The Arsenic Lobster: A Hybrid Memoir

by Peter Grandbois

Literary Nonfiction. Memoir. "In this hilarious and poignant tour d' force, our hero is caught in a maze of simulacra, the mirrored hallways of America gone mad. The hero's quest is to smash the mirrors around him--will his sword work? Could a guitar's chords shatter the glass with its rising duende? How can he demolish the specular artifice to find the scene of his real selves? But what is the real? And how do we get there, when there is no one to drive the car"--Eleni Sikelianos. "In Peter Grandbois' `hybrid' memoir the materials of his suburban anomie are cut apart and thrust into arresting and disturbing juxtapositions. Passages of spiky adrenalin play against a melancholic, duende-driven introspection as identity is assembled and re-assembled in a strobe-lit chamber"--Sven Birkerts.

140 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

Peter Grandbois is the author of fifteen books, including: The Gravedigger, selected by Barnes and Noble for its “Discover Great New Writers” program, The Arsenic Lobster: A Hybrid Memoir, chosen as one of the top five memoirs of 2009 by the Sacramento News and Review, Nahoonkara, winner of the gold medal in literary fiction in Foreword magazine's Book of the Year Awards for 2011, a collection of surreal flash fictions, Domestic Disturbances, a finalist for Book of the Year in Foreword magazine’s 2013 awards, three novella collections or “monster double features,” Wait Your Turn, The Glob Who Girdled Granville (Honorable Mention for Best Fantasy of 2014 in the IndieFab Awards), The Girl on the Swing (Silver Medalist for Best Fantasy of 2015 in the IndieFab Awards), the poetry collection, This House That (Honorable Mention for Best Poetry Collection in the INDIES Awards 2017), the memoir in essays, Kissing the Lobster, the novel, half-burnt (Finalist for Best Multicultural Fiction in the INDIES Awards, 2019), the poetry collections The Three-Legged World, Everything Has Become Birds, and the Snyder Prize winning poetry collection, Last Night I Aged a Hundred Years, a collection of fictions entitled Domestic Bestiary, and a novel/novella monster double feature, Cat People and Dream Memories of the Fifty Foot Woman. His poems, essays, and short stories have appeared in over one hundred magazines and been shortlisted for both the Pushcart Prize and Best American Essays. His plays have been performed in St. Louis, Columbus, Los Angeles, and New York. He is the Poetry Editor at Boulevard magazine and teaches at Denison University in Ohio.

Reviews

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a bit disappointing. I was excited about this being a hybrid book, but also using the concept of the arsenic lobster, but growing up in suburbia is the same everywhere it seems and not the most interesting or enthralling content. I also though it would be a bit more experimental, and was disappointed in that regard too.

[E.S. Wynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think it is safe to say that, in all honesty, this is my new favorite book. This is the first book I've read in a very long time that I wasn't able to put down, and only the second book in my entire life that I've been extremely tempted to immediately read over again. There is such power and wisdom here, a life lived and lived fully, rich with achievement, struggle and a series of downfall-like changes that really pull at the heart strings. Unique in its presentation, this memoir pulls the reader in like no other, and reveals to that reader a world of not only promise, but also great beauty. If I could recommend any book to any person, regardless of age, creed or background, it would be this book. Peter Grandbois is brilliant, and I can now safely say that I am a lifelong fan of this author.

[Nicole Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

love the 2nd person narrator... took my senior seminar with prof. grandbois; awesome.