Fishy-fleshed [Paperback]

Carlton Mellick III (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2004

These days, everyone has the powers of Jesus Christ...

The citizens of Ocean City are so technologically advanced that everyone possesses the ability to walk on water, cure diseases, clone food, and raise the dead . . . They are like an entire civilization of Messiahs. When a team of researchers travel back in time to the days of Christ, they discover the past is a lot different than they ever imagined. It is an illogical flatland lacking in dimension and color, a sick-scape of crispy squid people wandering the desert for no apparent reason.

Part science-fiction parody, part nightmarish absurdism, Fishy-fleshed is likely to leave a green-gray taste in your mouth.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Praise for Fishy-fleshed:

"Fishy-fleshed is one of those books that has such freedom of language, imagination, and ideas that once you begin reading it, you know you are reading not only fine writing, but a work of genius."
--BRUCE TAYLOR, author of Kafka's Uncle

"Carlton Mellick kicked my ass, and I have the scars to prove it. Or should I say the scales? Mellick is an author who looks at the universe in fish-eyed wonder, but isn't afraid to throw his readers to the sharks. Read Fishy-fleshed and his teeth will be lodged in your brain forever."
--JOHN EDWARD LAWSON, author of The Troublesome Amputee and Discouraging at Best

"In Fishy-Fleshed, Mellick has created a world unlike one ever written before. In Ocean City, the capitol of the New World, everyone possesses the ability to walk on water, clone humans and raise the dead in a land where zombie sharks fly in the air and people reside on the ocean. Cocoan, the narrator, is a child-like man that tells the story through his thoughts via a telapaceiver connected to his brain. Strange, huh? It gets better, folks."
--HELLNOTES

From the Back Cover

Praise for Carlton Mellick III:

"Easily the craziest, weirdest, strangest, funniest, most obscene writer in America."
- GOTHIC MAGAZINE

"Carlton Mellick III has the craziest book titles... and the kinkiest fans!"
- CHRISTOPHER MOORE, author of The Stupidest Angel

"If you haven't read Mellick you're not nearly perverse enough for the twenty first century."
- JACK KETCHUM, author of The Woman and The Girl Next Door

"Carlton Mellick III is one of bizarro fiction's most talented practitioners, a virtuoso of the surreal, science fictional tale."
- CORY DOCTOROW, author of Little Brother

"Bizarre, twisted, and emotionally raw--Carlton Mellick's fiction is the literary equivalent of putting your brain in a blender."
- BRIAN KEENE, author of The Rising and Dead Sea

"Carlton Mellick III exemplifies the intelligence and wit that lurks between its lurid covers. In a genre where crude titles are an art in themselves, Mellick is a true artist."
- THE GUARDIAN

"Just as Pop had Andy Warhol and Dada Tristan Tzara, the Bizarro movement has its very own P. T. Barnum-type practitioner. He's the mutton-chopped author of such books as Electric Jesus Corpse and The Menstruating Mall, the illustrator, editor, and instructor of all things Bizarro, and his name is Carlton Mellick III."
- DETAILS MAGAZINE

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Eraserhead Press (October 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976249804
• ISBN-13: 978-0976249801
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #321,579 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

CARLTON MELLICK III is one of the leading authors in the bizarro fiction movement. His influences range from offbeat children's book authors such as Dr. Suess and Roald Dahl to Japanese cult directors such as Takashi Miike and Shinya Tsukamoto to trashy B-movies such as those from Troma and John Waters.

He lives in Portland, OR, where the breweries, bookstores, and strip clubs are the best in the country.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mellick is Cooler than Jesus, March 18, 2005

By 

Jiggly Pseudosomething (Everywhere) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fishy-fleshed (Paperback)

Fishy-fleshed is not like other novels. But then, none of CM3's novels are like other novels. They are more like bizarre cult films, only you can't put them into VCRs or DVD players and watch them. You have to read them, because they are books.

If the words "book" or "reading" make you want to punch someone, don't worry. Fishy-fleshed is fast paced and entertaining. You can read the whole thing in an hour or two. Nearly all of Mellick's books are like this; short and sweet. But don't be fooled. He's able to pack more into a thin novella than most authors could in a bulky tome. You can read his books over and over and find something new every time.

And did I mention the pictures? Most of Carlton's books are illustrated. The images in Fishy-fleshed are not like anything I've seen before. They are the thoughts of the narrator, plucked from his head and presented visually. I really can't tell you how strange they are. You'll have to see them yourself.

Get this book, and every other Mellick book, and you'll never be bored again.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew science fiction could be this much fun?, August 20, 2005

By 

R. Duffy "literature junkie" (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fishy-fleshed (Paperback)

What happens when you mix together schlocky 50's science fiction movies, otherworldly future landscapes, a mischievous sense of humor, religious satire, fluffernutter, and a generous dose of time travel? I have no idea, but I really like this book, "Fishy Fleshed", by Carlton Mellick. It's kind of like the mixture mentioned above, except much better, and without the fluffernutter. Mellick, a young author with an evergrowing and well-deserved cult following has written another irreverent story in his own genre of bizarro literature. It neither takes itself to seriously nor gets lost in childish meanderings. Mellick strikes a balance that is only possible through natural ability, and his stories continue to show that he has that ability. If you would like to enjoy something that is different without even trying to be, kind of like fluffernutter, then purchase this book now.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dirty Ones., February 1, 2006

By 

card - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fishy-fleshed (Paperback)

FishyFleshed is a beautiful glamorous and excellent performance on words of Carlton Mellick III's ability to write a 244 page "novel" and have the font so big that you can only fit around 5 lines of text per page and you will still be able to understand the character and relate to him. this book was written in 3 days with very little sleep and cocain-stregth-caffine pills to replicate an author with a.d.d.. the book is written in thought logs about a man in the future named cocoan who lives in a ocean world where people can walk on water, clone people, clone food, and revive people from the dead. in a world cured of all a.d.d. and all diseases cocoan chooses too keep his a.d.d. because he doesn't want the fishy ones to get their stench and fishiness on him. he thinks the world is better with his a.d.d. and he doesn't need to be cured. cocoan and his wife whyrie travel back in time to find the messiah to see if he was real and to bring him back to the future to question him, but things start to go wrong and twist and turn out of control in this half parody half science fiction and half nonsense book. one o the greatest books I have ever read.