Saturday, July 19, 2008

Pg. 69: Victor Gischler's "Go-Go-Girls of the Apocalypse"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Victor Gischler's Go-Go-Girls of the Apocalypse.

About the book, from the publisher:
Mortimer Tate was a recently divorced insurance salesman when he holed up in a cave on top of a mountain in Tennessee and rode out the end of the world. Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse begins nine years later, when he emerges into a bizarre landscape filled with hollow reminders of an America that no longer exists. The highways are lined with abandoned automobiles; electricity is generated by indentured servants pedaling stationary bicycles. What little civilization remains revolves around Joey Armageddon's Sassy A-Go-Go strip clubs, where the beer is cold, the lap dancers are hot, and the bouncers are armed with M16s.

Accompanied by his cowboy sidekick Buffalo Bill, the gorgeous stripper Sheila, and the mountain man Ted, Mortimer journeys to the lost city of Atlanta -- and a showdown that might determine the fate of humanity.
Among the early praise for the novel:
"Nine years after Mortimer Tate retreated from the end of the world (he thought) to the Tennessee mountains, three men appear before his cabin. He emerges, desperate for conversation. Unfortunately, they mistake his intentions, and he is forced to shoot them. Despite this inauspicious incident, Mortimer is optimistic enough to venture down the mountain. What passes for civilization surprises him: a chain of strip joints called Joey Armageddon's Sassy-A-Go-Go has set itself as mankind's savior. But as with any fledgling world-saving operation, there is opposition—to wit, the terrorist-like Red Stripes, whom Mortimer is sent to defeat. His subsequent breakneck journey is full of cannibals, slave runners, bad booze, and other dangers, none more perilous than hope. Although this dark comedy makes one laugh, it isn't a romp in a postapocalyptic playground. It's violent and sleazy, laced with moments of quiet gravity, an intelligent satire of how American society works even after it has broken down (the label forpostapocalypse Jack Daniel's in chapter 23 is pure comic gold). Compulsively readable."
--Booklist (Krista Hutley)

"Guns, girls and alcohol occupy almost every inch of this raucous thrill ride, providing nonstop opportunities for both action and comedy…the humor of this armageddon western is woven deeply enough to keep Mortimer's adventures feeling like a party."
--Publishers Weekly

"[GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE is] bound to be the best title of 2008.. .Gischler's going to be a writer you can't pin down. I think his readers will follow him (it would be a mistake not to), and everybody should be eager to see what he's going to do next."
--Bill Crider

"If Pynchon ever decided to write an insane action novel, this would be it. All out sustained brilliance, nobody is writng the unique lunacy that Victor Gischler is."
--Ken Bruen, author of The Guards and American Skin

"First, who wouldn't want to read a novel titled GO-GO GIRLS OF THE APOCALYPSE? Second, who could have guessed the book was even better than the title? Part Christopher Moore, part Quentin Tarantino, Victor Gishler is raving, bad-assed genius."
--James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of Map of Bones and Black Order

"If it's all going to go to hell, you might as well have some Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse to go with it. Weird just doesn't say it for this one. Gischler gives weird a kick in the butt, sends it right over the edge of the abyss. Wild fun."
--Joe R. Lansdale
Read an excerpt from Go-Go-Girls of the Apocalypse, and learn more about the book and author at Victor Gischler's Blogpocalypse.

Victor Gischler is a former English professor and the author of Gun Monkeys, The Pistol Poets, Suicide Squeeze, and Shotgun Opera.

The Page 69 Test: Shotgun Opera.

My Book, The Movie: Shotgun Opera.

The Page 69 Test: Go-Go-Girls of the Apocalypse.

--Marshal Zeringue