A Rebellious Russian Bot

Fan Boy Suicide A Rebellious Russian Bot

In Fanboy Suicide, Nelson, a total loser, lives in Brooklyn, works at the last Waldenbooks on earth, hunts distractions on his iPhone, and watches a lot of NBA basketball games. He dreams of writing a novel but he's a good enough reader to know that his work is gggarbage. The janitor of the shopping mall, claiming to be David Foster Wallace, very much alive and living an anonymous life after faking suicide, approaches Nelson with a propostion; publish my next novel using your name and take the literary celebrity that come with it cause I don't want it! Should Nelson hold onto his old, authentic life, wallowing in Waldenbooks and relentlessly toiling away on his sucky stories? Or accept gift wrapped success? As he broods over this decision, a quixotic urban journey ensues in which layers upon layers of stories pile up as if scattered about the shelves of a messy apartment. Some are the stories Nelson lives. Others are the ones he creates. But mostly, they're just the repackaged tales he's consumed. Memories of watching the Knicks lose in the '94 finals. The homeless boy who lost his journal at Waldenbooks. The Hipster Swamp Hag avenging catcalling scumbags on its way up the bestseller list. A sentient flying Coke can begging to be drunk. Together they're the collective weight that keep this man tethered to the ground. However, when Foster Wallace brings change to his life, the old stories become loosed and tangled in a maddening web that just might endungeon Nelson forever. Will any of these stories ever get to the topic the tortured Pale Kings of American Literature have been avoiding since Mark Twain? Race? Almost certainly not. At least not with any real courage, conviction, or insight. Maybe they will figure out that their human lives are nothing more than complicated puzzles protecting alien cryptocurrency. Wait. What? Rich with the currency of popular culture, this story is one of those rare books of literary fiction; one that is also incredibly readable. There is hilarity (at the very least a chuckle) on every page. Laughs that will provide wind for the imagination sails of tweedy Professor Amy Hungerford-types and Bill Simmons-bros alike as we journey to a newly imagined America together.