Last Week's Apocalypse

by Douglas Lain, Gee Vaucher (Illustrator), Eileen Gunn (Introduction)

Gore Vidal meets Philip K. Dick: These stories present electric messiahs, identity constructs, the Beatles, and even nuclear Armageddon as comic foils for Lain's everyman characters. Here is an America where the packets of Sea Monkeys that arrive in the mail contain secret messages and the girl next door can breathe underwater. With Last Week's Apocalypse, Douglas Lain arrives with a punch line and a warning.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction

253 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 2006

Reviews

[Chelsea Jennings · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up reading after first three stories. maybe I don't know the references other reviewers have mentioned that are contained in this book. But for me the stories had a lot of potential that, for me, didn't deliver in the end.

[Jasmine Banasik · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
There were some stories I absolutely loved and while I didn't always understand them as well as I would initially like, I felt encouraged to read them closer, not alienated. For some. For others, I definitely was fine leaving the story alone to never think of again. Lain doesn't always give himself the Space or Time to world build and some stories NEED it. Luckily the Best Stories end the collection, so it only gets better.
Lain has 4 characters: Neurotic Male main character, manic pixie dream girl, dad who is well meaning but complicit, and mom who is oblivious. The 1st two will appear in every story. In some stories, especially in the latter half, these tired tropes are bearable primarily because the plot carries the reader... But when the plot becomes too difficult to follow easily, it really shines a light on how repetitive the characters are.
Best Stories: "Identity is a Construct" "How to Stop Selling Jesus"
Disappontments: "The Sea Monkey Conspiracy" "The Word "Mermaid" Written on an Index Card"

[Benjamin Champagne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first solid read in the slipstream genre. I believe this is a must read for anyone who values contemporary art. Post-modernism with heart. It honestly is a bit Joycean in that it relies on so many references. Borrowed characters from other well known stories meet reinvention. But the main thing about this book and about the genre that it is a part of, is that is fun. There is no lack of imagination and enthusiasm and it sort of speaks to my inner punk. Spaceships n shit.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing, and was carried along by interest in the plots, but had difficulty with the surrealism. Wow, characters got into some awfully strange situations, pushing the limits of my imagination!

[David Agranoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't finish it because it was due at the library, but i am going to buy a copy. Great weird science fiction short stories with a political edge.Portland author!