“It started last Tuesday. I awoke from unsettling dreams, as they say, to find my left elbow replaced by a rotational hinge joint.”
Mitchell, a twenty-something cougar cub, wakes each morning next to his midlife girlfriend, living an ever-thinning line between human and machine. As his literal condition progresses he looses his capacity for human emotion, and potentially with it, Marsha. As a Machine and Parts is a story of Mitchell’s struggle to discover which assembly line he belongs to.
What makes As a Machine and Parts especially unique is the way it integrates illustrative elements to render the story beyond the conventional textual style. As Mitchell morphs from human to machine, the text changes with him, evolving (devolving?) from a handwritten style to a typed style and ultimately to a schematic diagram. Throughout, the pages reflects Mitchell’s change, immersing the reader in ways that traditional print storytelling cannot.
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.
“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.”
-Ben Tanzer, author of You Can Make Him Like You (Artistically Declined) and My Father’s House (Main Street Rag)
“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.”
-Nik Korpon, author of Stay God (Otherworld Publications) and Old Ghosts (Brown Paper Publishing)
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.
-Gordon Highland, author of Major Inversions
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.
-Brandon Tietz, author of Out of Touch
| Status: | Published 15 December 2011 |
| Genre: | Literature – illustrative, metafiction |
| Words: | 17,000 |
| Pages: | 100 |
| Format: | Paperback, perfect-bound |
| ISBN: | 978-0-9847399-2-9 |
| Publisher Press Kit: | http://www.aqueousbooks.com/press_kits/Ross_presskit.htm |
