Customer Reviews

The Man of Maybe Half-A-Dozen Faces: A Novel

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Private Investigator Skylight Howells hangs his hat in Eugene, Oregon. Many sleuths call Oregon their home, but none have the various personalities like Sky has. In fact Sky is only one of Brian Dobson's personas. These include Dennis the math nerd, Dieter the chef, Scarface with the hideous visage, Lulu the one who goes where others cannot, and Tag the common man.

Perhaps Mr. Dobson suffers from multiple personality disorder or maybe he is just an eccentric actor who buries himself in his role. However, whatever the cause, it does not matter since each of the personalities work towards the same common goal of solving a case, whether it is finding out whether a spouse is cheating or tracking down a murder.

This novel is one of the most unusual tales ever written. The personas constantly switch roles and the narration changes from first person to third and back again. This makes for a wild ride for the reader trying to absorb everything as the protagonist(s?) keeps the story line moving. The scene where all the personas meet in cyberspace is humorous in a Mad Magazine sort of way. Fans of Monty Python or Mel Brooks (the early works) will enjoy this eccentric mystery.

Harriet Klausner

On the face of it (or the dust jacket) this might easily have turned into a "gimmick" book, what with tap-dancing twelve-step programs, multiple personalities, and eboards providing real-time commentary on events as they unfold. Vukcevich avoids that trap, however.

The technical underpinnings of his novel are flawless, and each and every potential "gimmick" fully supports its piece of the plot mechanics. Nothing is thrown away here, nothing is wasted, and it all comes together in the end without straining credulity or over-burdening one's suspension of disbelief.

I haven't had so much fun with a novel since I read Daniel Pinkwater's books about the Snark-out Boys.

A good, funny mystery. Without spoiling anything, I can say Vukcevich gives the reader compulsive tap dancing, juicer-pushing Russians, some original virtual reality, and a neon "TOFU" sign flashing outside the detective's office. He does a great job with the detective's multiple personalities (which could not have been easy). The novel isn't too "technical" at all, nor is its appeal limited to the computer geek set. My only complaint is with a few of the secondary characters, who seemed a little two-dimensional and wavering. I expect this will improve with future novels (which I eagerly await). I also wish Vukcevich had pushed the boundaries a bit more. The novel toys with surreal comedy in some wonderful moments, but always comes back down to standard mystery themes. Overall, a very promising first novel well worth the price. Vukcevich is an author to watch, if not a name to pronounce.

It's not hard to understand the few negative reviews this novel has received from Publisher's Weekly and others. This isn't the kind of book to which conventional yardsticks can be applied. To do so is like reviewing Jackson Pollock by the standards of children's coloring books. Try it, you'll neither like it or understand it.

The template here is a noir detective mystery, but that's not what this book is. You might think it's a satire of detective fiction, but it really isn't that either. What is it? It's a Ray Vukcevich book. Don't try to take it any farther than that. Turn your assumptions about genre, form, and reality off as you enter the door. Hold on tight, and enjoy the ride.

None of this should be taken to mean that this is a pretentious or inaccessible novel. It's a fast, fun read. It's brilliantly original, surreal, hilariously funny, and it will occasionally make the back of your eyeballs itch with its strangeness (if you like that sort of thing, and I do). But there's a lot going on here too. This is a book with layers, one that will reward you on repeated readings.

Ray is one of the most under-appreciated writers in America. Do yourself a favor, and discover him.

Really funny book that deserves to be on the shelf of all the Dirk Gently fans out there. One man: six identities = great fun -- and a really well-equipped private eye. If you wondered about the passions of documentationalists (or tap-dancers!), this will reaveal all. Vukcevich is a premiere modern surrealist, with one eye on the punchline, and one foot dangling off the wire. Read everything he's written. With any luck, there'll be a sequel to this...!

kylight Howells, Private Investigator, isn't exactly a split-personality. . . He's more of a multi-personality. Sky has several facets of himself which he becomes by donning various disguises. Dennis, for example, is a computer nerd and math expert and just by wearing Dennis' glasses, Sky can solve complex mathematical problems and break into computers. These six personalities are very handy for a detective and Sky wears them all--including Lulu--with an ease that is nearly scary.

Sometimes he thinks he might be overdoing it a bit, but the multi-personality thing takes back burner to his real problem--tap-dancing. Yes, Sky is a problem dancer, and hasn't been attending his meetings regularly. At any moment, with his resistance this low, he could duck into an all night karaoke tap club and--well, let's just say that the results wouldn't be pretty.

On top of it all, he's got work to do. He's trailing his high school nemesis to see if he's cheating on his wife and while still in the middle of this case, a lovely blonde bombshell of a computer programmer needs help with a murder case. Seems that some disgruntled nerd is killing computer program "documentalists". Her brother is a prime suspect and she wants to prove his innocence and find the real killer. Soon the killer becomes a serial killer and Sky--and the rest of him--must find out the whys and whos.

This is a very witty novel, with some sidesplitting read-out-loud happenings (the first use of the juicer, for instance, still makes me laugh). The mystery is not nearly as interesting as Sky's detecting and the solving of the case was a bit lame. Despite all that, I enjoyed it, passed in on to Stoney and refer it to anyone who likes their mystery to be slightly wacky and a whole lot of fun.

This is an incredibly ingenious and quite funny novel. It's one of my favorites. Its uniqueness would probably be appealing to many. I've read quite a bit of critically acclaimed science fiction over the years (including Maureen McHugh's 'The Lincoln Train', 'China Mountain Zhang', and 'Nekropolis', as well as Amitav Ghosh's 'The Calcutta Chromosome') and enjoyed this novel just as much, and possibly more, than those, which are pretty impressive but usually not as inventive!

It's also really refreshing to discover some science fiction with a sense of humor, since much of the field tends to be rather "doom and gloom" or horror-themed.

Ray Vukcevich's fiction is so off the wall it's astonishing. Hilarious, outrageous, ingenious fun.

This book contains some of the weirdest, wackiest, cops, crooks and gumshoes you will ever meet. Vukcevich populates his vision of Eugene, Oregon, with characters you can't ignore. I can't say this is a book you can't put down, because you do - you want to savor the gems he presents to you before moving on.

My only complaint? It was over way too soon. I am now waiting for the further adventures of Howells, et al. In the meantime, I'll have to content myself with Mr. Vukcevich's short fiction.

This book was so weirdly fun. This was the first book in a while, I have taken the time to tell my friends some of the plot. It's a great read for anyone looking for a funny " of the wall" kind of book.