Trang Yang is an angry, angry, angry man, neurologically incapable of any emotion but rage. He's also L.A.'s most successful gas station franchise owner. But no one can quite seem to figure out what makes him tick. Not the LAPD, who have long since granted him full immunity. Not his boss, who scrutinizes him with covert psychologists. Not the corporate spies who infiltrate his stations. And certainly not the encroaching FBI, who know only that Trang is involved in something big and dangerous and that time is running out.
The Loom Of Ruin
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Disturbingly entertaining" - Philadelphia Weekly
"Exquisitely detailed, dark and humorous Los Angeles fiction about the angriest man in the world." - San Francisco Bay Guardian
"His tone is about 60 percent deadpan, 40 percent dead serious -- which is approximately the ratio that makes his new novel, 'Loom of Ruin,' so funny." - The Washington Post
"It's packed with so much action, violence and black comedy you'll swear you stumbled into a movie written by Kurt Vonnegut" - LA Weekly
"In the universe of The Loom of Ruin, human society has become a malevolent machine that's not just indifferent to our happiness but actively working to prevent it, as though it had not only become somehow sentient but also discovered that it hated us." - Chicago Reader
"Exquisitely detailed, dark and humorous Los Angeles fiction about the angriest man in the world." - San Francisco Bay Guardian
"His tone is about 60 percent deadpan, 40 percent dead serious -- which is approximately the ratio that makes his new novel, 'Loom of Ruin,' so funny." - The Washington Post
"It's packed with so much action, violence and black comedy you'll swear you stumbled into a movie written by Kurt Vonnegut" - LA Weekly
"In the universe of The Loom of Ruin, human society has become a malevolent machine that's not just indifferent to our happiness but actively working to prevent it, as though it had not only become somehow sentient but also discovered that it hated us." - Chicago Reader
About the Author
Sam McPheeters was born in Lorain, Ohio in 1969. He is the former lead singer of Born Against, Men's Recovery Project, and Wrangler Brutes, and the founder of Vermiform Records. His columns, essays, profiles, and short stories have appeared in The American Prospect, Chicago Reader, OC Weekly, Punk Planet, The Stranger, Vice, and The Village Voice. He lives in Pomona, CA with his wife. The Loom Of Ruin is his first published novel.
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More About the Author
Sam McPheeters was born in Lorain, Ohio in 1969. He is the former lead singer of Born Against, Men's Recovery Project, and Wrangler Brutes, and the founder of Vermiform Records. His columns, essays, profiles, and short stories have appeared in The American Prospect, Chicago Reader, OC Weekly, Punk Planet, The Stranger, Vice, and The Village Voice. He lives in Pomona, CA, with his wife.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Mr. Pukis
Format:Perfect Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I just finished this book and now I am sitting down to write my first online review of anything, ever. This is the level of feeling McPheeters's work, and this book in particular, inspires in me. Directly after reading it, my gut reaction is that The Loom of Ruin should be on the bestseller list. It has all the elements of a book blockbuster: page-turning suspense, action, emotional drama, absurd comedy and a story that flashes with all the bells and whistles of a Hollywood screenplay (plot twists, surprise connections, explosive ending!). All while (spoiler) outlining the total annihilation of Hollywood and the American way of life. This is an enjoyable trick; it is no secret that people thrill (myself included) at watching their destructive impulses play out writ large in the safety of an artistic work. Any number of contemporary blockbusters signal the public's willingness to participate in the mass fantasy of complete destruction. The fictional representation of this mass current of negative affect in the Loom of Ruin is certainly the main character, Trang Yang. Less a fully formed character than a force of nature, it is hard not to cheer Trang on as he looses his wrath upon greater Los Angeles like an avenging angel. Trang's motives (and the shadowy forces surrounding them) are slowly revealed through the book and by the end the feeling of catharsis is very real, despite the slim slivers of hope offered by the author for redemption. The Sabbath quote that serves as the book's parting remark slyly winks at you that this is all only for the old horrorshow fun of it all, that we can revel in the aesthetics of apocalypse without necessarily advocating for it.
This is also a punk trick-appealing to those dark instincts while dancing around the actual ethics of it all. When Sid Vicious or the Ramones wore nazi symbols on their leather jackets, no one was supposed to take it as a serious political symbol. Like this book, the best punk music appeals to your gut while upsetting your intellectual framework. I wondered to myself while reading, is that all this book is, a literary punk song set to provide cheap thrills at the expense of gobs of senseless fictional destruction? I, for one, would have been completely satisfied with such a romp. And yet, in the Loom of Ruin there is a real undercurrent of the absurdity of living in the US in 2012; the disparateness of lives hoodooed by globalism and technology that remain tangentially connected in the amorphous blob of 21st century life moving inexorably forward into God Knows What. The book is funny, laugh out loud funny, maybe one of the funniest books I have ever read and it is the humor of a world gone mad with the speed of its own dizzy spin. McPheeters is really taking a page from Delillo here-the spare, almost robotic prose underlines the madcap-ness of it all. After having grown up with McPheeters's musical output and following his various writing projects through the years, this novel is the logical extension of the author's work. In a world of a billion things happening all at once every second, could something rational possibly hold the strings? Will all the twitches and shorts in the imperfect human organism result in a massive species wide bellyflop? Has our current technological age served only to magnify the illusory nature of any notion of supposed human dignity?
Who knows. Anyway, to sum up: buy this book. It has Barack Obama, Russell Crowe and Henry Rollins in it. It will make you belly laugh at several points, guaranteed. I read it in less than a week, you probably will too, bleary eyed the next morning at work because you'll stay up wanting to know what happens next. A worthy shot into uncharted territory for Mr. McPheeters, ensuring his place in the Valhalla of Aging Punks Who Continue to Produce Interesting Work. Here's hoping this is his first of many (now that his Crying of Lot 49 is out, could his Gravity's Rainbow be far behind?).
This is also a punk trick-appealing to those dark instincts while dancing around the actual ethics of it all. When Sid Vicious or the Ramones wore nazi symbols on their leather jackets, no one was supposed to take it as a serious political symbol. Like this book, the best punk music appeals to your gut while upsetting your intellectual framework. I wondered to myself while reading, is that all this book is, a literary punk song set to provide cheap thrills at the expense of gobs of senseless fictional destruction? I, for one, would have been completely satisfied with such a romp. And yet, in the Loom of Ruin there is a real undercurrent of the absurdity of living in the US in 2012; the disparateness of lives hoodooed by globalism and technology that remain tangentially connected in the amorphous blob of 21st century life moving inexorably forward into God Knows What. The book is funny, laugh out loud funny, maybe one of the funniest books I have ever read and it is the humor of a world gone mad with the speed of its own dizzy spin. McPheeters is really taking a page from Delillo here-the spare, almost robotic prose underlines the madcap-ness of it all. After having grown up with McPheeters's musical output and following his various writing projects through the years, this novel is the logical extension of the author's work. In a world of a billion things happening all at once every second, could something rational possibly hold the strings? Will all the twitches and shorts in the imperfect human organism result in a massive species wide bellyflop? Has our current technological age served only to magnify the illusory nature of any notion of supposed human dignity?
Who knows. Anyway, to sum up: buy this book. It has Barack Obama, Russell Crowe and Henry Rollins in it. It will make you belly laugh at several points, guaranteed. I read it in less than a week, you probably will too, bleary eyed the next morning at work because you'll stay up wanting to know what happens next. A worthy shot into uncharted territory for Mr. McPheeters, ensuring his place in the Valhalla of Aging Punks Who Continue to Produce Interesting Work. Here's hoping this is his first of many (now that his Crying of Lot 49 is out, could his Gravity's Rainbow be far behind?).
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Pete Forde
Format:Perfect Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
After enjoying Sam's writing for Vice over the past several years, when I heard he was working on a full-length novel I immediately knew that 2012 was going to be a bright moment in my life. I found the Mugger website and ordered my first copy immediately. Even the back cover makes me laugh.
Upon arrival, I realized that I was laughing out loud several times in a few pages. It is written with the timing and delivery of a great stand-up comedian, and yet it is one of the darkest and most cynical satires I've ever seen.
Within several hours I had gifted my first copy to a friend that I knew would love it, for her birthday. This was a massive sacrifice on my part, but I immediately ordered a second copy. Please note that Amazon doesn't (yet?) sell this book in Canada, so as a Canadian I'm paying a premium to have Amazon US ship these books to me.
Anyhow, it turns out that the entire book was crafted to make me laugh. Actually, forget laughing -- I can't remember the last time one book reduced me to tears on public transit. Once, I actually found myself hyper-ventilating. People definitely thought I was mentally ill or having a health emergency.
The only bad news for me was that it ended. I have a new favourite author. Thank you, Sam McPheeters. You are a hero in my world.
Upon arrival, I realized that I was laughing out loud several times in a few pages. It is written with the timing and delivery of a great stand-up comedian, and yet it is one of the darkest and most cynical satires I've ever seen.
Within several hours I had gifted my first copy to a friend that I knew would love it, for her birthday. This was a massive sacrifice on my part, but I immediately ordered a second copy. Please note that Amazon doesn't (yet?) sell this book in Canada, so as a Canadian I'm paying a premium to have Amazon US ship these books to me.
Anyhow, it turns out that the entire book was crafted to make me laugh. Actually, forget laughing -- I can't remember the last time one book reduced me to tears on public transit. Once, I actually found myself hyper-ventilating. People definitely thought I was mentally ill or having a health emergency.
The only bad news for me was that it ended. I have a new favourite author. Thank you, Sam McPheeters. You are a hero in my world.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By Mr P
Format:Perfect Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ive been a fan of his work forever, nice to see something longform. His writing is even better at this length: the character development and layering were fantastic. Can't wait to see what his followup is. Enthusiasts would do well to be on the lookout for Exploded View Quarterly, Sam's upcoming literary mag with Jesse Pearson.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivid characters in a well twined post-modern nihilistic fantasy
McPheeter's characters make sense of the bizarre 3d strip-mall of LA by revealing layer after layer of subterfuge and deceit in a complex but well-stitched collage of interrelated... Read more
Published 1 month ago by m.schubert
5.0 out of 5 stars
I just. wanted to say. YES.
I sat down with this book, not remembering who recommended it, or what it was about. And then it was over. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Stabeezy
4.0 out of 5 stars
fun ride
this book was funny and satirical / packed full of people, everyone has an agenda, I wish McPheeters would have given a few more pages 2 some of my favorite characters (like the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by alisa christensen
5.0 out of 5 stars
So Cal Slam Book
Exquisitely original book that rips apart everything you know about L.A. in a short chapters voyage of hilarity and intrigue. Read more
Published 4 months ago by David W. Moberly
1.0 out of 5 stars
I misunderstood.
This book was not about the southwestern Trang province of Thailand. With that aside, it was quite a read indeed.
Published 7 months ago by Patrick
5.0 out of 5 stars
Quietly hilarious
Last week while wasting time on TVTropes I learned for the first time in my life that the late beloved character actor Vincent Schiavelli owed his distinctive facial features to... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Frank Clover
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great first novel
When rock folks write books it typically reminds me of actors who announce their new record release. I immediately tend to scoff and think this is a bad idea. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mej
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Ultimate Anti-Hero
First off, spoiler alert, there are no zombies, werewolves or kids with magic wands, which makes me wonder how the heck it ever got published.
Moving forward. Read more
Moving forward. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Michael
4.0 out of 5 stars
Impressive first showing...
Having gone to high school with Sam, and immediately losing touch with him thereafter (we were destined for different things - he a punk rocker student artist, me a massive college... Read more
Published 11 months ago by A. King
4.0 out of 5 stars
Finally a book you can judge by its cover...
As a fan of Sam's writing, I was going to own The Loom of Ruin no matter what. However, as a reader, I'm pretty critical. Read more
Published 13 months ago by John J Daly
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