BOC: John Shirley

[John A Swartz]

>Is Shirley a good writer? I think his Bad Channels lyrics are silly but
maybe his other efforts are better. His novels?


I read his "New Noir" collection - very weird.  All short stories from
what I gather to be a rather twisted mind.  I wasn't overly enthralled
with the stories, but I had to admit that they were rather different.
IMHO, they weren't very deep, and were over before a real plot got much
of a chance to develop.  The only two stories I vaguely remember had to
do with 1) a junkie who while wasted turns into (or dreams he is turned
into) a mosquito and goes looking for the blood of a women he lusts after,
and 2) a guy who manages to choke a hooker to death while she's giving
him a blowjob, and her jaw locks down on his genitals and he can't remove
her.  Like I said, weird . . .

John