The Crime Studio [Paperback]

Steve Aylett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2001

In Steve Aylett's irreverent world, crime is the last innovative art form. Lawyers drop in by parachute, gun shops stay open all night, and bulletproof underwear is the rage. Hip, smart, outrageous, The Crime Studio was praised by The Guardian as "a distressingly brilliant debut."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The gleeful noir mayhem continues in slacker satirist Steve Aylett's collection The Crime Studio (actually his first book, but released in America after Slaughtermatic, Toxicology, and Atom). The writing in The Crime Studio is slightly less fevered than we're used to from Aylett, and the hyper-Chandlerian metaphors aren't pushed so far that they're humorous for the wrong reason; but the stories are just as punk-rock fast and short (few of the 27 interrelated stories are longer than five pages, and some are shorter).

The Crime Studio is packaged as science fiction, but little in the book fits that genre, unless the label refers to the fantastically cartoony ultraviolence or the surreal improbability of Aylett's imaginary city. --Cynthia Ward

From Publishers Weekly

British author Steve Aylett depicts a world devoid of morality and consequence in his latest futuristic novel, The Crime Studio. In the stark world of Beerlight, "crime is the last innovative art form," and a cast of characters with such comical names as "Bleach Pastiche" and "Harpoon Specter" practice crime as art, in a manner reminiscent of Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. Aylett injects his dreary vision of the future with biting sarcasm and eloquent wit. The influence of pop culture is strong, from the comic-book imagery to the introductory quote from Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Enjoyable and original, The Crime Studio will appeal to fans of graphic novels and science fiction.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: Thunder's Mouth Press (September 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568581483
• ISBN-13: 978-1568581484
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,567,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surreal, crime-noir stories, January 16, 2002

By 

Paul Lappen (Manchester, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Crime Studio (Paperback)

This is a group of interconnected short stories that introduce the denizens of a town called Beerlight. 'Tis a very strange place.

Tony Endless had gotten a job working for a local pest exterminator. On his first job, he took out the firearms carried by everyone in Beerlight and wiped out the dog, cat and aquarium in the house, not realizing that they were ot the pests in question. Word got around town, and now Tony has a business breaking into houses at night, quietly removing pets that the owners want gone, and, just as quietly, giving them to owners that do want them.

Ben Stalkeye and chance don't go together very well. The strangest and most unlikely things would happen, only on the condition that he didn't want them to happen. This presented problems for his criminal career. Joe Solitary loved the feeling that came from being the subject of false accusation and did everything possible to be arrested and jailed for crimes in which he was not involved at all. He would go to the police station all the time and confess to anything and everything.

In a place where paranoia is a part of daily life, Carl Overchoke had gone back for seconds and thirds. One day, he is told that "they" are on to him. Carl is an average guy who suddenly feels very important. He starts acting more self-assured, almost like a big shot, seeing spies everywhere, and eventually does gain the notice of the police. Jesse downtime didn't know how to rob anyone, so he experimented with smaller and smaller thefts. He tore the stalk from an apple at the local deli. He broke into the state zoo at night to steal an ant, then return it to the authorities. He would bump into people on the street, acquiring dozens of their atoms without suspicion. After his release, his thievery was refined to such a point that it occurred only in his mind(...)

5.0 out of 5 stars The Crime Studio, July 16, 2011

By 

Lea (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Crime Studio (Paperback)

I'm not sure what I can say about this book -- it's weird and funny, with quotable lines on every page, and I wanted to read it again the second I finished it. In fact, I might just do that . . .

This is a collection of interrelated stories about the citizens of Beerlight, where apparently everyone is a criminal -- although criminal aptitude varies, of course. There is a running theme of . . . I want to say joy . . . in these stories. As often as not, these burglars and con artists have become what they are due to an appreciation of the absurd, or a desire for hilarity -- I found the combination of mayhem and glee to be irresistible.

Oddly enough, the writing reminds me very much of Catch-22, with surreal situations, wonderful wordplay, and the occasional shot to the heart.

I would highly recommend this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT, June 26, 2011

By 

Donald Armfield (Mass.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crime Studio (Paperback)

A Great book, enjoyed every page.

Laugh out loud, bank robbing, gang affiliations, or being locked in the slammer... Aylett hits it on the head with his surrealism in a Tarantino way.