The Failure Cascade

by Jon Konrath

A trans-dimensional gateway beween a Kenny Rogers Roasters location in Seattle to a Fred Meyer in Alaska. Richard Nixon bowling with the Roswell aliens. A corn-worshipping cult on the outskirts of a My Little Pony theme park. These are some of the tales in The Failure Cascade , Jon Konrath's latest collection of flash, micro-fiction, stories, and other weirdness. The Failure Cascade is thirty-four pieces of abnormal and unorthodox prose about the litanies and tribulations of the post-apocalyptic reality. The bite-sized chunks of sick, laugh-out-loud dark humor continue the madness within is collections The Musical and Help Me Find My Car Keys And We Can Drive Out! , but also contain longer stories reminiscent of his work in Thunderbird and Sleep Has No Master . The author of the cult classic Rumored to Exist weaves a chaotic collection of nonlinear references to death metal, pop culture, Nineties nostalgia, and the absurd into an ambient enumeration of the complexities and contraditions of current existence. It includes all previously unpublished stories, such as Hot Karl's Goodbye and the Taliban Bugzilla Database , Post-dialectic Discourse in the Works of GG Allin and Alanis Morissette , Evel Knievel Would Never Call Me at Five in the Morning to Talk About Christian Black Metal , and Sewage Beach . This is a fever dream of a collection of the amusing and unusual, almost designed to offend, enlighten, and entertain. Like the rest of Konrath's work, it is a wild ride through the surreal and unconventional.

190 pages, Paperback

Published December 14, 2020

About the author

Jon Konrath is an American author born in 1971. He grew up in Indiana and studied computer science and English at Indiana University. After college, he worked as a software developer and technical writer, but eventually turned his attention to writing fiction.

Konrath is the author of several books, including "Rumored to Exist," "Thunderbird," and "The Earworm Inception." His writing is known for its unique blend of humor, absurdism, and surrealism, often blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

In addition to writing, Konrath is also an accomplished photographer. He currently resides in California.

Reviews

[Amy Vaughn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a ridiculous amount. This was the first book by Konrath that I’ve read, and I am definitely kicking myself for being late to the party. What to expect? Gonzo autobiographical shorts that are entertaining and oddly relatable. It probably helps to get the references if you’re Gen X, but even if not, this book is full of delightfully surprising absurdities. Seriously good read.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful stuff. I’m not sure how many more books we’ll get out of Konrath, but I’m grateful for each one we get. This one was everything I could have hoped for.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fitting that the last book of the year is by the same author as the last book of last year. More of the same kind of stuff, but always worth it.