Cortez On Jupiter

by Ernest Hogan

In this first novel, Pablo Cortez, leader of the Guerilla Muralists of Los Angeles, is the exponent of the latest form of free-fall art - splatterpainting. His outrageous paintings are only equalled by the lovely Firedrop's dazzlingly unreasonable sculptures.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 15, 1990

Reviews

[Laylah Hunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such a resounding meh. The thesis that art needs to be free of constraint and bureaucracy is nothing new, the sci fi element to it wasn't compelling, and the aggressive machismo was loathsome. Cortez gets his dick in literally every woman who rates more than a passing mention in the narrative; whatever else they have going on gets subsumed under his apparent irresistibility. The one gay man in the story is a nasty caricature, petty and jealous and just this side of predatory -- possibly because he approaches sex the same way Cortez does, except that it's presented as gross and unpleasant since he wants to get his dick in the "wrong" objects.

I think I came across this book in a discussion somewhere of nonwhite spec fic, and I just. I am so fucking tired of collateral damage. It should be possible to celebrate people who are disenfranchised on one axis without doing so at the expense of people who are disenfranchised on others. I want no part of any text that presents unfettered access to disposable vaginas as the reward for a dude's genius, no matter what color he is or what languages he speaks.

Yuck.

[Justin Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life and times of a ego-maniacal graffiti artist from East LA who's the only person ever to survive contact with the aliens that live inside Jupiter's red spot.

[Duncan Rittschof · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Longer review will post on www.duncansbooksandmore.com

[Michael K Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a pretty cool book.

[Tim Kinsella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben Bova was the first author that compelled me to read. I read all his stuff. Pleasant memories at age 11 or 12 in my bed reading before I went to sleep. That was nice...still is!

[Guido]

Why you might like it: Science-led exploration under constraints. Rubric match: not yet scored. Uses your engineering/rigor/first-contact/world-building rubric. Tags: exploration, science

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. I liked the format, documentary-ish. It just felt like a chore to read though. I could see it make a decent movie

[El Rato Pequeño · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes you encounter a book that you'd wish to be more popular for all the wrong reasons. Like in this case, it would let me drop random spanish words and cryptic neologisms like "televoodooizing" in a common conversation and receive more than just a cold incomprensibilisímo "huh". Pablo Cortez the Jodorowsky-like neo-Aztec artistic anarchist (say that 5 times fast) with an ego the size of a solar system is very relatable and is the perfect protagonist for a cartoony novel with a breakneck pace such as this, straddling the line between a satirical mockumentary of modern art (most of the story is told via interview blurbs with the various characters involved) and lighthearted but simultaneously quite hard sci-fi, while definitely leaning towards the former. Even at its downer moments, it never lets go of its snarky cynical edge, dropping cliché but perennial platitudes about the importance of artistic freedom or how the ideas of gods get born on a conceptual level. I've heard it compared to Hunter S. Thompson before, and it definitely has a similar kind of unhinged psychedelic energy to it, transcending the pulp genrefic category it perhaps superficially resembles. Splatterpunk, except the only "splatter" happens on a zero-G Jackson Pollock canvas.