Marvellous Hairy

by Mark A. Rayner

Marvellous Hairy -a novel in five fractals -
So hair is sprouting in unspeakable places and you can no longer carry a tune, but if you're a surrealistic artiste with an addiction to Freudian mythology and guilt-free sex, turning into a monkey has its upsides.
Nick Motbot may be evolving as a novelist, but his friends aren't too sure about his DNA — at least, not since Gargantuan Enterprises started experimenting with it. And once they figure out what's hap-pening to him, they decide to set things right. MARVELLOUS HAIRY is a satirical novel about a group of friends sticking it to the man the only way they know how, with equal parts grain alcohol and applied Chaos Theory.

Literary Fiction | Fabulist Satire

Genres: Humor, Science Fiction, Canada, Fiction

296 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2009

About the author

Don’t panic, it’s only Mark A. Rayner, award-winning author of satirical books, absurd fiction and the occasional screed on the problems with time travel novels. When he’s not writing about the infinite universe theory and manic pixie aliens, Mark teaches at Western University in Canada, which definitely doesn’t have a beaver problem.

Connect with him on Mastodon at @markarayner@mas.to.

Even better, if you want early reads, beta reads and other goodies, then slip into the Raynerverse by subscribing to his newsletter. You can get a free book if you do!

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was simply a joyous romp about life, love, and of course monkeys! When reading it Douglas Adams, Ron Goulart, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and Fredric Brown all came to mind, and those are not names I throw around lightly- the book is that good folks!

The book starts out at a wedding ceremony that is soon turned into chaos when the Reverend and his accomplice, an aspiring writer, let loose a horde of monkeys and a Komodo Dragon. I knew from that completely absurd yet sublime beginning I could well fall in love with such a tale, and the author did not disappoint me one iota! It tells the tale of a rag tag group of friends, and when one of the group suddenly starts devolving into a monkey, they band together and with otherworldly help attempt to take down the giant evil corporation bent on subtle world domination.

This book truly has it all: a drug crazed Reverend/Doctor that could have given Hunter S. Thompson a run for his money, a novelist working on his surreal opus, action, adventure, love, ghosts, a protagonist you actually care about, two hilariously inept would be villains, a dastardly megalomanical master villains, kidnappings, drugs, sex, and did I mention monkeys?


All in all if you want to read a truly great and rollicking (love using that word, and it is very apt here) adventure that will have you laughing out loud one minute, the next debating the psychological make up of the crazy human race, well simply stop reading this review and buy this book today- you will not be disappointed in the least.

[Fredd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't help but see shadows of both Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream (for the cast of Rayner's living characters) and Dicken's A Christmas Carol (for the dead ones) in this great story. And I specifically mean shadows, because it's mostly the darker, edgier bits that make it into Marvellous Hairy; creating a thoroughly modern tale of genetics, marketing, sex and pheremones that still somehow feels as familiar as any classic fairy tale.

Mark Rayner's descriptions are vivid. Every character is larger than the story. Everything jumps off the page as HIS imagination takes the wheel and gives you the Grand Tour of his story.

Overall, the pacing of this book is perfect.
I found it very hard to stop reading once i started. When I stopped, I looked forward to picking it back up.

There are typos scattered throughout the book that would occasionally jar me back to the real world, but none that muddied any meanings in any significant way.

In contrast, i thoroughly enjoyed what looked like typos: the way Mark Rayner was able to translate monkey language and monkey typing onto paper and still clearly convey his meaning is absolutely genius, and i'm sure required very careful thought.

There are a number of loose ends left hanging at the end of the story. If that kind of thing makes your head fly off in rage, you might get annoyed.

I personally found it very easy to forgive Mark Rayner for any and all minor oversights (intentional or otherwise)-the story is really just that much FUN!

[Robert Kroese · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable book, with a likable main character and several laugh-out-loud moments. The ensemble cast of eccentric characters reminded me a bit of some of Philip Dick's work, particularly Through a Scanner Darkly.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won a copy of this book and had it mailed to me by the author directly. He also signed my copy. (Thanks, Mark!)

From Amazon.Com and the author's web site, here is a rundown:

Hair is sprouting in unspeakable places and you can no longer carry a tune, but if you're a surrealistic artiste with an addiction to Freudian mythology and guilt-free sex, turning into a monkey has its upsides. Nick Motbot may be evolving as a novelist, but his friends aren't too sure about his DNA at least, not since Gargantuan Enterprises started experimenting with it. And once they figure out what's happening to him, they decide to set things right. "Marvellous Hairy" is a satirical novel about a group of friends sticking it to the man the only way they know how, with equal parts grain alcohol and applied Chaos Theory. Part literary fun-ride and part slapstick comedy, It s about the power of friendship and love, the evils of power, and the dangers of letting corrupt CEO's run our world. But most importantly, it's about how we have to get in touch with our fun-loving inner monkeys.

The narrative comes from Nick's friend Robbie "Rob" Goodman. There are quite a cast of characters, and that word can be taken in two forms, but many play supporting roles. Two of them are ghosts, by the way. The book has been labeled as part of the Fabulist Satire movement. I have not a clue what that really means, but I know satire. I have experienced it before. Three of the most entertaining books I have read were satire. I now have a fourth.

It is also the first time I have read a book in a while, probably since "Shelf Monkey", one of those satire novels I mentioned to liking, that I laughed out loud. And I did a few times. (I can normally hold in my laughter when reading.) Some of the lines are just hilarious. And they are not there to make the reader laugh, they are truly something that the characters would say. The situations he put a few of the characters were just great. Nothing seemed forced. It all felt natural, it all felt like a cohesive story. So well put together. Just complex enough for the staunchest of readers to enjoy, and easy enough for anyone to love. It's like controlled anarchy, if an actual thing can exist. All I can say is that it's a good thing when it comes to writing.

Rayner's writing style seems so well suited for this type of work. He's quick and to the point, yet descriptive when he needed to be. I never found anything rambling too long. If anything, it was short. He probably could have expanded it in places and it would still have felt right. His pacing was dead on. Everything was great. Between the events, the characters, the style, it was a very well put together story, and again, very entertaining.

The only complaints I have about the book was the book itself. It's small. Like pocket Bible small. Well, not nearly, but it's the smallest novel/novella I have ever read. It was hard to hold sometimes. Though part of that was me being anal not to crease the spine because it is signed after all. There also were some typos. Not so many that it made it annoying. But they were easy to forgive, given the strength of the story, and the fact it's a small press.

This book won't compete with the great classics out there. Heck, it probably won't even reach the heights of one of my other satirical favorites, "The Great American Novel" by Phillip Roth. (I mean, come on, we are talking Roth here. The guy should win the next Nobel for fiction for crying out loud!) But it certainly is one of the most entertaining books I have read. Right up there with "Shelf Monkey" by Corey Redekop. Both of these need to be read.

[Cal Chayce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply Fabulist!

I was somewhat hoping I wouldn’t enjoy this book so that I could entitle the review Marvellous? Hardly! but, alas, it turned out to be a very enjoyable romp through the madcappery of an all too familiar fictitious setting, so, much to my chagrin, I had to think up a whole new review title. Thank you, Mark A. Rayner, for robbing me of that pithy idea. It was going to be really funny.

As most of us have, from time to time, you’ve likely asked yourself the question: What would happen if Carl Hiassen, Will Shakespeare, and Kurt Vonnegut got together for a little mead 'n snuff party, and a story idea emerged from their wondrous and thoroughly pickled collective mind? Well, I’m delighted to let you know that we can now move on to other such ponderables since Mr. Rayner has provided the answer to that age old question with his new novel Marvellous Hairy.

Rayner opens his story with such an insane commotion that you immediately (and wisely) pause for a moment to fasten your seatbelt, steadfast in the knowledge that, for better or worse, you’ve just accepted a ride from a deranged driver and one who is likely under the influence of more than one illicit substance. I felt it was a quite considerate gesture to let us prepare ourselves up front in this manner, before we hit the freeway in high gear. Respect.

Hairy is narrated in first person quasi-omniscient style (yes, you read that correctly) by the central character - a mostly normal sort of chap named Rob (that is, more normal than his eclectic group of friends and dubious associates). Rob’s ability to ubiquitously relate the story is explained within the pages and I found this approach to be not only clever and unique but completely reasonable in an unreasonable sort of way.

The story involves, on one level, a bizarre allegorical battle between the separate reptilian, simian, and human parts of the Triune brain, and how we must somehow cope and flourish, not just within our own consciousness but within society as well, while all 3 types are in control at different times, at different levels, and in different circumstances. At least that was my interpretation. It’s also quite a traditional (I really didn’t expect to be using that word in this review) tale of megalomania, the dangers of rampant, unchecked science, the bonds of love and friendship, monkey sex and the nature of military cacti.

I think being any more specific may do the reader a disservice so I’ll leave it there - suffice to say Rayner proves to be a masterful story weaver with a gifted imagination, and a remarkable wit. If that’s not enough, a deep social conscience lies beneath it all. Those qualities combined provide for an exciting, hilarious and ultimately fulfilling reading experience. Just don’t forget to fasten your seatbelt.

You've been warned.

[Liz Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

An embarrassing number of months ago, a writer named Mark A. Rayner, with whom I associate on Twitter, sent me an autographed copy of his novel Marvellous Hairy. I was excited to read it as Mark’s “tweets” are always entertaining. (You can find his website here.) Then, of course, schoolwork started to pile up and I became unable to read a single thing that wasn’t about Modern Human Genetics. So, on my recent trip to Michigan I finally opened ‘er up, not at all knowing what to expect. At that point, all I really knew about it was that it was listed as “Literary Fiction- Fabulist Satire,” divided into five fractals (groups of chapters, I later learned), and that a main character somehow begins to devolve into a monkey (strong selling points, all).

It took under a page for me to realize I had been a fool not to read this sooner. Ghosts, greedy CEOs, drug dealers, wacky novelists, attractive women, lascivious scientists, primates, lizards (apologies if I forgot anybody)- how could I not love this book? The characters alone make this book a worthwhile read. Rayner accomplishes something that not enough writers do: Each character has his or her own distinct voice. Each person in the book could communicate the exact same piece of information, but each would do it with their own personal vocabulary of phrases. I love it. Why every writer doesn’t do this, I will never know. The characters, as a result, are all believable as people.

And Rayner seamlessly intertwines the lives of his very believable characters through the use of his narrator, Rob. Each “fractal,” contains several chapters, which visit different characters as they live out their part of the story. Rob explains all, even though he is only directly involved in parts of the story. His relative omniscience is a result of his being contacted by ghosts, who fill him in on events he isn’t present for- a clever move if you ask me.

There is a lot clever about this book. There is a lot hilarious about this book, too. The opening scene, a chaos-drenched wedding, will slay you. It also provides a stylistic “thesis statement” of sorts. As soon as you read about what Nick and Dr. Tundra do (hint: Monkeys. Lizards.), you completely understand what kind of a book you are getting yourself into.

Look, I could go on and on about all the things I love about this novel, but I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m just going to post the link to where you can buy the thing.

http://www.amazon.com/Marvellous-Hair...

Do it. You won’t regret it, I promise.Mark A. Rayner

[BookScout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvellous Hairy is a new wave of Fabulist Satire set in the near future, centred around the research being carried out in a frightening behemoth of a corporation called Gargen (or Gargantuan) Enterprises. Gargen specialises, secretly, in the reconstruction of human DNA. It is headed by the insipid megalomaniac Ted Shute. So begins a glorious adventure of corporate greed, drugs, lascivious sex and the unleashing of one’s inner monkey.

To say this book is simply funny would be to gloss over it's delicious decadence, this book is anarchy with a sweet tooth. The writing is savagely funny like a laughing hyena on acid. You laugh but sometimes it’s uncomfortable to watch… There are obvious parallels to be drawn with the writing of Douglas Adams but only if Adams stories were more horny, drug-crazed and surrealistic. Rayner is ruder, madder and badder than his predecessors.

One of the main themes of Marvellous Hairy is corporate greed and what it does to the everyday folk. Human subjects are dispensable for profit and power. On one level it’s just a regular everyday satire of modern commerce, but after the first page you soon realise it’s so much more interesting than that. Really poignant issues arise also, like the individuals’ attempts to reconcile human self-awareness with their animal nature.

From the opening scene of what I can only describe as the wedding from Hell (to which you wish you’d been personally invited) you immediately get an idea of what’s in store.

Peopled by the most fabulous cast of miscreants and heroes, who incidentally I want to read more of, this novel is brilliantly paced. In fact it never lets loose. The action sequences towards the end are timed to precision and it boasts a tight structure. It even contains a helpful cast of characters at the beginning, like they are the players in a Shakespearean play - genius!

Marvellous Hairy is a funny, engaging novel about serious issues but it is never in danger of becoming didactic or angry - Rayner manages to walk this line with skill and with, I would imagine, a smile on his face.

[Andrew Breslin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to describe Mark Rayner's writing as a cross between Phillip K Dick and Douglas Adams, but some dick (not Phillip) already beat me to it. It's right there on the back cover. Stole my analogy. What a dick. So now I'm forced to try to describe the weirdness without comparison to well-established, popularly understood and accessible weirdness. That's going to be difficult. And probably weird.

As the story unfolds, an unfortunate experimental subject, Nick, is undergoing a transformation into a primitive, ape-like proto-hominid, as a result of nefarious machinations by a giant evil corporation. This is not the weird part.

What was really weird, from a personal perspective, is that weird stuff started happening to me as I was reading it. I shit you not. Okay, I shit you very little. But all of a sudden, I started experiencing strange coincidences involving lizards, monkeys, fish and spiders. I had a bizarre dream that I would swear was part of the collective conscience of our species, poking up from our ancestral past. Skeptics might instead blame the bedtime doobie, but they weren't there. It was weird, man. As the story progressed, I could feel my own layers of consciousness peeling off me like an onion, or, more appropriately, like a banana. For example, when faced with any type of criticism I have hitherto replied with withering sarcasm. But lately, I just hurl feces. On the whole, I find this more satisfying.

But I won't be lobbing any excrement in Mark's direction. "Oot!" I say. "Ooo-Oot! Ooooot!"

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

My God this was a bloody funny book, a funny book with a potentially insanely important message for our greed driven so called civilisation that has buried our inner monkeys so deep that even our dreams are lacking because of it. Told through the reflective narrations of Rob Goodman as he tries to save his friend from devolving into his monkey-self at the hands of the power-hungry Ted Shute as well as his own soul as he tries to undo what his work has helped create. In turn Shute is trying to save himself (shock horror...btw he is not a nice man) from the ghost/spectre of Johnny Thipirous, who's life he took, sister he married and younger sister he's corrupting. With the help of his friends, including many a monkey at just the right moments, he takes on not only Shute but everything he stands for with hilarious yet poignant results.

The writing is superb and extremely creative in its turn of phrase and views on interior design (evidently there is such a thing as insanity pink) and the characters are superbly written with just the right mix of normal and utterly insane (although by the end they seem completely sensible...which is a bit of worry). This is a book I think that'll you'll either love or hate but no matter what your final opinion it will be a rollercoaster ride and best of all, there's plenty of monkeys along the way!

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won! I'm excited to have won this book in a giveaway.
********************
This book was very different than most others I have read. It took me a while before I opened it to begin reading. The size of the book was difficult to handle, it was very small. The picture on the front of the book didn't intrigue me, and actually scared me a little.

The story was not what I would have expected by the title or the cover picture. It was basically the story of a guy who works for (or at least until he quit) a scientific corporation. The company is doing some research and one of his friends signs up as part of an experiment and he is given shots of monkey DNA. Very hairy! I do have to say I was interested in the outcome, and this kept me reading. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend the book to anyone, however, I did offer it to a friend and asked him to give me his thoughts after he read it.

Not sure if this was a "rough draft" or not, but the editing was really bad.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Marvellous Hairy is a weird little beast, a blending of the anything-for-a-laugh mentality of Adams with the experimental abandon of early Philip K. Dick. Is it satire? Science fiction? A piercing exploration into the nature of being? Good-natured sex romp? The publisher, Crossing Chaos, has labelled Marvellous Hairy as being “Fabulist Satire,” which is as good a way as any to say that categorizing Rayner's work is a near-hopeless task."

Read the rest of the review here.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvellously manic! How can you not enjoy a bawdy tale that includes experimental drugs that turn a guy into an ape, a ghost and crazy kidnappers with a side plot love story thrown in for balance?

This was a fun read.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting story which intertwines alot of seemingly unrelated topics, the releasing of animals at a wedding, the changing of DNA, Two kidnappings and even a ghost very well

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious satire that I couldn't put down. You'll never look at our monkey brethren the same way again. I laughed myself into a loss of bowel control at one point - it's that funny!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review copy from author - signed!

Mark A. Rayner is an author with a fantastical sense of humor and a dangerous imagination. Part big corporation take-down, part scientific bizarro experimentation, this novel is perfect for fans of the strange and unlikely!

Full of mayhem, madness, and monkey-business, Marvellous Hairy takes the reader on a roller coaster of a ride through the many layered friendships of Nick, a man who is willing to sell his body to science for a couple of bucks; Max, a doctor who takes recreational drug use to the next level; Hot Helena, who works as a VP for Gargantuan Enterprises and it's slightly insane head honcho Ted; and our narrator Rob, BFF to Nick, our monkey man in the making.

Mix in some unauthorized highly secretive genetic manipulation, a ghost haunting, two kidnappings, and a pair of unstable drug dealers, and you now have a recipe for disaster.

While reading the proof for the novel, which was signed and sent to me by the author upon my request for review, I found myself overlooking the editing issues (hence the reason I noted it was a proof copy) and thoroughly enjoying the storyline.

The back cover blurb leads the reader to believe the novels sole plot is to follow Nick Motbot through his transformation from man into monkey, however there really is soooo much more to it than that.

Rob worked as a temp on a super secret scientific project involving a weather satellite at Gargantuan Enterprises, when he discovers his best friend Nick has signed on with the same company for some experimental testing. Concerned for his friends well-being, and increasingly strange behavior, Rob enlists the help of the company's VP of Marketing, and his old college buddy Helena, to root around and dig up information on the classified test.

The group of friends stumble upon some pretty unethical and downright scary stuff, and decide to take matters into their hands - Kidnap the CEO, publicize what they know to bring the company crashing down around his knees, and hopefully save their banana-loving, bow-legged, devolving buddy at the same time.

How can you NOT want to read this??

I want to just take a moment to clarify something:

The novel is marketed as "Literary Fiction" under the subcategory "Fabulist Satire" (as found on the back of the book), and I think it's for good reason. Readers who like straight up, no nonsense fiction may find themselves confused and frustrated with the crazy capers and high-jinx that populate this novel. Those readers who love to indulge in a good old medical mystery novel might find themselves tsk-ing and tut-ing over the numerous other story lines that flow throughout the book.


That being said, Rayner's novel is romping good fun, and begs you to pay more attention to your inner monkey and lizard - the normal animalistic parts of the human psyche that we force into submission! Everyone... It's time to "Release the Monkeys"!!!

3.5 stars (Strongly recommended for readers familiar with genre)

[Giovanni Gelati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check it out, a novel that makes one question many things in our society today and uses the vehicle of comedy and the bizarre to get us there. Laugh while we think, I enjoy that. Yes, it is time to release the monkeys. Marvellous Hairy is a sincere novel that is totally different than anything I have read in a while. It is a seriously disjointed narrative wrapped around a wonderful array of colorful characters that takes the reader on a thought provoking ride through corporate America, greed, and a host of other things. Here is the synopsis from the back cover, but trust me, the description just barely scratches the surface on this novel:
“Release your inner Monkey! So hair is sprouting in unspeakable places and you can no longer carry a tune, but if you’re a surrealistic artiste with an addition to Freudian mythology and guilt-free sex, turning into a monkey has its upsides. Nick Motbot may be evolving as a novelist, but his friends aren’t too sure about his DNA- at least not since Gargantuan Enterprises started experimenting with it. And once they figure out what’s happening to him, they decide to set things right. Marvellous Hairy is a fabulist satire about a group of friends sticking it to the man the only way they know how, with equal parts grain alcohol and applied Chaos theory.”
I think you can see that this is one seriously demented and out there plotline. Best thing about it is if you put aside a few things, this novel made me laugh, chuckle and smile. The narrative was a bit choppy, the story was a mix of many different types of novels, including sci-fi, action, thriller, mystery, and a medical story, but it all was mashed together in a way that was coherent and fun. It is what it is and that is a good character driven comedy piece with a bunch of other stuff mixed in. I don’t have anything that comes to mind to compare it to, nor would I want to. Mark Rayner has created a very unique novel with a very special flavor and vibe to it. Pick this up and when you need a good laugh, give Marvellous Hairy a read and let the laughs and smiles come on out. Here is a link to the book & some more info from Mark:
There's a free podcast and an excerpt linked off the book page, if people want to give it a try: http://marvelloushairy.ca Also, my current preoccupation is Canada Reads, check it out!!
Here is the Amazon book link:
http://www.amazon.com/Marvellous-Hair...

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[Mark Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of funny, quirky characters in search of a Shakespearean play in a highbrow romp of a sci-fi story. There's an evil megacorp and a devolving humanoid author as well as many minor dramatic players who find themselves caught up in a midsummer night's kidnapping plot. Very witty narration and a lot of action and amusing banter make this a quick read from about a quarter of the way through to the end.

Many of the characters are taken directly from Midsummer Night's Dream. Robin Goodfellow (Puck) becomes Rob Goodman whose good friend Helena works at the megacorp which is doing evil experiments on their other friend Nick Motbot (Really? Bottom just mixed up? What kind of name is that?) who slowly begins turning into a monkey instead of an ass.

The fairies are all here: Peaceblossom is "Blossom," Mustardseed is "Seedy" Besterdson the drug dealer and Mrs. Moth and Starveling are themselves (and what else could they be?). Peter, Francis and Tom of "The Mechanicals" theatre group are mechanical engineers. Poor Oberon and Titania, the king and queen of the fairies, are here turned into a weather satellite and laptop computer respectively. Sad, really.

I consider the last three quarters of this book to be five star worthy. But then there's that confusing, scattershot mindf**k of the first quarter. Perhaps it's a necessary dissociation from our world which has to occur to really prepare you for the book's alternate reality. The story opens at a wedding at a rather breakneck pace where madness and monkeys rule the day and we don't know why or who to care about or what's going on.

Despite the really intimate first person narration, we don't really know anything about Rob Goodman or how he relates to the story until several chapters in, despite the fact that he seems omniscient somehow and narrates events in which he took no part. I still don't really get what the crazed wedding scene had to do with the rest of the plot. Maybe it was like a bad dream and I should think but that and all will be mended. Maybe it was just to get us thinking about the destructive power of monkeys, I don't know.

One piece of help the book offers is a list of characters or "Dramatis Personae" in the opening pages to which the reader can refer if confused, as I was. Unfortunately, I read this book on my e-reader and discovered a limitation of the medium: it's not easy to flick back and forth from a map or list in one part of the book to another. I know it can be done and maybe that kind of facility will come with time, but it was a limiting factor for my enjoyment of the book (not the author's fault) in the beginning. Also, I'll just mention copy editing is a problem in a lot of books these days, whether professionally or independently published. Nuff said.

Once I got into it, however, all quibbles aside, this book really moved and was funny and absorbing and a great read overall. I look forward to reading some of Rayner's other books.

[P.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The copy on the back of Marvellous Hairy bills it as a novel about a man who is turning into a monkey. However, it goes far beyond that. The story revolves around a giant, evil corporation nicknamed Gargantuan Enterprises and the people who want to bring it down, then before you know it, there are ghosts, kidnapping, lizards, sex, and drugs thrown in for good measure.

Let me make a confession: I don’t find monkeys inherently funny. Their similarity to humans is amusing, sure, but it’s been overdone. Given the premise of Marvellous Hairy, I was a bit worried that its humour would rely on “anything is funny if you mention the word monkey alongside it” school of thought. Luckily, its absurdity is only partially monkey-based, and it delivers some genuine funny. Many scenes had me smirking as hard as I have at any Douglas Adams novel (yeah, just smirking; it takes a lot for me to physically LOL at text).

A lot of the books I’ve reviewed recently, they’ve been trashily entertaining (see: Charlaine Harris), or had great ideas despite mediocre writing (see: Cory Doctorow). But Rayner is actually a damn good writer. Every paragraph is packed with clever wordplay and subtle allusions. E.g., “He had long greasy black hair that clung to his head like an octopus humping his skull” (ok ok, maybe not always subtle).

Not all is warm and fuzzy. The novel could have used some edits; the language can be wordy, the plot takes a while to get going, and a certain subplot doesn’t feel like it fully connects with the rest of the story. Also, the quasi-omnipotent first-person narrative is jarring, especially when it needs to be explained, though it does add to the surreal bizarreness of the whole thing.

That is where Marvellous Hairy shines: it is such a bizarre barrel of words that you can’t help but have fun reading it. Mark (full disclosure: I can go all first-name-basis because we’ve met IRL) recently tweeted that his next novel may be even sillier, and if that’s the case, I can’t wait to get my paws on whatever he comes up with.

[Zoe Right · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvellous Hairy is an odd book. Starts out odd, moves to a little bit odder, retains some of that oddness throughout the middle and ends happily ever after, a little oddly. Wonderfully odd. Bizarre even. Think Christopher Moore, think Chuck Palahniuk- although not quite as disgusting as Palahniuk. No I take that the back. In the opening scene, monkey's throw poop at an otherwise normal conservative wedding and a body part eating komodo dragon is released into the audience. So parts are disgusting enough to rate a 5 on the P-scale of grossness.

A little Background- Nick Motbot, a aspiring novelist, isn't quite making it. So to beef up his otherwise dwindling bank account he volunteers as a human lab rat. One too many times. When he starts to regress his friends, well one friend in particular, Rob Goodman, start to get just a tiny bit concerned. For about a minute and a half, Rob Goodman works for Gargantuan Industries, on his last day he figures out someone is messing with his friend's DNA.

May we all have friends as caring (and as entertainingly bizarre) as Nick. You just get this feeling as you read through the book, author Mark Raynor had to have based these character on real people and real situations. It's naturally funny and flowing in such a way that can only be based on a smidgen of real experiences. Not that people devolving into monkeys part or ghosts part or the kidnapping a major CEO part. But ya' know everything else.

I'd really like to see Rayner get a professional publishing house behind him. He deserves a great editor and quite frankly this book belongs either in hardcover or those oversized paper-back versions because reading this tiny, tiny book was annoying. You shouldn't be annoyed when you read Raynor. It's so damned funny and entertaining..you want to keep going until you turn the last page.

[Kane Faucher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reader's point of entry is at a wedding in progress when once the officiation is over, the acting priest (a drug-addled psychologist ordained by an internet sect) calls out "release the monkeys!". From there, the chaotic tale refuses to forfeit its absurdist hi-jinx and scrambled episodes. The purposely decentered plot involves Nick Motbot, a surrealist novelist whose DNA is being altered by Gargantuan Enterprises so that he regresses to the level of a lower primate.
Rayner's offhand and quirky narrative voice brings together elements of the absurd, Gonzo, and the everyday to form a simian melange of seemingly random events set in a purling textual fantasy. Although the story is fantastical, Rayner demonstrates the good balance of any fabulist: keeping the story at least partially coherent and plausible without compromising on the shock of the bizarre. Rayner eschews meandering description for more pithy renderings and succinct dialogue that moves the plot along at a steady, brisk pace.
Rayner's second book is a vertiginous and free-wheeling narrative that brings satire to a juddering pitch, a meeting place between the absurd and the hilarious.
One would have to Imagine "Flowers for Algernon" rewritten as a surrealist comedy, or a risible spoof of Will Self's Great Apes. Or, perhaps, Marvellous Hairy resolutely defies any attempt at comparison, appealing to the inner primate in all of us.

[Sherry D. Ramsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew I wanted to read this book when I heard the author read from it at last summer's WorldCon in Montreal. For one thing, the section he read from was set in a drugstore. Now, my husband is a pharmacist, and believe me, the vast comedic possibilities of drugstores are a gold mine most satire and humour writers seem to miss. The fact that Mark Rayner had recognized this made me respect him instantly. The reading only got better from there, by turns funny, absurd, and poignant, and I knew I wanted to know more.

I wasn't disppointed. This book is not going to be for everyone; you have to be open to the surreal, the absurd, and alarmingly incisive reflections of the corporate world, and be able to laugh at them all. Don't pick it up if you're opposed to some...er...ribaldry (let's just say I haven't lent this book to my mother or my 16-year-old daughter), or if you dislike reading about monkeys, lizards, cross-species genetic manuipulation, ghosts, corporate greed, or chaos theory.

However, if you do like the things listed above, as well as absurdist humour, fast-paced writing, clever wit, mockery of institutions, a bit of slap-and-tickle, loyalty, love, and a chronicling of the gradual descent from human to simian brain, then you should really enjoy Marvellous Hairy.

[Nicklaus Louis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of Canadian humor, monkeys, lizards, sex, monkey sex, lizard sex, Shakespeare, satire, crime fiction, eccentric characters, ensemble comedies, or all of the above (as I am) then "Marvellous Hairy" is a book for you-oo-oo-oo!

Here's just a few things this book offers:

An evil corporation run by a megalomaniac bent on taking over the world - a starving writer who deals drugs and lets lecherous scientists shoot him full of a serum that is designed to de-evolve human DNA - a sexy vixen who may have slept her way to the top but is nonetheless smarter than every man in the company - a physician, who is also a minister, who is also a regular user of LSD, who is also well connected in the world of underground animal trading - vengeful ghosts - dunderheaded kidnappers - a savvy PR rep - a lesbian heiress - a beautiful drug store cashier - and a witty, charming narrator with a connection to the spirit world, a burning desire to protect his friends and score the girl of his dreams, and no inhibitions whatsoever when it comes to flaunting his goods to elderly neighbors.

Mr. Rayner dances the tight rope between serious topics such as corporate greed and silly topics such as a monkey's love for everything banana. I highly recommend this book.

[Erin Kernohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightfully bizarre romp. Mark's writing is not unnecessarily embellished, he gets to the point while still being descriptive, and his dialogue sounds like something I'd overhear at the Grad Club over at Hated University. The story is something that any sci-fi loving reader will enjoy, but in some ways it feels like a MacGuffin - which is just fine because the characters are so endearing that you are happy to get to know them.

On the surface the story is about evil corporate science and cartoonish supervillainy. Underneath that it is about a group of friends breaking through that limbo which occurs after university and on to the next stage of their lives.

The book itself is an odd shape. A bit more substantial than a pocket book. Can't be afraid to crack the spine on this one. There are also some typos... though given some of the mind bending that goes on, I feel alright explaining them away as being typed by monkey-fingers.

[Jeane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this back on Goodreads and remember when I received it that I wondered why I tried to win it. It looked weird and it soudned weird. Starting to read didn't help to change the feeling.

But when I had read already a lot of it I suddenly noticed that I was actually enjoying the way it was written. I still didn't have a clue what I was reading about,but the way it was written was very catchy.
And luckily suddenly the story also started to make some sense.

I would still say it was a very weird story but I finished the book with a feeling that I am happy to have read it.
To anybody who is wondering if they should read it, if it is any good... I would suggest to just try it out and see. It reads fast and it isn't very long, so perfect for a try out.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I liked this book. As we follow the man character (Rob), we meet a lot of very strange people who are all somewhat connected. We learn about an evil organization that is doing illegal human testing on Rob’s best friend Nick. We also learn of other experiments this organization is planning that could potentially ruin the world. This is just one of the plots in this book, there are many, but they did come together in the end in the form of revenge. The book was very strange, but in a good way. It reminded me a lot of Cat’s Cradle by Vonnegut.

[Darlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel so badly. I have loved Mark A. Rayner's other books but this one just didn't grab me. I can't tell you how often I nearly put it aside. I am glad I finished it. The characters did grow on me after more than halfway into the book. Look, maybe it was just me. I kept thinking that this is a guy's book. So if you are a guy, maybe you will like this and find the farting around to be great fun.

[Edward Linder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvellous Hariy was an enjoyable journey. Mark A. Rayner has created a world that Tom Stoppard would love to roam in. If you enjoy Neil Gaiman, you will enjoy this five act book with all the laughs of Christopher Moore. Check it out!

[Rachel (The Rest Is Still Unwritten)]

Wow!!! I won this..... i can't believe it.
I'm looking forward to reading it
:D
:D
:D

[Peter Scheyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great plot device. Sharp wit throughout. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Kate Sherrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heaps of hooting monkey love for this!