when you reach a certain number of tweets or do these feelings of emptiness and crippling self-hate remain till death?"
"POP QUIZ: You've stopped caring about most things, especially things you once cared for a lot: Old or depressed?"
"Twilight Zone episode where a group of alienated ex-punks aged 30-40 are horrified that everyone younger or older than them has never heard Fugazi."
November 1, 2020
This book is unique; not exactly in the style, plenty of people have attempted to write something funny and relatable like this, but in the flawless execution. There wasn't a word written that I didn't enjoy and I just couldn't put it down. Entertaining for sure but for me it was very relatable, it was like Ellis was tapped into my head and life experiences. I would highly recommend this book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews