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Roy Orbison in Clingfilm: Plus additional stories
"This novel may appear to cater to specialised tastes. But it is highly recommended to nonfetishists, who will find it inventively hilarious." — The Guardian
"The sunlight glints on the translucent triumph of science. The faint rasp as I unspool it sends delirious brightly colored butterflies flocking through my stomach. I am like a tailor of the elves bedecking him in a shimmering suit of some magical material. Soon, Roy Orbison stands before all of Düsseldorf wrapped up in clingfilm. Silent white light floods my whole being and I become one with the universe."
Just as the avant-garde artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude employed cloth to drape prominent buildings, Ulrich Haarbürste has adopted plastic wrap — or clingfilm — as his medium. His focus, however, is no inanimate landmark; it's the popular music icon Roy Orbison. In this singular novel, Haarbürste relates a series of encounters with the legendary musician that culminate with the former wrapping the latter from head to toe in clingfilm, to the author's immense satisfaction.
This edition includes several related short stories, and as the author modestly observes, "Not to speak boastfully, but it is perhaps the only book you will ever need to own on the subject of wrapping Roy Orbison in clingfilm."
"The sunlight glints on the translucent triumph of science. The faint rasp as I unspool it sends delirious brightly colored butterflies flocking through my stomach. I am like a tailor of the elves bedecking him in a shimmering suit of some magical material. Soon, Roy Orbison stands before all of Düsseldorf wrapped up in clingfilm. Silent white light floods my whole being and I become one with the universe."
Just as the avant-garde artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude employed cloth to drape prominent buildings, Ulrich Haarbürste has adopted plastic wrap — or clingfilm — as his medium. His focus, however, is no inanimate landmark; it's the popular music icon Roy Orbison. In this singular novel, Haarbürste relates a series of encounters with the legendary musician that culminate with the former wrapping the latter from head to toe in clingfilm, to the author's immense satisfaction.
This edition includes several related short stories, and as the author modestly observes, "Not to speak boastfully, but it is perhaps the only book you will ever need to own on the subject of wrapping Roy Orbison in clingfilm."
224 pages, Paperback
Published August 14, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 23, 2020
The greatest novel in recorded history.
March 8, 2024
(Note: I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley)
Man is obsessed with wrapping singer-songwriter Roy Orbison in clingfilm. By stroke of luck, man encounters Roy Orbison while going through his daily business and manages to get the music icon to consent to being completely wrapped up in clingfilm. Man is ecstatic beyond words. Switch to a different setting somewhere in the vicinity of the city of Düsseldorf. Repeat.
One would reasonably think that this premise would get tiresome after a little while. However, that is the beauty of this book - that never happens. Although the conclusion of each story in this collection is never in doubt, the creative and bizarre lengths that are taken to get to the inevitable conclusion, all laid out in a dry, deadpan first-person narration, consistently left me grinning from ear to ear least if not straight-out laughing. For anyone who just wants to enjoy a big dose of utter ridiculousness, then pick up Ulrich Haarbürste's Novel of Roy Orbison in Clingfilm, because this is silly, absurdist humor at some of its very best.
Man is obsessed with wrapping singer-songwriter Roy Orbison in clingfilm. By stroke of luck, man encounters Roy Orbison while going through his daily business and manages to get the music icon to consent to being completely wrapped up in clingfilm. Man is ecstatic beyond words. Switch to a different setting somewhere in the vicinity of the city of Düsseldorf. Repeat.
One would reasonably think that this premise would get tiresome after a little while. However, that is the beauty of this book - that never happens. Although the conclusion of each story in this collection is never in doubt, the creative and bizarre lengths that are taken to get to the inevitable conclusion, all laid out in a dry, deadpan first-person narration, consistently left me grinning from ear to ear least if not straight-out laughing. For anyone who just wants to enjoy a big dose of utter ridiculousness, then pick up Ulrich Haarbürste's Novel of Roy Orbison in Clingfilm, because this is silly, absurdist humor at some of its very best.
July 5, 2023
Should you choose to read this book, you should read it to the end. While it feels formulaic, because it is, Haarbürste continues to build on the formula quite successfully.
One thing you don't want to do, however, is engage in something that might be called "stunt reading" or "conceptual reading," even if it is suggested by the author himself. Take myself, for example. I decided to read Brian Eno's diary published as "A Year With Swollen Appendices," only reading entries on the proper, corresponding days. I eventually forgot that I was supposed to be doing that, although in fairness, that is likely because the book is boring. I didn't want it to be. I wanted to be able to hold myself, or my opinion, over that of others who call it boring. I don't believe in boredom. There's no excuse for being bored. For example, when I'm not reading Brian Eno's diary, I am almost always not bored.
The ending of this book is good. Does that constitute a spoiler? Should I click on the little box below now? I don't think so.
One thing you don't want to do, however, is engage in something that might be called "stunt reading" or "conceptual reading," even if it is suggested by the author himself. Take myself, for example. I decided to read Brian Eno's diary published as "A Year With Swollen Appendices," only reading entries on the proper, corresponding days. I eventually forgot that I was supposed to be doing that, although in fairness, that is likely because the book is boring. I didn't want it to be. I wanted to be able to hold myself, or my opinion, over that of others who call it boring. I don't believe in boredom. There's no excuse for being bored. For example, when I'm not reading Brian Eno's diary, I am almost always not bored.
The ending of this book is good. Does that constitute a spoiler? Should I click on the little box below now? I don't think so.
January 6, 2020
One of the funniest books I've read. I plan to buy a few copies as gifts for friends. There's more going on here than the basic narrative of wrapping Roy Orbison in Clingfilm (Saran Wrap in the U.S.) in various situations. The dry humor is similar to the best Monty Python skits. The chapter transitions are hilarious. I love the deliberately stilted German to English dialogue among all the characters. Rock star Jim Morrison and actor Yul Brynner are lampooned in the novel.
March 4, 2020
Good fun but it's dragged out about 3 times too long.
Probably a book to dip into sporadically rather than trying to read in one or two sittings.
3 stars for making me laugh a lot though before i got bored.
Probably a book to dip into sporadically rather than trying to read in one or two sittings.
3 stars for making me laugh a lot though before i got bored.
May 1, 2021
This is the most ridiculous book I have ever read, and I loved it. I haven’t laughed this hard since Vonnegut!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews