This extraordinary, edgy novel follows the lives of the young residents of Barguss, a small town in western America, made famous because of an unfortunate accident involving a knife-wielding maniac and a runaway blimp. 'Roo Kickkick & the Big Bad Blimp' is by turns wildly funny and warmly affectionate; it's a story of Hollywood stars and punk bands, teenage crushes and beauty pageants, nobility lurking in unexpected places and the boredom, comedy and violence of small-town life. Ryan is an exceptionally talented writer and this novel reveals his ability to blend the comic and the poignantly tragic to devastating effect. This is a novel that will surprise and entertain, and resonate with readers long after they have finished it.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'Exuberant ... very funny ... Senseless and sensational, violent, silly and unashamedly trashy ... I highly recommend it' -- Independent 20040215 'Full marks for panache, black humour and staying power' -- Guardian 20040214 'Bubblegum snappy with a nasty artificial sweetener aftertaste ... kinda quirky, kinda silly, kinda cool' -- Elle 20040301 'Pretty damn great ... plenty of unhinged panache' -- The List 20040301 'Always zany, frequently surreal ... Intense madness' -- Time Out 20040301 'Think South Park with a good dose of DBC Pierre thrown in and you'll get the picture' -- Tatler 20040301
About the Author
Ryan Gattis was raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. He studied film for a year in California before moving to the University of East Anglia, where he received his MA in Creative Writing. Currently, he is working on a PhD as well as a new novel. He lives in London. His brother, Brandon, is an artist and a frequent collaborator on creative projects.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hollywood-ho!,
By
This review is from: Roo Kickkick and the Big Bad Blimp (Paperback)
The cover of the book looks, and reads, like a movie poster, doesn't it? That's kinda because it is.
The book tells the story of how the story of Roo Kickkick, a nice boy from the tiny fictitious town of Bargus, is made into a big-budget Hollywood movie. The story of Roo is fairly simple - he got badly beaten up by a guy who was a bit of a bad egg; said bad egg and his likewise dubious friend then die in a freak accident involving a runaway blimp, hence the title of the book. Anyway, once the story gets out, Hollywood rushes to make it into a movie, getting all sorts of local people involved to play themselves, or other minor characters, or write the score, and various other items. The story flits about like a butterfly at times, it must be said. In fairness, it is written from the perspective of a rather lackluster duo, The Twins as a single entity, whom you never get to hear much about other than they were friends with Roo and Thorp and Florence - all the main characters of the novel and subsequent film - and they are fairly run-of-the-mill teenagers, so quite rightly, their attention span is limited and their narrative capability is not always quite Newsweek-quality. The story told is as much about the movie as about the life of Roo, and the life of Bargus the town, complete with dodgy cops, local legendary heroes, local legendary hangouts with wacky names like the Taco Coleslaw Hamburger HotDog Candy-apple, where you can get dubious local specialities and the like. The book is wacky; the narrative style different, if not distracting at times - character names, for instance, are beyond way-out - and the tale told is outrageously OTT. In fact, one almost can imagine the Hollywood hype-machine warming up were something as unexpected as this to take place. I guess the aim of the novel is satire; however, unlike the equally brilliant This is Spinal Tap mockumentary, it is achieved differently, since the story is not focused on one entity, fly-on-the-wall style. Because of its style, though, it is a book which is likely to be either a big hit or a bad miss with the reader. If you can get through the synopsis on the back cover without putting it back in disgust, I'd say you have a winner. I found the novel to be brilliantly off-key, delightful in its quirkiness, and a remarkable achievement. I shall look forward to the author's next offering.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hollywood: listen up!,
By
This review is from: Roo Kickkick and the Big Bad Blimp (Hardcover)
The cover of the book looks, and reads, like a movie poster, doesn't it? That's kinda because it is.
The book tells the story of how the story of Roo Kickkick, a nice boy from the tiny fictitious town of Bargus, is made into a big-budget Hollywood movie. The story of Roo is fairly simple - he got badly beaten up by a guy who was a bit of a bad egg; said bad egg and his likewise dubious friend then die in a freak accident involving a runaway blimp, hence the title of the book. Anyway, once the story gets out, Hollywood rushes to make it into a movie, getting all sorts of local people involved to play themselves, or other minor characters, or write the score, and various other items. The story flits about like a butterfly at times, it must be said. In fairness, it is written from the perspective of a rather lackluster duo, The Twins as a single entity, whom you never get to hear much about other than they were friends with Roo and Thorp and Florence - all the main characters of the novel and subsequent film - and they are fairly run-of-the-mill teenagers, so quite rightly, their attention span is limited and their narrative capability is not always quite Newsweek-quality. The story told is as much about the movie as about the life of Roo, and the life of Bargus the town, complete with dodgy cops, local legendary heroes, local legendary hangouts with wacky names like the Taco Coleslaw Hamburger HotDog Candy-apple, where you can get dubious local specialities and the like. The book is wacky; the narrative style different, if not distracting at times - character names, for instance, are beyond way-out - and the tale told is outrageously OTT. In fact, one almost can imagine the Hollywood hype-machine warming up were something as unexpected as this to take place. I guess the aim of the novel is satire; however, unlike the equally brilliant This is Spinal Tap mockumentary, it is achieved differently, since the story is not focused on one entity, fly-on-the-wall style. Because of its style, though, it is a book which is likely to be either a big hit or a bad miss with the reader. If you can get through the synopsis on the back cover without putting it back in disgust, I'd say you have a winner. I found the novel to be brilliantly off-key, delightful in its quirkiness, and a remarkable achievement. I shall look forward to the author's next offering.
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