Rorschach's Ribs

by Marcus Eder

Escher Smallwater can't sleep in. That's the least of his problems. Two years shy of thirty and recently laid off from his job in advertising, Escher has a lot to deal with in his life right now. Forced to make some changes since losing his job, his lifestyle is gone and suddenly the American Dream seems more like a nightmare. As Corporate Charlie bares his darker side by way of recessions and hiring freezes, Escher has found himself with more time to reassess his life, and he's mad as hell. He will never be a rock star or date a supermodel. He doesn't get carded at bars anymore, teenagers now think of him as creepy, and he prefers VH1 over MTV. He's never been in love, his career path has essentially disappeared and somehow, he and his neighbors have inadvertently become the drug kingpins of St. Louis. A life once filled with Ikea catalogs and cubicles now consist of consumer guerillaism, lesbian strippers and a gold-toothed thug named "Mo-Mo". All this and an impending high school reunion. Maintaining a sense of humor while exploring the darker side of contemporary culture, Rorschach's Ribs explores what happens when the first generation destined to do worse than their parents grows old and starts questioning the American Dream. Through an eccentric, colorful cast of characters and a sharp cynical wit, Rorschach's Ribs delves into a world of layoffs, recessions, target markets and the underbelly of capitalism.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

372 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2008

About the author

The Rev. Marcus is a rogue scholar, writer, angry liberal and designer…His novel, Rorschach’s Ribs is now available. When he isn’t writing or cursing the government under his breath, he’s fronting the seminal Gothic-Americana band, Strawfoot.

He's a card-carrying Reverend, licensed to marry and bury.

He only runs when chased, he only gambles with his life.

He’s desperately trying to find someone who may have google-mapped directions to Funky Town.

Reviews

[Stefanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually rate this book as 3.5 stars. The setting is the midst of the dot.com bust, but it has correlations with and relevance today with America's economic meltdown. This is also a good exploration of the myth and meaning of the 'American Dream,' through a variety of characters. The ending was an exceptional closing to the novel.

There were only two minor points that reduced my rating:

One, I felt that there were some anachronisms. Assuming this is the period or height of the dot.com burst, the ipod would barely have been released. Grunge was not the music of the day, but of the characters' highschool days (which may have been the point).

Two, Escher's surprise that Sophie recognized and liked Bukowski; that this is so strange for a woman to relate to 'manly' writing. Although Bukowski explores the seamier side of life, it is real, honest, true, simple, and poetic. He is actually one of my favorite authors.

Following up with the Tao of Swayze is a great supplement to this fiction.

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Already being familiar with Marcus Eder’s music with the band Strawfoot (if you haven’t heard them, check out Strawfoot’s music on Myspace music and then thank me later), I was eager to get my hands on his first novel, Rorschach’s Ribs. I had read some of Eder’s shorter pieces and enjoyed his style. Given my familiarity with his creative output, I expected to thoroughly enjoy Rorschach’s Ribs and was not disappointed. Escher Stillwater, the novel’s protagonist, finds himself unemployed. Escher and his flatmates then inadvertently become the major weed supplier for an otherwise dry town. With biting social commentary, commercial guerillaism, and a dose of twisted humor, Eder has put out a continuously entertaining first book. Vicious Books made a fine choice picking Eder as its first author (I must say they do seem to be able to spot talent).


Lance Carbuncle, Author of Smashed, Squashed, Splattered, Chewed, Chunked and Spewed

[Mkwoa · Rating 1 out of 5]

No thank you.
It was a struggle to decide to keep reading after reaching the end of part 1. There was nothing likable, or memorable, or even semi-interesting about any of the characters. The whole anti-consumerism line was so pretentious that I hoped it was being so heavy-handed ironically; it wasn't. Everything seemed like it could come from a hipster grab-bag of fake angst: "Corporate Charlie", fuck Starbucks!, bad poetry, bad tattoos, rallying against the MTV generation while idolizing Kurt Cobain, Pabst Blue Ribbon "or as we know it, PBR", and considering smoking pot to be counter-culture. I was shocked that bands the characters "discovered" weren't mentioned. Also, not that it would have made it any better, but it seemed like the time frame of late 90's and mid 00's couldn't quite be decided on (though it was late 90's).
Great premise, but just didn't deliver.

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is Gen X meets...well something. I'm not sure what the author intentions were other than to populate the book with loads of places and types of people that will be recognizable to those of us in St. Louis. (And this did make the book loads of fun.) 4 stars is probably a little generous as pacing is not this book's forte. I can almost hear some guy in the back of a writing workshop saying "dude, you've got to the give the book a Big Finish or you'll never get a publisher". Still well worth a read for those of us in STL.

[SophiaBRansone · Rating 1 out of 5]

It started out promising but lost its way throughout. The end seemed hastily wrapped up and ripped from movies, no originality what so ever. Escher never quite became a lovable or intriguing stoner character. He seemed more like a bitter slacker who was fortunate enough to be surrounded by people with real depth but for some reason got a story written about himself instead of those more deserving of a plot line. But that doesn't really matter anyway I guess, poor characters get poor stories in this un-fulfilling book. Mediocrity and tripe get rewarded sometimes I suppose.