Billy Gillespie wakes up one morning to discover his junk is gone. In its place is his wife's junk. Billy is now Tina, and Tina is dead. That's because Billy's dead. His lifeless body is still in bed and empty beer bottles and a container of antifreeze litter the kitchen counter. Over the next 24 hours, Billy and an odd assortment of neighbors, all experiencing their own bouts of body switcheroo, try to figure out what happened and why. Can they do it before the Feds find Billy's body? Was it aliens that caused this, or God, or the government? And did Edgar Winter really sleep with his sheep? Pro football Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw has those answers in a story that asks, What Would Kirk Cameron Do?
Muscle Memory
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Editorial Reviews
Review
...though Lowe uses humor liberally through the book, like the appearance of Terry Bradshaw in a dream and the recurring jokes about bestiality, this book takes a far more penetrating look at the human condition. --I Read Odd Books ireadoddbooks.com/
...this book is sophomoric, filled with ridiculously blatant humor that will have you groaning and guiltily laughing on every page. - Copyright © CCLaP, Jason Pettus --Chicago Center for Literature and Photography
...this book is sophomoric, filled with ridiculously blatant humor that will have you groaning and guiltily laughing on every page. - Copyright © CCLaP, Jason Pettus --Chicago Center for Literature and Photography
From the Author
Steve Lowe has never broken a single bone in his body. (jump to conclusion) Steve Lowe has super powers.
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More About the Author
Steve Lowe is a former sports writer with the South Bend Tribune, and occasional stringer for the Associated Press. He also writes weird, dark, humorous fiction which contains just slightly more made-up content than his sports stories. His first book, Muscle Memory, was published in 2010 by Eraserhead Press. His short fiction has appeared in the print anthologies Amazing Stories of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, A Hacked-Up Holiday Massacre, and Dead Bait, and several online venues including Three Crow Press and Unicorn Knife Fight. He has never suffered a broken bone.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
It's always a risky proposition: to take a well known trope (especially one that peaked in the films of the 80's) and try to find a new way to spin it. In Muscle Memory, Steve Lowe takes his cue from movies like Freaky Friday and Like Father, Like Son, presenting a tale of bodies switched and swapped all over a small community. Using some clever writing however, Lowe transcends the typical structure of those stories and takes it to a whole new level of absurd and hilarious wonder.
Billy wakes one morning to the dog meowing at him, next to his own body (which happens to be dead) and inside the body of his wife. Soon, his best friend Tucker (who now inhabits the body of his own wife, Julia) and other friends and neighbors (including one poor fellow who's now stuck inside a sheep, leading to some hilarious accusations about his personal life) set out to solve the problem.
A number of theories are put forward in the story, including everything from government conspiracies to alien interventions. In lesser hands, this might become nothing more than a farce, but Lowe creates depth for his characters. They are developed indeed, from the way they talk to the way they think and act. Steve Lowe has obviously spent some time around small town America, because he nails the little mannerisms, casual sexism and low speed drawl of the community, leading to a realistic and funny bunch of people. The protagonist, Billy, is especially interesting, with his everyman charm and his laid-back street smarts, it's easy to find yourself hoping that he'll make it through the chaos okay.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the ending. Without spoiling anything, I have to commend Mr. Lowe on writing a bizarro book with a truly poignant and literary final moment. It feels like an earned ending, and is surprisingly powerful in the midst of a really silly sequence of events that lead the reader to it. It's fun to watch the madness unfold, and it never feels like Muscle Memory is piling on weirdness just "to be weird." Everything moves the plot forward nicely up that final, "nailed it" moment.
This book is part of the New Bizarro Author Series, which exists to promote new authors of the weird. I would highly recommend Muscle Memory to anyone looking for a fun, quick and comfortable read. It's a short book, which is unfortunate, as it seems like Lowe could have mined this setting and these characters for even more fun, but the bottom line is: This is good, solid writing from an author I know we'll be seeing more of in the coming years. Buy it now so you can say "I bought his first book before everyone knew he was cool." You won't regret it!
Billy wakes one morning to the dog meowing at him, next to his own body (which happens to be dead) and inside the body of his wife. Soon, his best friend Tucker (who now inhabits the body of his own wife, Julia) and other friends and neighbors (including one poor fellow who's now stuck inside a sheep, leading to some hilarious accusations about his personal life) set out to solve the problem.
A number of theories are put forward in the story, including everything from government conspiracies to alien interventions. In lesser hands, this might become nothing more than a farce, but Lowe creates depth for his characters. They are developed indeed, from the way they talk to the way they think and act. Steve Lowe has obviously spent some time around small town America, because he nails the little mannerisms, casual sexism and low speed drawl of the community, leading to a realistic and funny bunch of people. The protagonist, Billy, is especially interesting, with his everyman charm and his laid-back street smarts, it's easy to find yourself hoping that he'll make it through the chaos okay.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the ending. Without spoiling anything, I have to commend Mr. Lowe on writing a bizarro book with a truly poignant and literary final moment. It feels like an earned ending, and is surprisingly powerful in the midst of a really silly sequence of events that lead the reader to it. It's fun to watch the madness unfold, and it never feels like Muscle Memory is piling on weirdness just "to be weird." Everything moves the plot forward nicely up that final, "nailed it" moment.
This book is part of the New Bizarro Author Series, which exists to promote new authors of the weird. I would highly recommend Muscle Memory to anyone looking for a fun, quick and comfortable read. It's a short book, which is unfortunate, as it seems like Lowe could have mined this setting and these characters for even more fun, but the bottom line is: This is good, solid writing from an author I know we'll be seeing more of in the coming years. Buy it now so you can say "I bought his first book before everyone knew he was cool." You won't regret it!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Awesome book! I really miss mind switch movies and I think it's time they made a come back. Also, Steve Lowe is a really good writer. With this book he has shown that Bizarro can be strange and also have a point. He doesn't just throw a bunch silly crap together and call it a book. He took a bunch of silly crap and crafted it into a really well thought out and entertaining book. [...] when Hollywood inevitably remakes Like Father Like Son or Vice Versa I hope he gets hired to write the script otherwise I'm not going.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Rod Redux
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Too short! That's the only bad thing I can say about this title. The story was so richly amusing, I found myself groaning inwardly when I realized, all too soon, that I had reached the halfway mark on the Kindle version of this book. Is it an original idea? Nope. But Muscle Memory takes a very worn plot device, stands it on its ear and makes it sing like a cuckoo bird. I will definitely be on the lookout for more from this author.
-- Rod Redux, Author of Mort
-- Rod Redux, Author of Mort
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
WWKCD............
This was my first foray into the works of Steve Lowe and I came away very entertained and thinking that I really want to read some more of this guy's work. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Buckeye Nick
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Entertaining!@!
This is the second book I have read by Steve Lowe. I really enjoyed the storyline, as I did with the first (King of the Perverts). Both were creative, funny and amusing. Read more
Published 11 days ago by denial66
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, but feels incomplete
Steve Lowe's Muscle Memory is a bizarro version of the fairly standard body swap story. I know I've seen the basic concept done before about one billion times. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Yoyogod
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great First Book
What happens when a town wakes up to find out they are now the opposite sex? Read this book and find out. A interesting read and makes you think about the opposite sex as well. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Dave Anderson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Creative endeavor
Interesting read, creating a new perspective on everyday life. It helps the reader to step back and appreciate the life you have, not so much because what happens in the story... Read more
Published 14 months ago by M. Gray
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful BodySwap!
I got this because it's a genderswap story, first of all. I'm always drawn to authors who can pull that off well. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Kimberly Lynn Workman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yikes!
I didn't know what to expect when starting this book. It was one that I was wanting to read and finally I gave it a go.
This was great from start to finish. Read more
This was great from start to finish. Read more
Published 15 months ago by R. Moschgat Jr.
4.0 out of 5 stars
How Steve Lowe made me an alcoholic
My name is Jenn, and I'd never heard of the "Bizarro" genre before reading one of Steve Lowe's reviews. Read more
Published 16 months ago by JennMelt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Book I've Read All Year
This is not just the best Bizarro book I've read all year. It's the best book. Period. Steve Lowe has a great imagination and he knows how to put the right words on the page. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Allen Taylor
5.0 out of 5 stars
one of the best bizarro books ever
This is one of my favorite bizzaro novels. It's hysterical. In the book a strange occurrence causes everyone to switch body's with whoever they have most recently slept with. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Justin T. Grimbol
