Salmonella Men on Planet Porno
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $4.99
-
- $4.99
Publisher Description
An irresistible mix of imagination, satire, and humor, these stories by acclaimed Japanese author Yasutaka Tsutsui imagine the consequences of a world where the fantastic and the mundane collide.
The opening story, “The Dabba Dabba Tree,” details the hilarious side effects of a small conical tree that, when placed at the foot of one’s bed, creates erotic dreams. In “Commuter Army,” a sly commentary on the ludicrousness of war, a weapons supplier becomes an unwilling conscript in a war zone. “The World is Tilting” imagines a floating city that slowly begins to sink on one side, causing its citizens to reorient their daily lives to preserve a semblance of normality. And in the title story, we see how obscenely absurd the environment on Planet Porno appears to a group of scientists. The stories in Salmonella Men on Planet Porno winningly combine madcap hilarity and a sharp eye toward the insanities of contemporary life.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this collection, his American debut, Tsutsui recipient of a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres amplifies the absurdities of contemporary life to usually entertaining results. In "The Dabba Dabba Tree," the erotic dreams caused by a phallus-shaped plant create havoc, as sleeping and waking life are confused for both dreamers and nondreamers alike. In "Rumours about Me," a dull office drone becomes an unwilling celebrity, his every action recounted in breathless detail by the media. Other stories are less lighthearted, such as "Commuter Army," featuring a weapons supplier in the thick of a foreign war, and "Hello, Hello, Hello!" in which a "Household Economy Consultant" cheerfully insinuates himself into a couple's life and leaches every small happiness from them. Tsutsui is less interested in his characters than in teasing his ideas out as far as possible. While this technique has its cerebral pleasures and his writing can be humorous, the application of his one-size-fits-all narrative mold grows tiresome.
