Mister B. Gone (Paperback)

by Clive Barker (Author)
Key Phrases: Pappy Gatmuss, Joshua's Field, World Above (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
This offbeat novel in the form of a minor demon's diary may satisfy devoted Barker fans eager for his return to adult fiction after several years writing the Abarat series, but others, especially first-time readers, are likely to find this fable about good and evil less than rewarding. Jakabok Botch, the child of two demons who has inherited his father's two tails, is rendered even more grotesque after he tumbles into a fire and most of his face is badly burned. A violent dispute with his abusive father, Pappy Gatmuss, leads to the pair being trapped by a net from our world. Jakabok manages to elude capture and eventually finds his way to the home of Johannes Gutenberg, whose wife turns out to be an angel in disguise. The book's format—simultaneously Botch's first-person narrative and his break-the-fourth-wall address to the reader pleading for him or her to burn the book—may puzzle readers unused to Barker's quirks. (Oct. 30)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

You hold in your hands not a book at all, but a terrifying embodiment of purest evil. Can you feel the electric tingle in your fingers as you are absorbed by the demon Jakabok's tale of his unintentional ascent from the depths of the Inferno? Do you sense the cold dread worming its way into your bloodstream, your sinews, the marrow of your bones as you read more deeply into his earthly education and unspeakable acts? The filth you now grasp has been waiting patiently for you for nearly six hundred years. And now, before you are completely in its thrall, you would do well to follow the foul creature's admonition and destroy this abomination of ink and paper before you turn a single leaf and are lost forever.

You have been warned.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition (October 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061562491
• ISBN-13: 978-0061562495
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (99 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #151,972 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I found this a very disappointing read..., November 5, 2007

By	Logan Christopher (Abingdon, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mister B. Gone (Hardcover)

Having been an avid fan of Clive Barker's fiction for the past twenty or more years, starting with "Books of Blood", I have come to expect so much more from this author. I was very disappointed with Mr. B. Gone. I found myself tiring quickly of the pleading to stop reading, the begging for the fire, etc. And I agree with the reviewer who indicated that the book has been "dreadfully proofread". I agree.....so many typographical errors, extra words, missing words....and again, since the book is ABOUT words and their power, I found myself pulled out of the story several times a chapter.

I found it to be not scary, not suspenseful, and rather slapdash. It pains me to write this review, in a way, since I count myself an ardent fan of Mr. Barker's work, but this one....well.....I think I should have given it a miss. I must say though, for the record, that this is the first book of Mr. Barker's for which I have had a less-than-stellar review. Usually, I find his books to completely capture me. This one, I found rather boring.

To those of you who liked it, I wish I felt the same way. But, alas, I did not.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mister B. Gone, and he took my money with him!, November 14, 2007

By	Brian Baker (Santa Clarita, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mister B. Gone (Hardcover)

There was actually a pretty good book hidden in here trying to get out. Unfortunately, it failed.

First, the good things:

This was a really inventive premise. A demon escapes from Dante's Inferno, and finds himself in the real world. How does he react? How does the World react to him? He has escapades. Cool idea.

Barker's demon Jakobok, and indeed the other angels and demons in this book, in no way fit the common stereotype. Also cool.

Now the bad things:

The conceit of the book that it actually contains Jakobok's spirit, and he wants you, The Reader, to burn the book. While inventive at first, about what seems like the thousandth time you go through it this device becomes more than grating, it is irritating beyond words. I ended up skipping pages and pages at a time to get beyond it and back to the story. In what is already a short book, if this stuff were edited out, you'd have a magazine article remaining. Barker's editor deserves a swift kick in the [...].

In a book in which Gutenberg's printing press play such a pivotal role, it is beyond ironic that this book is so chock full of typographical and printing errors. Also REALLY annoying.

Because the actual story itself is so slight, most of the characterizations are, too. Almost cartoon characters.

So.... one and a half stars, which I'll round up to two because I've enjoyed Barker's past work so much. Pretty generous of me, frankly.

Don't forget to burn this review when you're done reading it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars mister b gone, December 31, 2007

By	K. Pearson "KP" (United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Mister B. Gone (Hardcover)

I am glad to see that I am not the only one who thought the pleas to burn the book were so tedious that they ended up skipping over them too. Reading the jacket, I thought this was an exciting idea. I was very disappointed and wondered if there would be anything illegal about me writing a book with the same premise of a demon speaking to you from the book, but in the way I had hoped it would be. Not having the best knowledge of grammar, I was not sure if it was me - but I did think there was quite a bit of editing that seemed to be missed. And, I thought to myself while reading it, "I hope I don't have to read the words din or throng or tattoo in this book again".......but eventually they would appear. Fairly disappointed.