Grambo Dustin Reade 9781621051220 Books
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Martha is just like any other granny--she wears shawls, rides a scooter, likes a nice lunch after church (thank you Jesus!), and she loves the Supermall almost as much as she loves her family.
Until the day her entire beloved family is slain by bloodthirsty school teachers when her grandson loses the crucial championship basketball game. Martha is left for dead, and with nothing left to live for.
But unlike other grannies, Martha's not going to take this massacre lying down! With the help of the Mascots, a race of living sports mascots, Martha trains to become vengeance on her family's murderers. Whether this means slaughtering cheerleaders, raping the principle, or giving truck drivers a bit of road head, Martha's ready to do whatever it takes to go Grambo!
Grambo Dustin Reade 9781621051220 Books
Reade's got the chops to get me grinning and then the pull the rug right from under my scuffed feet with some kind of shocking violence that warps that grins into a pleasurable grimace. This book successfully blends the bizarre with the believable. I found the main character, Martha, to be well fleshed out on the page. She has something to fight for and I couldn't help rooting for her all the way. The inciting incident that sparks her vengeance is BRUTAL. Reade also knows how to craft villains. The villain, Mr. Mayonnaise, is a dirty, dirty man who gets what he deserves and, judging by the RAMBO-influenced title, let's just say his justice is dealt with a fist and then some. I've only ever read Reade's short work, which I greatly enjoyed and look forward to more long-form work in the years to come. He's funny and smart with the skill to craft a tight tale that both delights and subverts. Thank you.Product details
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Tags : Grambo [Dustin Reade] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <html> Martha is just like any other granny--she wears shawls, rides a scooter, likes a nice lunch after church (thank you Jesus!),Dustin Reade,Grambo,Eraserhead Press,1621051226,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction General,General,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)
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Grambo Dustin Reade 9781621051220 Books Reviews
The New Bizarro Authors Series is always interesting. It provides a testing ground for new voices in fiction and new styles that we may not have seen before. It's often a breath of fresh air in the world of fiction writing.
"Grambo" by Dustin Reade is one such entry in this year's NBAS. By the title and the cover, most will probably already know what the main theme of the book is, but there are enough unique elements that make this book worth a read.
The book starts with Martha covered in the blood of her enemies, then we flashback to how she got there. Yes, the entire book is one long flashback sequence. After Martha's grandson costs his school their chance to go to the championship basketball game and a trip to the Supermall, the school's faculty violently takes out their frustration on the entire family, but mistakenly leave Martha alive. After she is rescued by a mascot (that takes more explaining than I'm going to go into here), she begins recovering and train in martial arts and weapons to take her revenge on the faculty that killed her family.
The book is funny in a very self-aware kind of way. While it is very bloody and violent, it's also done in a strange tongue-in-cheek kind of way. This is especially apparent when we get a training montage in the middle of the book. Yes, an actually movie style montage in writing. The author never loses site of the humor, even if it turns dark at times, and keeps the book self-aware that what we're reading is rather silly, and that makes it work in a special way.
Now, being a fan of action movies and having seen all the "Rambo" films, I could be an internet troll and nitpick here that there isn't that much in common with the actually films. But that's unfair. It's probably got more in common with "Death Wish" or even "Kill Bill," but you try and find a punny title that works with those. Martha is not a Vietnam vet who's being run out of town or on a rescue mission or in isolation and bitter at the world. It's pure revenge fantasy.
The plot is not the steadiest thing in the world. It does feel at times like it has a bit of a stop and start motion to it. It's not necessarily bad, as a breather from bloody, violent action is needed at times, but at the same time it's occasionally a little unsteady, and the ending is almost diabetically sweet in contrast to the rest of the book, but it needed a good end for a main character that, despite the arguably justifiable violence she perpetrated in her quest for revenge, still remains likable and endearing.
From a technical standpoint, the book is well edited, with very few flaws. I hate to point this out in a lot of my reviews, but it's a sticking point for me, and I feel it's worth noting. So I'm pleased to say that there's very little in the way of writing or editing flaws to pull the reader off the page. A plus for the author and the editor.
"Grambo" is a loving tongue-in-cheek tribute to action and revenge films, with well-drawn, focused characters. While the violence is extreme and over-the-top, it's never inappropriately so. That sounds kind of strange, but when reading the book, you understand that the violence fits the theme perfectly. While the plot is occasionally a little jerky, it's never overly so, and on the whole, this book makes for a fun read.
"Grambo" by Dustin Reade earns 4 ninja throwing stars out of 5.
Id Says
EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh…! What’s that, sonny? Martha’s like most any other senior citizen. She likes church, shopping malls, and drives out into the country with her grandchildren. She’s kind and generous and all that other stuff that make old grannies your favorite kind of cheek-pinching person. One can always find her at her grandson’s basketball games, rooting for the home team fuzzy shapes on the court her eyes sometimes have trouble seeing.
Martha doesn’t realize her grandson’s school is run by the most nefarious jerks to ever grade a term paper. The teachers are nothing but thugs with diplomas, and the principle is an outright pedophile, bonking anything that cheers with pom-poms.
When the grandson messes up during a big game and loses it for the school, the faculty takes matters into their own hands. Martha gets a call from the grandson and hightails it over to the family home just in time to watch them murdered and set on fire. The dorkheads beat the crap out of granny, too, and leave her for dead.
But granny didn’t die. The old crank is still as rascally as ever and she wants revenge!
Ego Says
Populating Martha’s Pacific Northwest surroundings is a supporting cast I placed into two categories, either opposing or aiding her. There are no middle ground characters here, everyone has a stake in grandma’s quest for vengeance.
On the opposing team, I really like the all-encompassing evil that is the school principle, Mr. Mayonnaise. There is not a single thread of decency in the man. He is the uber-cad I just wanted to die a thousand deaths. His henchpeople, the teachers under him, are a motley crew to say the least. Mr. Fust is frustrated and angry, but essentially all bark and no bite. Ms. Webber has more brains about her, and seems more chilling with her ability to torture innocents indifferently.
Rooting for Martha are the mascots. Yes, those mascots. The ones dancing around in ill-fitted suits making total asses of themselves while supposedly boosting team pride, except these mascots aren’t made, rather they are born. I think they’re my favorite characters in the book, because they’re such a fun take on a common role. They aren’t people in suits, they’re actually living creatures. When Musty pulls his horse head off to reveal a balding man head underneath, the skin tears off from his bleeding neck, because the horse is the real him and the human head is to his body what our skulls are to ours. Don’t worry, his head will grow back.
Super-Ego Says
If it were not for all the gratuitous violence and sex, this could almost be a children’s story. Not only is there something wholesome and childlike about our grandmother’s journey, but the way Mr. Reade approaches the story is rather innocent like.
Not to say there are not touches of the absurd that would go over a child’s head, such as a chapter calling to mind a certain greaser play or one that reads like your favorite action movie montage scene (which this part of the reviewer’s brain recommends reading to some classic power metal). The comedy bits really helps break up the action bits, and when the two combine at times throughout the book you will find yourself excited and laughing simultaneously. A most enjoyable experience.
By keeping the middle section clear and steadfast, the author is able to really flesh out the meatiest parts of the book, that of the first act’s truly horrific scenes of Martha’s world brought to the edge of oblivion and the third act’s extremely satisfying battle finale. All of this is pulled off in a read that takes less time than watching the original Rambo trilogy. Good show.
The delicate handling of the carnage, the absurdness, and the sweetness is no easy task. This book maintains all three without ever going overboard in any one direction. A difficult feat, and one so well pulled off that I am eager to see what comes next from this author’s pen.
Reade's got the chops to get me grinning and then the pull the rug right from under my scuffed feet with some kind of shocking violence that warps that grins into a pleasurable grimace. This book successfully blends the bizarre with the believable. I found the main character, Martha, to be well fleshed out on the page. She has something to fight for and I couldn't help rooting for her all the way. The inciting incident that sparks her vengeance is BRUTAL. Reade also knows how to craft villains. The villain, Mr. Mayonnaise, is a dirty, dirty man who gets what he deserves and, judging by the RAMBO-influenced title, let's just say his justice is dealt with a fist and then some. I've only ever read Reade's short work, which I greatly enjoyed and look forward to more long-form work in the years to come. He's funny and smart with the skill to craft a tight tale that both delights and subverts. Thank you.
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