As a Machine and Parts: a novella

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Aqueous Books (the publisher)
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Buy Signed from the author (paperback)

$14.00 USD

Special ebook note: As a Machine and Parts contains illustration elements and unique text formats, so I don’t believe the publisher will be releasing it in any ebook format.

Listen to the full Booked Podcast in-depth discussion. Episode #60 – Caleb J. Ross Double Review

Kristin Fouquet, author of Twenty Stories and Rampart & Toulouse

“Reminiscent of Metamorphosis and Flowers for Algernon, Caleb J. Ross takes us inside the mind of a man who is transforming. This man, Mitchell, experiences a slide from human to machine. This transformation coincides with the deterioration of his relationship with a much older lover, Marsha…Although I place As a Machine and Parts on the shelf alongside Charactered Pieces and Stranger Will, I will continue thinking about this book for some time.”

Ben Tanzer, author of You Can Make Him Like You (Artistically Declined) and My Father’s House (Main Street Rag)

“There was once a Marvel comic book called “What if…” and in it Uatu the Watcher, a bald sage-like character with an enormous head spun speculative tales of alternative versions of the Marvel Universe you thought you knew. With As a Machine & Parts Caleb J. Ross continues to stake his claim as his generation’s Watcher, which should not be construed as a commentary on his beautiful, yet clearly fake head of hair, but instead as an observation about the scope of his imagination and his ongoing vision of what the world can be, might be and just may will be if Ross has anything to say about it.”

Nik Korpon, author of Stay God (Otherworld Publications) and Old Ghosts (Brown Paper Publishing)

“As a Machine and Parts is equal parts hilarious, absurd and touching. It’s the kind of book that after reading makes you say, ‘Damn, why didn’t I think of that first?’ only to realize you couldn’t have done it so well. Wildly inventive without collapsing under the weight of its own genius, As a Machine and Parts proves that Caleb J. Ross is one of the most exciting young authors writing today.

As a Machine and Parts is the kind of book I wish I’d written. It’s ingenious and disgusting and touching without being cheap, all while being wildly inventive in a very honest way. This book proves that Caleb J. Ross is one of the most exciting young authors writing today.”

Gordon Highland, author of Major Inversions and Flashover

On the surface, it may seem to tread similar ground as Max Barry’s “Machine Man,” but where Barry’s nerdish protag is striving to become superhuman, Ross’s is a victim of the phenomenon that destroys his relationships and leaves him clinging (clamping?) to what’s left of his devolving emotions…highly recommended.

Brandon Tietz, author of Out of Touch

Ross’ writing is (yet again) something to be admired, and his aptitude for experimenting with literary structure and form is showcased in a techno eye-candy sort of way.  Pick this one up if you’ve been looking for something a little less traditional that plays with the visual aesthetic.

Eddy Rathke via The Lit Pub, author of Ash Cinema

And even while our narrator loses his humanity, so too does the text lose its humanness. The page itself transforms, the structure moving from a standard storytelling model to schematics and diagrams, an instruction manual designed to show us what we’re reading. Something I’ve always loved about Caleb’s writing is how visual and gripping his images are, and, here, he’s married his language to concrete visuals, pushing his storytelling past what I thought it could be.

This novella about heartache and love and identity and humanity is also just completely fun. It never gets bogged down in its own peculiarity or tragedy, simply accepting the transformation as a matter of course, allowing for laughs even while the story reaches deep into your bowels.

Kind Words

Sean P. Ferguson (via his blog):

Even though the story is oddly similar to another major release within the last year, the two books could not be any more different. Ross’s As a Machine and Parts is darker, more literary, and technically sound when it comes to the format. As is usually the case with Max Barry’s writing, Machine Man is well written and entertaining, but it hardly sinks its teeth into the reader the way that As a Machine and Parts does. Ross is easily the powerhouse here. His characters stay with you. Even turning into a machine, Mitchell is more human, he’s a rounder character, more real. Ross’s writing doesn’t allow you to question the possibilities. You don’t have the time to wonder if this story were real. The sharp dialogue and poetic narrative either pulls you along for the ride or lays you to waste in a euphoria of grotesque domestic fiction.