Book Review: ...And the Angel With Television Eyes by John Shirley

...And the Angel With Television Eyes by John Shirley

Hardcover, 240 pages

Published September 2005 by Night Shade (first published 2001)

I have not reviewed A John Shirley book in some time. With almost thirty books in print when you include the novels and various short story collections, I have written many words about his work. Almost all of those books have been reviewed here from the gonzo early masterpieces like Transmanicon to the recent Lovecraft Alive collection. For some reason, I had missed reading this book. It seems it is a lost book because it only has very few reviews. All of those reviews are positive it just seems odd to me that there are not more.

If you are not familiar with John Shirley he is my favorite living author who writes Science Fiction, Horror, proto-bizarro and pretty much is the first Cyberpunk. I mean William Gibson said that it is not just my opinion. He was the first Sci-fi writer to show up to reading wearing spiked dog collars. You can't read John Shirley without a sense of the dangerous feeling of his fiction, that said it is equally well written and at times beautiful and genius.

A prime example is "...and the Angel With Television Eyes." This is one of Shirley's weirdest novels and that is actually saying a lot. The novel was released in 2001 so it stands to reason it was written in the late '90s. It features a washed-up actor (I was thinking a Kevin Sorbo type) whose longtime fantasy show has ended and has turned to soap operas. After an experiment with a sensory deprivation tank, Max has his mind opened. Wide open actually. This is where it gets weird. Up until this point, we have a slightly comical but kinda sad look at Hollywood. This part of the novel is OK. There are some interesting parts particularly when Max deals with an apparently crazy stalker who cos-plays as one of his famous characters.

Once it gets weird is when you see why John Shirley is an underrated master. That is when the novel goes from good to great. Max discovers that there are beings that live in the subatomic particles who are struggling to free themselves called plasmagnomes. These creatures are cast off shed particles of our souls created by our fantasies. The Plasma world is in trouble because the increased technology in the form of electromagnetic energy is disrupting everything.

For Max the door between the plasma world and ours has been pushed open. There are incredible moments that take place in a bar that links the worlds built into closed tunnels of the NYC subway system. This part of the book when Max meets the various Plasmagonomes is beautifully weird. This contains some of Shirley's most tragic and beautiful descriptions of creatures so strange they are jaw-dropping. Like Clive Barker or Burroughs level weird with Shirley's razor-sharp edges that make this book somewhat unexplainable.

For example from page 177: "But all of the faces- Shifting across the front of her head in a kaleidoscoping ripple of three-dimensional projections-were spangled with glitter, were dopey with dream and drugs...And on her delicate little feet she wore pump action, puce Nike high top sneakers."

This book reminded me why Shirley is my favorite. A beautifully weird and unique novel that works on lots of levels not sure I understand all of. This is a pure weird masterpiece that has to be read to be believed.