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Awesome
A giant strides this land. A giant who builds robots, invents religions, and kisses like a dream. From the rocky coast of New England to the golden hayfields of Stockton, California, he searches for America's greatest treasures. You might recognise him by the twinkle in his eye or the lustrous derby hat perched on top of his boulder-sized head. But for a dude who has it all, he sure seems sad a lot of the time what's up with that And what exactly does he plan to do with all of those wonderful treasures, besides cart them across the country in his enormous red wagon Is there someone, a beautiful lady named Glorious Jones, perhaps who asked him to gather the bounty of America in order to prove his love for her
196 pages, Hardcover
First published July 11, 2008
9 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
March 26, 2009
How to describe this book? Let's see. This book was like a party a friend dragged you to and you thought it would be totally lame but then it ends up being mad awesome and you don't even care when your friend leaves because you're having so much fun with all kinds of new people. You somehow manage to make it home and pass out with a blissed-out contented smile on your face only to wake up the next morning feeling kind of ashamed and lonely and you spend 10 minutes trying to get the wording of an apology text to your friend just right before you send it.
Then you remember you need to do some laundry for work tomorrow and the thought is enough to make you feel depressed for the rest of the day. Also you need to go to the store because you're out of cokes.
I would love to see this book as a graphic novel, if it could be done without losing too many words. Maybe just parts of it. Or maybe just the novel with a few illustrations. Or maybe as an animated film.
Then you remember you need to do some laundry for work tomorrow and the thought is enough to make you feel depressed for the rest of the day. Also you need to go to the store because you're out of cokes.
I would love to see this book as a graphic novel, if it could be done without losing too many words. Maybe just parts of it. Or maybe just the novel with a few illustrations. Or maybe as an animated film.
August 23, 2025
2ND TIME READING: Literally one of the funniest books ever written. My exact sensibilities.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: This book blew my mind. Every time I read another book, I think to myself, why is it not as awesome as 'Awesome?'
ORIGINAL REVIEW: This book blew my mind. Every time I read another book, I think to myself, why is it not as awesome as 'Awesome?'
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November 24, 2014As much as I enjoyed this book, I don't really recommend that you read it. It's fun and diversionary, but do you remember that one weird kid in eighth grade who was actually pretty smart but the teachers all said he 'didn't apply himself' because his second period notebook was nothing but 80 college ruled pages of uncomfortably elaborate penis drawings? That kid grew up and wrote this book.
Jack is now a writer for the cartoon Adventure Time, and after seeing how trippy and complex the latest seasons of that show have gotten, I'd say he finally found a good way to 'apply himself'. But this novel is basically just dick drawings.
Jack is now a writer for the cartoon Adventure Time, and after seeing how trippy and complex the latest seasons of that show have gotten, I'd say he finally found a good way to 'apply himself'. But this novel is basically just dick drawings.
December 10, 2008
I really did not enjoy this book. Pendarvis writes like a perverted 14-year-old boy who's trying to show off.
October 22, 2011
One of the strangest books I've ever read. It's about a giant named Awesome, his robot ward Jimmy, and the adventures that Awesome undertakes in order to win back the love of Glorious Jones. It's a bawdy and silly comedy (very funny, at times), a tall tale, and a weird, wild journey around America.
At times I was confused and unsure of what was going on or what it meant, but I kept reading just to see what was going to happen. If it weren't for the vocabulary, you might wonder if it was written by an 8th grader, but there's more going on here comedy-wise then it might first appear. And got a few belly laughs from lines like this:
"Befriending is almost always preferable to decapitation."
"What about the poor people? And I was like, What about them? And you were like, Can’t we make them less poor this time? And I was like, I don’t know about that, baby. Can’t they pull themselves up by their own bootstraps? And you made some excellent points to the contrary, which I can’t recall. So finally I talked you out of it due to the concept of free will."
And lots more.
Pendarvis finished this, his first published novel, while he was the writer-in-residence at Ole Miss during 2007-2008.
You've probably never read anything quite like it.
At times I was confused and unsure of what was going on or what it meant, but I kept reading just to see what was going to happen. If it weren't for the vocabulary, you might wonder if it was written by an 8th grader, but there's more going on here comedy-wise then it might first appear. And got a few belly laughs from lines like this:
"Befriending is almost always preferable to decapitation."
"What about the poor people? And I was like, What about them? And you were like, Can’t we make them less poor this time? And I was like, I don’t know about that, baby. Can’t they pull themselves up by their own bootstraps? And you made some excellent points to the contrary, which I can’t recall. So finally I talked you out of it due to the concept of free will."
And lots more.
Pendarvis finished this, his first published novel, while he was the writer-in-residence at Ole Miss during 2007-2008.
You've probably never read anything quite like it.
January 16, 2009
This is a clever and witty absurdist tall tale. It's fun to read, but not profound. It sounds like something Mark Leyner would have written for THE BELIEVER magazine, filtered through a MCSWEENEYS text translator, then put in the language equivalent of one of those rock tumbler polishers for a couple weeks.
The protagonist is a narcissistic yet well-meaning giant with a razor sharp command of the English language. AWESOME flirts with existentialism, but does not take itself seriously at all, with plenty of references to pop culture and scatological humor... and wieners. All orifices -- real or imagined -- are explored.
At first, the book is merely cute, too self-consciously in-your-face jokey. About halfway through the book, it grew on me enough to continue to the end. It's like beginning a meal with dessert, but never getting to the meat & potatoes. You start with candy (Pixie Stix and Smarties) and end with a hot fudge sundae. It won't change your life, but if you want a playful palate-cleanser between more serious or heavy books, this skillful exercise is a good choice.
The protagonist is a narcissistic yet well-meaning giant with a razor sharp command of the English language. AWESOME flirts with existentialism, but does not take itself seriously at all, with plenty of references to pop culture and scatological humor... and wieners. All orifices -- real or imagined -- are explored.
At first, the book is merely cute, too self-consciously in-your-face jokey. About halfway through the book, it grew on me enough to continue to the end. It's like beginning a meal with dessert, but never getting to the meat & potatoes. You start with candy (Pixie Stix and Smarties) and end with a hot fudge sundae. It won't change your life, but if you want a playful palate-cleanser between more serious or heavy books, this skillful exercise is a good choice.
February 19, 2009
It's about an amazing giant who can make robots and roams the land on a herculean quest to appease his bride, like whose fury hell hath no (for good reason).
Snippet: "Befriending is almost always preferable to decapitation."
Snippet: "Using extraordinary concentration and exercising my sphincter in a particular manner, I managed to squeeze out several yards of a delicately attractive yet durable material, which cocooned my body. After all, our human bodies are made of the same biological building blocks as all other life forms on our remarkable planet Earth. If any person so desired, he or she could train his or her body to do the same."
Snippet: "You're blowing my mind with your intellectualism, said Maisy [a saucy librarian:]. You're turning me on so bad. I'm so hot. I'm going to do a wrong thing. I can't hold it in. I'm going to pee all over the collected works of Harold Pinter.
And I was like, It's a free country, baby.
But watching was an empty experience."
So that's what it's like.
Snippet: "Befriending is almost always preferable to decapitation."
Snippet: "Using extraordinary concentration and exercising my sphincter in a particular manner, I managed to squeeze out several yards of a delicately attractive yet durable material, which cocooned my body. After all, our human bodies are made of the same biological building blocks as all other life forms on our remarkable planet Earth. If any person so desired, he or she could train his or her body to do the same."
Snippet: "You're blowing my mind with your intellectualism, said Maisy [a saucy librarian:]. You're turning me on so bad. I'm so hot. I'm going to do a wrong thing. I can't hold it in. I'm going to pee all over the collected works of Harold Pinter.
And I was like, It's a free country, baby.
But watching was an empty experience."
So that's what it's like.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 13, 2009
Gyahh this book is freaking stupid and boring. About a giant named Awesome who is obsessed with his equally giant male organ, and talks about it ever other page. See, this book is so stupid that it is either extremely funny or extremely stupid. I am in the latter group. Perhaps I'm not cool enough to think that sophisticated writing about male members is funny, I don't know. I mean, one of the three positive quotes on the back of the book comes from Barry Hannah, who is a good friend of Pendarvis, so that doesn't mean crap. Waste of my time, I've got a list of better books I want to read.
February 9, 2010
A beautiful love story of a giant (Awesome) and his pursuit of happiness. Awesome is as Awesome does, and his prowess with designing and building robots (and semen-powered cars) may be matched only by his luck with the ladies (and Beluga whales, alternately). Pendarvis is a man with a beard, and can be fun to dance to. I think his mind is real, and maybe butterscotch flavored. Sometimes Jack is even as much fun to watch as he is to ignore. Did I mention the submarine-sized anal suppository? Yeah, there's one of those in this story too. Jack, what is it about suppositories that you are so fascinated by/with? Funny, in a humorous way, not like "funny" funny.
February 21, 2013
Another book I picked by the cover and the name, both of which just happen to be awesome, quite literally. Turns out I was in for a treat with this bizarre, hilarious, irrevent tale of a modern day Don Quixote who happens to be (as self described) awesome in every way, seriously, he builds robots and poops ambrosia. On a quest to win the love of his very own Dulcinea he travels the globe, meeting odd characters and having wacky adventures. Very entertaining small book. Recommended.
September 9, 2008
Bizzare. Seriously, one of the most obscure oddities I've ever read but entertaining nevertheless. Definitely not for everyone, but those looking for something fresh, weird, and chock full o' ridiculous laughs, will find something good here. If I had to blurb this, it would be, "Like Adult Swim but on paper."
August 2, 2008
I'd follow the giant in the derby anywhere. Hell, I think I just did. This is Jack Pendarvis' sexiest book. It's also funny, brainy, goofy, surprising. I'm in awe of his imagination. What a treat.
August 30, 2012
It was hard to put down... intellectually stimulating... and very crass and adolescent. I don't get it, but I did finish reading it (even though I wanted to stop).
October 22, 2021
If I read this in college it would have blown my mind. I'd just gotten into Donald Barthelme, and Bukowski, and somehow thought they were the same. I'd have missed the weird male gazey-ness, would have ascribed a lot of weight to the "giant" of it all...I would have wanted to see more depth than there actually is, and would have made something up to find it.
The book is funny. It's a little weird, but not truly weird, and it's fine.
The book is funny. It's a little weird, but not truly weird, and it's fine.
February 12, 2020
This book is hilarious. It is original and I audibly laughed out loud while reading it in prison a few years back. I've been trying to find it since I got out to re-read it. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to laugh.
May 8, 2019
What did I just read?
December 20, 2020
Awesome invention. Awesome fun.
January 10, 2012
Awesome is a puerile wish-fulfillment fantasy taken to an unusually and sometimes humorously hyperbolic level. It reads like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," if Ferris was a giant obsessed with sex and there were no other major characters. The book is about a self-absorbed giant - the book plays fast and loose with names, but at some point some of the characters start calling him Mr. Awesome - for whom nothing ever goes wrong and for whom nothing poses a real challenge. In addition to being impervious, fabulously wealthy, and sexually irresistible to all species, the giant is a genius who can craft intelligent robots out of household items, and he wanders the earth like a giant Candide, never troubled by anything. But he does (sort of) fail in love. His paramour, a regular-sized woman named Glorious Jones, spurns him after what is probably the most awkwardly egotistical wedding proposal of all time (in part his proposal involves the giant's inviting Glorious Jones to publicly masturbate in front of all the wedding guests while reclining on the back of a camel) and then flees. The giant's robot butler presents the giant with a list of items that he must collect in order to prove his love for Glorious Jones. The list is mostly composed of impossible or improbable items, such as a four-leaf clover, a needle in a haystack, and so forth. Though I wanted the giant to eventually come to his senses and/or get a comeuppance (and was disappointed in that), I was entertained at times by the ridiculously convoluted and absurd methods the giant followed to attain the items he needed (for instance, why doesn't he just make a maraca?). Still, even at a brief 200 pages, the book was too long to have no character development, real tension, or plot twist. There was nothing drawing me in but the humor of a 14-year-old boy giggling in his basement. That's why it took me four days to read! Essentially one joke, it would have worked much better as a short story in "National Lampoon" or as a Monty Python sketch. By the end, it even seems as if the author is racing to get to the end: each successive item is given fewer pages to find/resolve, and it feels as if Pendarvis is desperately trying to find a way to wrap up his narrative in an appropriately over-the-top manner. Awesome is mildly funny at first, but wears out its welcome long before the end.
December 21, 2012
AWESOME
ABIGAIL ARRINGTON
ASIN: B009S2UTYI
Publisher: Capricorn Star Publishing
http://capricornstar.com
Published on January 31, 2012
405 pages
Mystery/Suspense
Rating 5 stars
Awesome starts off interestingly and a bit by surprise. The environment of a mock government inside of a gentleman's club with an attorney trying to frame the owner is not what you expect. It gets even more interesting as you see the owner Vincent assume the role of having the upper-hand on everyone because of his clout that his business brings. He even marries one of his dancers. Is he innocent or guilty in a murder trial? He has a good legal team working on his case.
Riley Morgan is not easy to read. She is a lawyer that is really good at what she does but isn't greedy for the money like many lawyers. She won't work cases just for the money. She has many pro bono cases and also gives to charity. Will she be able to stomach the high intensity trial that deals with many cases that keep revealing themselves as time goes on?
Sam Stone is the best at what he does and his firm accentuates that fact in every way. He wants a powerhouse team and he will do what it takes to get it. He also is known for being a bit of a playboy himself. Will he be too close to this case to win it? Are there too many conflicts of interest involved to see this case clearly?
This book has a great plot. The environments are well researched and even the roles seem more real in the book than those that have careers outside of the book. Have you ever wanted to see a nasty high profile case from every angle? This book allows you to do that also!
I like this novel because the characters are easy to fall in love with or hate. The writer is able to put in words what most directors, producers, and artists couldn't put in pictures. This book allows us to see what is going on in many layers and it keeps you entertained every step of the way! It was definitely not the start or ending you would expect. It is very much a read you wouldn't forget.
ABIGAIL ARRINGTON
ASIN: B009S2UTYI
Publisher: Capricorn Star Publishing
http://capricornstar.com
Published on January 31, 2012
405 pages
Mystery/Suspense
Rating 5 stars
Awesome starts off interestingly and a bit by surprise. The environment of a mock government inside of a gentleman's club with an attorney trying to frame the owner is not what you expect. It gets even more interesting as you see the owner Vincent assume the role of having the upper-hand on everyone because of his clout that his business brings. He even marries one of his dancers. Is he innocent or guilty in a murder trial? He has a good legal team working on his case.
Riley Morgan is not easy to read. She is a lawyer that is really good at what she does but isn't greedy for the money like many lawyers. She won't work cases just for the money. She has many pro bono cases and also gives to charity. Will she be able to stomach the high intensity trial that deals with many cases that keep revealing themselves as time goes on?
Sam Stone is the best at what he does and his firm accentuates that fact in every way. He wants a powerhouse team and he will do what it takes to get it. He also is known for being a bit of a playboy himself. Will he be too close to this case to win it? Are there too many conflicts of interest involved to see this case clearly?
This book has a great plot. The environments are well researched and even the roles seem more real in the book than those that have careers outside of the book. Have you ever wanted to see a nasty high profile case from every angle? This book allows you to do that also!
I like this novel because the characters are easy to fall in love with or hate. The writer is able to put in words what most directors, producers, and artists couldn't put in pictures. This book allows us to see what is going on in many layers and it keeps you entertained every step of the way! It was definitely not the start or ending you would expect. It is very much a read you wouldn't forget.
March 15, 2009
One of my favorite books in my twenties was Mark Leyner's Et tu, Babe. It wasn't the greatest book ever written, but it joyously reveled in the unexplored fields of the superego. They were the fantasies of demigods as they walked among mortals, hilarious and perverse. All flaws and responsibility were thrown back in the way a Viking's glorious locks are in the breeze. It was perfect reading for being twenty and similarly roaming the earth overconfident from having just inherited it.
I've always wondered why no one has really continued down that glorious path since, or if they have, why I didn't know about it. David Sedaris had a bit of it in him (see that opening story of Naked), but he was after a different Golden Fleece with Awesome, Jack Pendarvis has indelibly left gigantic footprints on this same trail. I wasn't crazy about Your Body is Changing, only because his stories at the front of the book started at Mt. Olympus in terms of creativity and strode toward the plane of man. Awesome, on the other hand, is all awesome all the time.
It begins with a laugh at and from the narcissism of massive indestructible giant Awesome and follows him through a series of Herculean tasks, themselves a running joke pointing to the greater running joke that is the self. It is uproariously silly, mythic in structure, and even a little sweet. With this book I've given up waiting for Mark Leyner to reenter the field of playful, smart, literature, because Jack Pendarvis takes that peculiar literary ball and runs with it.
I've always wondered why no one has really continued down that glorious path since, or if they have, why I didn't know about it. David Sedaris had a bit of it in him (see that opening story of Naked), but he was after a different Golden Fleece with Awesome, Jack Pendarvis has indelibly left gigantic footprints on this same trail. I wasn't crazy about Your Body is Changing, only because his stories at the front of the book started at Mt. Olympus in terms of creativity and strode toward the plane of man. Awesome, on the other hand, is all awesome all the time.
It begins with a laugh at and from the narcissism of massive indestructible giant Awesome and follows him through a series of Herculean tasks, themselves a running joke pointing to the greater running joke that is the self. It is uproariously silly, mythic in structure, and even a little sweet. With this book I've given up waiting for Mark Leyner to reenter the field of playful, smart, literature, because Jack Pendarvis takes that peculiar literary ball and runs with it.
January 30, 2012
I grabbed this book off of the library shelf at random, figuring that with a title like "Awesome," I couldn't go wrong.
It went wrong on page three, and I read the rest of the book dreading what Pendarvis was going to write next. I cringed regularly. I have been known to enjoy authors who use juvenile humour (for example, Piers Anthony and Christopher Moore)but this is just too much.
The writing is very clever across the board, and I like the concept of a modern day Tall-Tale, but clever is not enough. I found the main character repulsive, magnified by the fact that he considers himself so charming. Given the lack of any emotional connection to the story, the heartbreaking ending is more like one of casual horror.
It went wrong on page three, and I read the rest of the book dreading what Pendarvis was going to write next. I cringed regularly. I have been known to enjoy authors who use juvenile humour (for example, Piers Anthony and Christopher Moore)but this is just too much.
The writing is very clever across the board, and I like the concept of a modern day Tall-Tale, but clever is not enough. I found the main character repulsive, magnified by the fact that he considers himself so charming. Given the lack of any emotional connection to the story, the heartbreaking ending is more like one of casual horror.
March 20, 2012
Pendarvis tried to make The Tick more epic by boosting his ego. But you can't trump epicness by putting a derby on it. No sir! And you can't learn the meaning of life through an incalculably large and forever growing duplicate of yourself, for that duplicate will get so large as to lose all comrehensible meaning.
When imitation rears its shiny, castrated knob, you mustn't look, dear friends. You must not succumb to the poor man'sdick Tick [Ace punning, chum!]. You must hold your breath with the whales dolphins, and emerge triumphantly at ease into this neat and mysterious world. Bracing!
Eat pumpkin - it's not just for Halloween anymore SPOON!
When imitation rears its shiny, castrated knob, you mustn't look, dear friends. You must not succumb to the poor man's
August 31, 2008
I'm not sure I have the words to describe this book. I'll try though. It reminded me a lot of Walter Moers' Captain Blluebear books in its bizarre plot twists and surreality. But on acid. And some kind of aphrodisiac. Actually, I didn't think I'd make it past the first ten pages or so, but I kept coming back. The mix of high-brow references and courtly language, which then veers into potty humor and surfer slang is weirdly masterful. All I can say there. Not sure who I'd recommend it to, but I couldn't put it down...
October 14, 2008
This was pretty funny (thank you, Kelly). A cute little story, er, I mean an awesome and huge story, that is probably meant to be read in one or two sittings. Naturally, it took me two and a half weeks.
The narrator is a giant named Awesome something and he is the smartest, sexiest and most stylish thing alive. He can inspire life-affirming orgasms to anyone by breathing on them. He goes on an impossible scavenger hunt to win back the girl of his dreams, Glorious Jones.
Absurd, but funny.
The narrator is a giant named Awesome something and he is the smartest, sexiest and most stylish thing alive. He can inspire life-affirming orgasms to anyone by breathing on them. He goes on an impossible scavenger hunt to win back the girl of his dreams, Glorious Jones.
Absurd, but funny.
December 29, 2008
I only know two, maybe three, people who would love this book nearly as much as I did. But I wish that I knew more who did; my outlook would be greatly improved. Awesome is utterly ridiculous and utterly hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard...maybe ever? It's a weird book. After reading it, I was reminded of that stale old question: "If you could invite any three people to dinner, whom would you invite?" (I'm paraphrasing)...Well, Jack Pendarvis would certainly be on my list. His sense of humor is a knock out.
April 7, 2010
There's a very fine line between stupid and clever. Unfortunately, Awesome finds itself on the wrong side of the line. This book, focused on the adventures of a giant named Awesome, sounds like it was written by a snotty 14-year old. The jokes fall flat and there isn't any depth invested in the character or story, so it was impossible for me to care about either. The entire time I was reading this, I was very aware of the fact that I was reading... the exact opposite of being "lost in a good book."
January 5, 2011
"The car is of my own design, and powered by my own ejaculate."
"My downstairs neighbor and formerly betrothed, Glorious Jones, was often seen to make out with her cat, the whimsically monikered General Stonewall Pussy."
"Here's what I do: I poop ambrosia."
"I had hoped merely to humor her, but the instant that my breath made contact with her skin she convulsed again and again with an orgasm of devestating magnitude."
"Rex wept blood and later died."
"Oh, that's me, I said. I mean, those are my rattlesnakes. I'm wearing a suit made entirely of rattlesnakes."
"My downstairs neighbor and formerly betrothed, Glorious Jones, was often seen to make out with her cat, the whimsically monikered General Stonewall Pussy."
"Here's what I do: I poop ambrosia."
"I had hoped merely to humor her, but the instant that my breath made contact with her skin she convulsed again and again with an orgasm of devestating magnitude."
"Rex wept blood and later died."
"Oh, that's me, I said. I mean, those are my rattlesnakes. I'm wearing a suit made entirely of rattlesnakes."
August 4, 2008
Zany, crazy book. Told in the narrative style of a picaresque adventurer, but this narrator is unlike any other you'll ever encounter.
His absolute self-confidence and oblivious condescension to others less fortunate (and that means everyone) is hilarious. I could never in a million years have guessed where the story was heading at any given moment; and, like Pia, I am in awe of JP's imagination.
His absolute self-confidence and oblivious condescension to others less fortunate (and that means everyone) is hilarious. I could never in a million years have guessed where the story was heading at any given moment; and, like Pia, I am in awe of JP's imagination.
April 23, 2009
This book is supposed to be a modern "tall tale." Think Paul Bunyon and Babe the Big Blue Ox, except Paul Bunyon (a.k.a. "Awesome") is an egotistical giant and Babe is his robot ward. It's kind of funny at first, which is why I gave it the extra star, then it gets ridiculously stupid. Basically, it feels like I just watched back-to-back episodes of South Park and now I want that 60 minutes (or the week I wasted reading) of my life back.
August 3, 2008
This is a tall tale that evokes the work of Rabelais had Rabelais been abducted by aliens, generously probed, then decapitated, gutted, castrated, defenestrated and then recapitated, reunited with his viscera and wiener, and finally catapulted alive back through a plate-glass window into 21st century America. Awesome is awesome.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews