Tuesday, April 12, 2011

What is Jesse Bullington reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Jesse Bullington, author of The Enterprise of Death.

His entry begins:
The three books that have made the biggest impression on me lately are all from smaller presses, but one thing they all have in common is that they’re gorgeous editions. Stephen Graham Jones’s The Ones That Got Away, from Prime, is a stellar collection of short stories—some of the most literary, intelligent horror I’ve come across, and the pieces veer from the mundane to the allegorical to the wildly fantastical, so there’s something for everyone. Where else will you find a story that puts a knot in your throat at the power of a parent’s love for his child sharing space with a piece that pits a werewolf against...[read on]
Among the early praise for The Enterprise of Death:
"Bullington rolls out a vibrant, richly realized cast of original characters, including soldiers, eunuchs, and prostitutes. .... Bullington puts the theology and politics of the early Renaissance into perspective and probes them mercilessly. It’s never from an academic point of view, though Bullington clearly knows his history; rather, his penchant for dark fantasy comes alive (so to speak) in the fresh deployment of zombie-like undead, sentient hyenas, and even a clever re-imagining of the vampire mythos. Beautifully balancing putridity, profanity, and poignancy, Bullington renders The Enterprise Of Death resonant and achingly human—even as it brims with the unhuman."
--Jason Heller, the Onion AV Club

"This is the kind of book that beats you over the head, robs you of your expectations, and then forces you to watch as it tears those expectations to shreds, stomps upon them, and gleefully urinates upon the mess . . . all while you nod delightedly and ask to do it all again.... Quite possibly the strangest book I’ve read in a very long time, it’s also one I find myself thinking about reading once again (something I rarely do).
--Sally Sapphire, Bibrary Bookslut

"Jesse Bullington is one of those authors that’s like Forest Gump’s Box of Chocs. You’re never quite sure what you’re going to get but the odds are it’ll be something gooey, delicious and with the authors sense of humour probably with a wicked twist of something like Chilli. Presenting you with something that’s so good but just so mind-blowing at the same time. What unfurls in this his latest title is a story that the reader will love, he knows how to twist your point of view and he also knows how to do it so well that it’s a revelation each time he changes direction. Add to this a great understanding of pace, a masterful building of characters and a whole host of the weird and wonderful makes you wonder if he’s not Terry Gilliam’s Love Child."
--Falcata Times
Read an excerpt from The Enterprise of Death, and learn more about the book and author at Jesse Bullington's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart.

The Page 69 Test: The Enterprise of Death.

Writers Read: Jesse Bullington.

--Marshal Zeringue