I don’t want to talk too much about this excellent Jonathan Carroll novel because I want you to experience it (if ever you went ahead and read it – you should, you know) the way I experienced it. I didn’t read the blurb, and had no idea what the book was about, so essentially I threw myself into the first chapter empty of expectation. And lo, how I floundered. The novel has the most interesting chapter titles (“Tunica Molesta”, “Knee-Deep in Sunday Suits”) and the first chapter is called, “Simon’s House of Lipstick”. In it, Simon Haden gives a bus tour to a group of odd creatures (including a bag of caramels, who is bored) with a little man named Broximon, wondering how he can pay his bills. I read, interested, but the chapter was getting weirder and I didn’t know what was happening. Then I knew, and oh, what sweet bliss as I understood, and I kept on reading.
More than the characters and the incredible plot, I was amazed by Carroll’s pacing. How he leaves you with questions and gives you the answers, slowly, like a striptease. It made reading the story a wonderful experience. It was as if I were given a slice of the best chocolate cake and given all the time in the world to savor it.
You can read the first chapter here.
The Mighty Reading List!
Feast for Crows
The Kobayashi Maru of Love
Showbiz Lengua
PGS Horror issue
Floating Dragon
El Bimbo Variations
The Tesseract
Faithful Place
Moxyland
Zoo City
The Dispossessed
Our Story Begins
Glass Soup
Here on Earth
The Pull of the Moon
Little Bee
Story Quarterly Issue 44
The Bell Jar
Eliza Victoria 
GLASS SOUP is the 2nd part of what Carroll says will someday be a trilogy. The first, WHITE APPLES, is the beginning of the story of Isabelle and Vincent
Oh, I didn’t know there was a book before this one. Thanks! :)
I was able to buy White Apples. I just finished reading it, it was excellent! Pahiram ko sayo. :)
Yay! Sa next swap. :D