Tacky Goblin

by T. Sean Steele

"A sublimely contemporary study of a universal Growing up is weird to do. Inventive, funny, grotesque, and ribald―a book with something for everyone as long as no one demands that it makes sense." — Kirkus Reviews
Tacky Goblin is the diary of a young man’s journey through the grotesque underbelly of daily life. Or maybe it is the exposure of daily life itself as a grotesque underbelly, blistered and searing and glaringly obvious, like a passed-out sunbather. Fleeing a talking mold stain in the ceiling of his bedroom in Chicago, he moves to Los Angeles, where he rents an apartment with his sister, Kim. Despite the new city, new friends, and new love interests, something haunts him. The siblings share a surreal and irreverent view of life, and perhaps Kim can help him out of his funk. Or maybe she’ll just lead him to hell. Absurdist, nihilistic, lovable, Tacky Goblin is a very funny look at the dark side of (not) becoming a grown-up.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

134 pages, Paperback

Published July 17, 2018

Reviews

[🐴 🍖]

typically it's a bad sign when every blurbist is from the same city as the author. this was no exception. abandoned

[MC · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Tacky Goblins” is a slim little novella that follows an unnamed narrator who decides to move to Los Angeles with his sister. And kooky hijinks ensues! This is billed as humorous fiction but for me, it just read like a college course assignment on bizarro fiction. Wouldn’t it be weird if, like, a mold stain on the ceiling just started talking? Or, like, wouldn’t it be funny if the narrator and his sister get a pet dog but it’s not actually a pet dog, it’s a baby? The book feels weird for the sake of being weird and I guess we’re supposed to chuckle and relate to our narrator because growing up is soooo weird and hard, amirite? I guess.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gleefully anarchic. Review to come at memphisflyer.com.

[Jordan Mastrogiovanni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is hilariously bizarre and I loved every moment of it.

[Jackie Mcgrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's funny, but full of lonely characters whose sideways responses to various situations are inevitable and even, within this world, logical. Read it.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if I quite liked this book, but I can't bring myself to dislike it either. The best way to describe my experience of reading this book is: literary stockholm syndrome.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this short book because it looked kind of funny. It was kind of funny. This review is more about how I'm right than it is about the book.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

It says a lot that in just the few weeks between finishing T. Sean Steele's Tacky Goblin and sitting down to write this review, I had already forgotten nearly everything about it, and had to dig the book back out to remind myself even what it was about; as I've said here before many times, that unfortunately is just the nature of the bizarro genre in which Steele is writing here, which for those who don't know is essentially the act of taking a cartoon and writing it out in literary form. That certainly lets bizarro tales be "original, hilarious and inventive," as author Joe Meno raves about this book in the dust jacket's blurbs; but that also completely obliterates any sense of stakes a bizarro tale might have, with no one ever in danger or peril because you never know when a spaceship full of talking dogs might show up to save everyone, making it nearly impossible to give a damn about any of the characters, what happens to them, or what the ultimate resolution of the story may or may not turn out to be. Even with this attitude, though, for some reason I get sent bizarro novels literally on a weekly basis, so I suppose here I'll sum up the way I always sum up with such books -- not too bad, not too good, definitely clever, but a story you'll forget literally a day after you finish it. Buyer beware.

Out of 10: 7.5

[Sarah Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I pick up a lot of books at work. They are taking over my house. Sometimes I pick up something short, such as this and read it overnight or in breaks. This left me always wondering what to expect next and never guessing.
It’s a very quick and odd book, but quite entertaining and humorous. A long acid trip mixed with a horror story where no one you don’t want to see killed is killed. Though it’s hardly a Horror story just spooky or would creepy be better? VERY surreal, but funny and a little icky. Does that make sense? Well, it will if you read the book. 😆

[Julia Stebbing · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked up this book from the library because it was short and had a cool cover. I read it in an hour while nursing a bad hangover. Must be the most absurd book I’ve ever read. Head hurts too much to try to find some kind of deeper meaning in it. But it was funny and silly and easy to read.

[J. Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wild novella-in-flash. You need to read this book.

[Sofia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
had me giggling in the library

[Kristen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I generally stop reading books that I dislike this much, but it was so short, I figured I'd power through. I also was curious if there would be a reveal at the end that would make all of the absurdity make sense. There was not.

[Shrey]

Extremely weird. Weird funny - not ha ha funny. Reminded me of Tao Lin.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's difficult to describe this book. It's very much for a certain generation of people, those of us finally coming of age in our 20s, born to parents who are likely to have been better off than we ever will be.

It's bizarre and frequently unfocused, but then again, the content of this book is very much in theme with its form. Growing up is strange, especially in our rapidly shape shifting world, so it would make sense for a book trying to capture that feeling to be just as strange and rapidly shifting.

The story at its face is nothing strange; a pair of nearly-adult siblings move out of their parents to face the greater world together, only for their ambitions (if they even had any in the first place) to twist and fold in on themselves, neither falling apart, nor becoming fulfilled.

The book is expertly paced. As soon as the strangest bits started getting grating, it changed topic, the book refused to drag on in places where I thought it might and the shortness of the book felt very appropriate.

The end was a little disappointing, as it felt a bit TOO open, ending somewhat abruptly and with little meaning. That being said, this ending makes too much sense for what the story is for me to really argue against it, it was just mildly sad to me when the book ended without any real resolution.

Perhaps that seems a little spoilerish, but believe me, it's not. The end of the book probably doesn't matter too much, since I think we might be in for a sequel at some point, if Steele hasn't moved on to a different narrative in the mean-time.

[F Rat-Brother · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked it up at a local bookstore while backpacking through the Canadian Rockies; it was pure coincidence that I stumbled in there, but I'm thankful I did. When I walked in, it was almost as if the book was calling to me, standing slightly askew among the sweeping rows of literature, its vibrant cover beckoning me toward it. I walked forthwith towards it, ensnared by its tractor beam and picked it up. It felt warm and familiar, as if it was written by a good friend; maybe a cousin or family member. The story was engaging and familiar, with characters that felt like family to me. Upon completing the the book, I was so inspired by it's beauty that I decided then and their that I would move as far away from humanity as I could and become a glass blower; yearning to create something as positively delightful as tacky goblin. I write this from the Tibetan wilderness, in my tiny hut, on a clay tablet, which I intend to float down the river in hopes that someone, somewhere, will be able to upload this review to GoodReads in my name. If this reaches the internet, Thank you T. Sean Steele for changing my life. I am in your debt.

[Tom Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impossible to summarize Tacky Goblin and do it justice. It's weird and funny and the dialogue is fantastic. Reading it is the only way you'll understand.

"What, he's going to talk about his family and I'm supposed to pay attention? How do we keep finding ourselves in these insane situations?"

"A driver's license is one of those things people say you need but really you don't. Like bedsheets, or protein."

[Tom Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weird and wonderful.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't really put into words why I liked this book so much but I just did! Read it!

[Teresa Grabs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tacky Goblin by T. Sean Steele is one of those quick, quirky reads that leaves you asking, “What the **** did I just read?”

The book begins with our main character preparing to leave for Los Angeles to move in with his sister, Kim. He is laying on his bed talking to the mold mouth growing on his ceiling and things get stranger and stranger with each turn of the page.

Every entry in this trippy journal-type book, the MC’s life changes and warps more. From having their legs replaced with a dead man’s legs to being possessed by a demon, Steele leaves no stone unturned for how these two character’s lives could go in different directions on the same page.

I love each of the characters and moments of perfect clarity but two things still bother me… where did they return Barb and what happened to poor Larry?

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves trippy tales, channel surfing (seriously it reads like you’re watching these character’s lives over the course of a year by flicking through channels and getting tidbits here and there), and non-serious fun.

[Stanley B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story has no real beginning or ending or plot. Instead, each two to three page chapter of this novella is a glimpse into the life of a twenty year old, unnamed man. Over a year, he moves from his parents’ house in Chicago to his older sister’s small apartment in Los Angles where he lives until moving back to Chicago with his sister.

The writing is comedic, sardonic, and humorously satiric using mostly contradictions to reality. There is some dark comedy thrown in. It is never really clear whether the protagonist struggles to understand reality (mentally challenged) or is on a drug induced psychedelic trip.

I think this would have been a great book with a plot. The author has many areas where he can expand the story into a novel just by keeping up the language and telling more about the people who are only briefly mentioned.

[Horace · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful and weird surrealist novella about growing into adulthood!

Not to be a dick, but to anyone who rated this book poorly because it was too weird, nonlinear, or didn't make sense... maybe read up on surrealism. This is a very strange story, more of a series of brief absurdist anecdotes than a traditional plot, which touch on horror tropes and imagery without ever verging into horror. Apartment neighbors caught in a murder loop, sentient spots of mold, the minor inconvenience of having your legs rot off... All these strange experiences, all met with brazen acceptance by the protagonist and his sister, form a simple yet poignant metaphor for the alien landscape of early adulthood.

[Jonathan Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book because it was the winner of the Wild Onion Novella Contest. I had read another book that had won this content, and LOVED it. This one did not disappoint. I sought it out when another book I was reading was dragging.

I needed something quick, witty, weird as hell, and funny to bring me back. I loved and questioned every part of this read. Definitely recommend if you like being brought on a bizarre journey that doesn't make any sense (in the best way).

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steele's novel Tacky Goblin is ramshackle in the way a lot of alt-fiction is; not much credence is paid to coherence or overt plot thrusting, and the emphasis lies more in capturing a mood, a mode of existence, through minor instances and interactions. In such, there are some individual scenes/pages that speak to the inconclusiveness and wandering of being in your twenties in the twenty-tens, and some great stuff about existing as a sibling, but it could have all added up to a bit more.

[Caroline Manley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the fine-est book I've ever read. I like absurdist fiction, and I did like excerpts of this that really captured that feel, but when I got to the end, I was mostly like, "eh, alright." I'd give it a 2.5 stars if I could. I'd like to see more from Steele that maybe marries this type of writing voice and vibe with a more coherent plot (which I know wasn't the point of Tacky Goblin, to be coherent, but still).

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE funniest book I have ever read. Laughed out loud at least once every four pages. I read more of this aloud to my roommates / people who were around when I was reading it than I did in my own head. I already gifted this book to someone, that is how much I loved it.

The sections about Ruth alone would be worth 5 stars. I see the comparison to A Catcher in the Rye but boy do I love this one so much more (the bar was in hell though).

[frankie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
I'm sitting at my desk at work, trying not to fall asleep. For some reason I cannot keep my eyes open whatsoever. I remembered I had this in my backpack. I picked this up at the library nearby recently. It was a really bizarre read, almost making no sense to me. Some bits were funny but most were just weird for the sake of being weird to be honest. I'm not gonna dwell on it too much, I liked that it was short. Also, I'll take whatever Larry is having.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

learned after reading this book its based on a blog and that made a lot more sense. there was no point to the story or even from chapter to chapter and I couldn't decide if I was just reading someone recording what happened on their daily drug trip.

The book group discussion was entertaining which bumped this from one star to 2. But I did not find this as entertaining as apparently everyone else did.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book on a display for the winter humor themed challenge for my library. The book opens with a talking mold stain on a bedroom ceiling & a leg transplant right before the narrator's move to LA where his sister lives. This is like David Cronenberg & Ari Aster collaborating on a sitcom. As Chelsea Martin's blurb reads, "This book is weird as hell and I love it."

[Andrew Neely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Refreshing to see a truly absurdist work find a publisher. With that said, it suffers from the same nihilistic dirtbag worldview that pervades most amateur fiction. If this book had an actual message or subtext, it would have hit much harder. Moving from Chicago to Los Angeles is not an interesting premise, unfortunately.