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Clive Barker

Mister B. Gone Paperback – October 21, 2008

by Clive Barker (Author)

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“Think of a darker, more aggressive version of C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. . . . Filled with wicked mischief and dark dares.” — Kansas City Star

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.

Print length

248 pages
Language

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Publisher

Harper Perennial
Publication date

October 21, 2008
Dimensions

7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
ISBN-10

0061562491
ISBN-13

978-0061562495
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“Mr. Barker is much more than a genre writer, and his extravagantly unconventional inventions are ingenious refractions of our common quest to experience and understand the mysterious world around us and the mysteries within ourselves.” — New York Times Book Review

“Think of a darker, more aggressive version of C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. . . . Filled with wicked mischief and dark dares.” — Kansas City Star

“A swift, spare novel that reminds us, once again, of the discipline and focus Barker can bring to shorter forms. . . . A subtle, surprising book. . . . Barker, who rarely does anything predictable, confounds expectations once again, giving us one of the most resonant, provocative novels of his career.” — Washington Post

“It’s about time for something nastier from the man Stephen King once called ‘the future of horror literature.’ . . . Filled with tongue-in-cheek depravity. . . . If you know what you’re getting into, Mister B. Gone is great fun.” — Rocky Mountain News

“A clever book. . . . Succeeds admirably. Because Barker remembers that everyone loves a measure of fright in their stories.” — Globe and Mail (Toronto)

From the Back Cover

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.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (October 21, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 248 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061562491
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061562495
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #318,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,379 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- #3,564 in Historical Mystery
- #11,962 in Horror Literature & Fiction

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Clive Barker

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Clive Barker was born in Liverpool in 1952. His earlier books include The Books of Blood, Cabal, and The Hellbound Heart. In addition to his work as a novelist and playwright, he also illustrates, writes, directs and produces for stage and screen. His films include Hellraiser, Hellbound, Nightbreed and Candyman. Clive lives in Beverly Hills, California

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Thomas Wikman

Out of Hell and into Amazon

Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2008

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(Hardcover version)

When you read this review can you hear my voice in your head? How does it sound like? Is it someone you know? Well that is what I thought. You know you shouldn't read this review, but there you go doing it anyway, don't tell me I didn't warn you.

This unique book is both a story about a demon and a conversation with that demon all at once. My first paragraph is my feeble attempt at imitating what goes on in the book. In the book there are several requests to stop reading the book and burn it instead, and some of these requests are threats of torture and threats of eternal damnation if you don't burn the book. This gets a little tired after a while, but I found the concept of a demon both telling his gruesome life story and talking to you and threatening you all at the same time quite innovative and creepy.

The name of the demon is Jakabok Botch. He escaped the ninth circle of Hell in the 14th century. He has been with us ever since and if you buy this book he will be living with you too. He is ugly, severely burned, has two tails, he is hateful, and he likes to take warm baths in the fresh blood of infants.

I admit I did not think the book was very scary, but for me it was still a page turner. I found the book to be interesting and creative. I found the comparisons between the heartless barbarism of people in less enlightened times (as well as today) and that of demons in Hell enlightening. Earth looks a lot like just another circle of Hell in which we are our own demons. However, in this circle of Hell, there is a choice, a choice that the eternally damned demons do not have. Demons and Humans are so similar and yet so different.

An episode in the book that I found to be quite intriguing was the war and then the negotiation between the angels of heaven and the demons of hell over the written word at the time and place of Gutenberg's invention. This event determined our future and this book had a very peculiar place in this history.

With regards to Clive Barker I am a first time reader and contrary to what Publishers Weekly told me I still liked it. I should say that I have seen the Hellraiser movies and I've bought a pinhead mask for Halloween so I am not totally unfamiliar with Clive Barker, but I have never read a book of his before. If this book was among Clive Barker's worst then I cannot wait to check out the other books (I'll go for Hellbound Heart next). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read something different and odd, but not as a good horror book.

31 people found this helpful

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John Smith

Nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be

Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2009

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After finishing Clive Barker's Mister B. Gone, I have to say that it was rather amusing, and nowhere near as bad as people made it out to be. I can't remember any typos at all in the book.

The passages where the narrator begs, bribes, or threatens the reader to burn the book were not as frequent or annoying as other people made them out to be. They did become a more frequent occurrence toward the end of the book; however, even then I did not feel they were overdone, though some people would clearly disagree. In any case, they did not interrupt the flow of the narrative for the most part, and while they did leave a few cliffhangers here and there, they were not just placed randomly in the worst possible place. The only time when this bothered me at all was when the book tried to describe what "I" was feeling or thinking while reading it; since it was completely off base with my reactions, it just didn't work for me at all.

The ending scene, which describes how the character got trapped in the book in the first place also didn't work for me because it didn't mesh well with what happened before that scene and in general it seemed rushed and poorly thought out. Those who read the book might understand what I mean.

Otherwise the book is an enjoyable read. As said before, I didn't find anything in it to be the least bit scary or amusing, but with the way the book was written, I don't think that was the intended reaction, since the book rarely seems to take itself seriously. What the book is, is an amusing and intriguing look at what it might be like to be a demon from hell and it documents the misadventures of that demon nicely. The writing is fluid and I found it easy to get into while still leaving plenty for the reader to ponder long after they put the book down.

If you are new to Clive Barker, I would probably suggest not reading this book first, but instead start off with something along the lines of The Damnation Game, Hellbound Heart, or the Books of Blood. However, if you are a fan of Barker's work, then I would definitely recommend going into this with an open mind; this isn't his best work by any means, but I still enjoyed it nevertheless and hope others do as well.

7 people found this helpful

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Philzee

Mister B Gone - Mister F Off more like!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 27, 2007

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Phew! At long last: Barker gives back to his adult audience! You know: the people who bought all of his books to begin with - that would be you and me, right? (not that I dislike Abarat, but come on - 5 books!!!!!) So I bet, like me, you sat down in your comfy chair with this book in your hands (probably wishing the blumin thing was 4 times as big and across the front declared itself as: "The Third Book of the Art") and relished the fact that you were about to plunge into the obscure yet sublime; gritty yet poetic world of Clive Barker.
I'm not sure when the fever of expectation and delirium of excitement died from my face, but I'm guessing it was around page 10...not that I disliked the book, I was just disappointment. Clive is a profligate author, which is why I cannot countenance a book by him that's so obviously an unfinished piece of work. He buys himself out of explaining multiple facets of this story by using such cheap tricks as having Jakabok, the narrator, explain that he is not a story teller so therefore don't expect everything to be explained!!!! That would be fine if there was enough meat elsewhere to sink your teeth into, but this "runt of a book" (as Jakabok himself calls it) is too thin for its own anorexic good. The short stories and novelettes Clive's given us in the past (Books of Blood) have been excellent and upon finishing them seem complete. This however, just left me feeling that Clive could have expanded upon the story, enhancing what is a great idea, and annoyed as to why he didn't. I mean come on, if he can pad Coldheart Canyon out from a short story to the beefy tome it developed into, why not Mister B. Gone?
This book does have good points - of course - it's Clive - how could it not! But a Demon getting out of a rubbish strewn circle of hell by being baited by steak and beer?? Come on, that's just - well, weird - but not in a good way. Demon then gets flogged and gets helped by another demon called Quitoon (Kissoon, anyone?). But where does Quitoon come from? What's his story - Jakabok travels centuries with this demon; even falls in love with him (yes, the demon is gay) so why do we get absolutely no insight into Quitoon? Oh yea, Jakabok isn't a story teller - great! It's a big hurdle for me because, to be honest, I was a lot more interested in Quitoon than I was Jakabok.
So the good bits: narrator interaction is good and raised a few shivers down my spine - having a demon say that he's following my eyes as they scan the words, and for every page I turn he was taking a step closer to me, were interesting and, in the case of the latter, almost made me look behind me...I know!!!
When Quitoon and Jakabok travel to Mainz theres a moment when they're on a road between corn fields and for some reason this scene sticks with me -very atmospheric. And when Jakabok gets to Mainz the war betwixt heaven and hell is expressed in a suitably horrific, yet poetic way.
I think it's fair to say that the further I got into this book the more I enjoyed it - so it's comforting to think Clive can still work his magic, however, when I'd finished reading I was left feeling: so what was the point? First time with a Barker book and I'm hoping it was the last...worth a look if you approach with low expectations.

15 people found this helpful

Haunted Nostril

My Honest Opinion of a Strange Little Book...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2009

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Let's face it Mr. Barker has never been one to follow typical story arcs and this is definitely one of his more way out efforts. Maybe it's a natural progression after Abarat, being one of the most brilliant and bonkers ideas penned by the master of the metaphysical since Cabal and Weaveworld, but at times I felt that the bizarre adventures of Jakabok Botch, our demonic narrator, where more than a little too far flung in terms of ideas from one minuet to the next to work 100% of the time. This isn't the longest book, I read it in one relatively short sitting, and it was never ever going to be able to explain itself fully, but some the ideas within just come across as half-cocked curiosities written just for the sake of being strange.

Having said all this though I was hooked from the get go and the reason I didn't put it down was mostly due to the bizarrely endearing character of Mr. B himself, who Throughout the book begs you to burn it as a warning of the ensuing corruption on your soul as he is embedded in the very pages themselves. I found this direct interaction with the reader to be hugely refreshing and I think it ultimately made you feel more fondly for what is essentially a murderous agent of hell, or the Demonation as he calls it, than you normally would have just hearing of his wicked deeds third hand. As the yarn unfurls it's blackened leathery wings you are treated to what equates to the literary equivalent of a Hieronymus Bosch painting, and it has to be said, apart from the afore mentioned dips in clarity, I enjoyed the twisted journey immensely.

I think when any artist in any arena takes a short hiatus then returns to their chosen medium they will inevitably take some flack, but with so many more exciting and long awaited projects winding their dark and slithering way from the mind of Mr. Barker, The Scarlet Gospels and Abarat 3 to name just a few, I think a quirky little tale like this is the perfect defense against the naysayers who expect a short break to garner unbelievable results or artist be damned.

All in all I recommend this book as a nice trip into the peculiar and a little taste of what I'm sure will be the brilliance to come from one of today's strongest literary imaginations.

One person found this helpful

Max Watt

5 stars for originality, but there are flaws

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2010

Verified Purchase

A posessed book talking directly to a reader is such an interesting idea that I read this novel based only on knowing that. I really enjoyed the concept, it's doubtless a really innovative idea, and the reader being involved in the book is fun too.

Unfortunately, there is not much to back it up. The story of how the demon protagonist escapes from Hell (the World Below, as he names it) is intriguing, and then his first few days on Earth promise a gripping read. Then he meets Quitoon. The latter character is cardboard, making it impossible for the reader to generate any feeling towards him (same, in fact, is pertinent to the other characters). The two of them voyage together, murdering, raping, and commiting other disturbing acts which are briefly mentioned.

They argue and are separated but then the protagonist decides he needs to search for his lost love (who is on his way to discover a Machine which will change the World. Everything else is monotonous and futile, and that's counting the messages about good and evil.

Most of the characters have no involvement at all. Cawley and his group are promising, but then they're instantly gone and we have nothing more to do with them. Quitoon promises the same, but once again, he's cardboard.

Alongside this the book threatens the reader, and attempts to persuade them to BURN THE DAMN BOOK!! and reads into their thoughts and feelings and describes how it's going to kill you, and if I weren't so analytical about things, I probably would have believed it. That part is fun too.

Entertaining, albeit a forgettable lazy Sunday.

2 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Originality is DEFINITELY not dead.

Reviewed in Canada on February 22, 2016

Verified Purchase

This book is the definition of a one-of-a-kind. It is also one that relies heavily on presentation. I own two copies of this book: paperback, and hardcover. I can say that this is one of those books that really needs to be read hard-cover. Were you to look at it with the dust-cover removed, you would see no bar-code on the back, no author biography in the rear-of the book, and a copyright page that seems almost deliberately hidden. The pages inside are thick, and have the brown tint of parchment. And there, on page one, the voice of the demon trapped within the pages gives you his ominous warning: "Burn this book!"

I will say no more about the plot, for it should be experienced. Some readers really loved this book, others found it gimmicky. I personally had some issues with Barker's characterization of the titular character, but I absolutely commend him for basically making a book that effectively breaks the fourth-wall, and constantly makes us wonder whether our soul actually is safe if we continue to read the book. Even readers who disliked it found themselves eyeing their fireplaces once or twice. Many books have tried to pull the reader in, but few as effectively as this one (with one of the notable exceptions being J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst's equally impressive "S").

It's a rare find now but if there's a hard-cover copy of this book near you, and you like unconventional horror, don't hesitate to pick it up. Even in spite of it flaws, it's worth looking at, just for the experience.

One person found this helpful

Floodland

A fun read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2016

Verified Purchase

I've read almost all of Clive Barker's works over the years and rapidly learned that you have to make sure you enjoy the ride because the destination is often a bit disappointing. With that in mind, and acknowledging other reviews complaining about the demon constantly telling you to "Burn this book!" every few pages, I rather enjoyed Mister B Gone. I wished it was longer, I really wanted to hear more anecdotes from the demon's life. I can understand that a bunch of largely unrelated events separated by centuries don't necessarily make a good story but the various scenes allowed Clive Barker's enviable imagination to shine and I was certainly entertained.

2 people found this helpful

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