Kelby Losack's picture
Kelby Losack from Texas is reading Muerte Con Carne; The Summer Job; Bizarro Bizarro November 17, 2013 - 10:42am

Bizarro is to literature what punk was for music. That's how I see it, at least. And bizarro is still in its early stages. I'm wondering what the future of the genre will look like... any predictions or ideas? Back to the music parallel, punk mixed with jazz to make ska, The Clash were pioneers of pop-punk, metal blended in for hardcore and thrash punk, there was surf punk (Dead Kennedys)... what other genres/styles/structures would you like to see in bizarro fiction? I've been thinking a lot lately of bizarro minimalism, something authors like Carlton Mellick III and Jeremy Robert Johnson already seem to be exploring--a much more subtle tone to tell these bizarre, ridiculous, over-the-top stories. 

sean of the dead's picture
sean of the dead from Madisonville, KY is reading Peckerwood, by Jed Ayres November 18, 2013 - 6:25am

Good call, man. I was just talking to some friends over the weekend trying to describe the Bizarro stuff and used the punk analogy as well. 

I imagine we'll see an increase in the more literary bizarro, much like what Lazy Fascist has been putting out, as well as a spike in the way-out-there stuff on the opposite end. But who knows, really. Those folks have only just begun, it's still relatively "new" as a named genre, and I'm definitely interested in where it will push itself.

L.W. Flouisa's picture
L.W. Flouisa from Tennessee is reading More Murakami November 18, 2013 - 5:50pm

I wonder if thats means they create -- Cyberbizarro. Or Bizarropunk -- nah to redundant.:P But I particularly like stories about bizarre body enhancements gone horribly wrong. I want that sort of subtle knowledge of body enhancements gone wrong, without that explicit detail you might find in a slasher film. Where character development is more important. That's one of the reasons I like William Gibson so much I guess. (And where I was originally going with Reaperpunk.)

Kelby Losack's picture
Kelby Losack from Texas is reading Muerte Con Carne; The Summer Job; Bizarro Bizarro November 18, 2013 - 8:51pm

@sean of the dead, Apparently it's a solid comparison, because neither of us are the first to make the connection between punk and bizarro. I think the first place I saw someone else say it was on Carlton Mellick III's site, possibly. And I'm wondering what you are considering literary bizarro? Do you mean literary as in well-crafted and with some sort of commentary, or do you foresee a mainstream version of bizarro? 

@Sarah Weaver_2, "The League of Zeroes" by Jeremy Robert Johnson--from his anthology Angel Dust Apocalypse-- is probably right up the alley you're hanging out in with the flawed body enhancements sans graphic detail. 

L.W. Flouisa's picture
L.W. Flouisa from Tennessee is reading More Murakami November 19, 2013 - 2:24am

Thanks, I'll check it out.

acm323's picture
acm323 from California November 29, 2013 - 4:46am

I came up with this weird idea a while back.  I think  it would be funny if someone in the movie industry pulled it off.

Imagine the most predictable romantic comedy.  Let's cast John Cusack and Jennifer Lopez.  They are coworkers and they don't like each other.  Both of them have a cold exterior, but soon they find out they have much more in common than they think...blah blah blah.

Anyway, 99% of the movie is completely predictable.  But in the very last scene, where John Cusack is about to drop to one knee and propose, something goes horribly wrong.  A 96 year-old man veers off the road and runs him over.  He is clearly dead.  Jennifer Lopez screams.  Credits roll.  The End.

Wouldn't you love to be in a movie theatre with a bunch of angry women when they see this ending?  This type of ending (insert whatever name) would only occur in a small handful of movies every few years.  That would be the beauty of it.  The audience would never know when it was coming.

There would only be a few select people that could know about the alternate ending, of course.

Has this already been thought of?  Probably...

Kelby Losack's picture
Kelby Losack from Texas is reading Muerte Con Carne; The Summer Job; Bizarro Bizarro December 1, 2013 - 10:21am

Deus ex machina, where a random resolution--separate from anything in the story prior to it--appears usually during the climax, has definitely been used and abused. But this sounds more like an elaborate prank than a storytelling mechanism or gimmick. And pranks are their own art form, for sure. 

King Grotus's picture
King Grotus from New Jersey is reading Inherent Vice December 1, 2013 - 2:07pm

Going off kind of what acm323 said, I've been wondering when bizarro is going to get the attention of flimmakers. I guess there is a good number of directors who have already made bizarro-esque movies, like David Lynch. I'd imagine that the interent wired youth of today would throughly enjoy an anthology film adapation of stories like At The Funeral by D. Harlan Wilson and Mr. Bear by Joe R. Lansdale.

 

I've been hoping that someone would write some bizarro of like gladiator games where Socrates, Renee Descartes, Nietzsche, etc would be forced to battle. They get all get their own choice of fierce weapon: morning star, net and trident, scimitar and shield, etc. Then they enter the battlefield and all of them are ready to shed blood, then one of them says something like "I'll terminate your existence" or something. Then it sparks this great big debate on the meaning of existence, proof that we exist, brain in a vat, etc and they all drop their weapons. They cross-examine each other until they die of exhaustion or dehydration. Something like that.

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal December 1, 2013 - 2:12pm

I think reggae had a big influence on ska as well.

I miss that fad, it was far too short lived.

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig December 1, 2013 - 10:29pm

Yeah... ska was around a long time before punk, but the analogy holds water regardless. I think it's interesting because there are already a lot of different flavors of bizarro out there. I love JRJ's stuff, so... I guess I'll be lame and say "more like that!" 

Kelby Losack's picture
Kelby Losack from Texas is reading Muerte Con Carne; The Summer Job; Bizarro Bizarro December 1, 2013 - 10:41pm

Doctor Who is bizarro. And bizarro was arguably born out of film (looking at you, Eraserhead.) 

ReneeAPickup's picture
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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig December 1, 2013 - 10:53pm

Someone (feel like an asshole for forgetting who) said that bizarro is like the cult section of the video store. I definitely think films had something to do with it. I'm curious as to why you class DW as bizarro as opposed to just straight sci-fi, though. 

Kelby Losack's picture
Kelby Losack from Texas is reading Muerte Con Carne; The Summer Job; Bizarro Bizarro December 1, 2013 - 11:12pm

Exactly! I've heard that as well. DW is a breed its own and has had its own cult for half a century, but aside from just being different and cultish, the tone the show takes would probably piss off a lot of diehard sci-fi fans. It makes its own rules with science to the point it's some mixture of fantasy and--well, bizarre. It's hard to point out any examples, because every time I watch it, an entire episode is a valid example, in my opinion, of why I'd consider it bizarro. Definitely a blend with standard sci-fi, but I think of bizarro when I think Doctor Who. 

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ReneeAPickup from Southern California is reading Wanderers by Chuck Wendig December 1, 2013 - 11:19pm

Interesting. We're big fans in my house but I've never viewed it that way, I'll have to try with new eyes on Christmas.