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A review by richardrbecker
Naked Gulls by Marco Cavazos
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
5.0
Delightly surprising. Marco Cavazos proves to be as addictive with prose as he is with poetry in a Hotel California-esque story about a writer who can't remember checking into a hotel and isn't allowed to check out.
That's not to say the devil (despite the unseen host being named Mr. Delivan) is truly behind the protagonist's entrapment (or maybe he is). On the contrary, the surreal story is set in a hotel supposedly designed by Andy Warhol with equal parts enticement and annoyance. (The main character's hotel room lacks a bathroom, and staff will serve him whiskey but not water.)
Most of the story is consumed with the hero trying to explore the hotel and understand all of its oddities and colorful cast of other guests. Cavazos gives up just enough to let his readers fill in the blanks, seeing it for what it is — a place in between two realities with an absurd blending of rules. I found it an enjoyable farse of artistry — certainly fresh, original, and intellectually funny.
Some readers might quibble with the front and end. It takes an extra minute to become consumed by the story as Cavazos begins with an editorial riff about the book's title. I'm not sure that particular darling was even needed to hook us in before the hotel's unique characteristics are laid bare (an orgy floor, smoker's garden, ocean-water rooftop pool, and build-it-yourself ice cream bar with coconut shell bowls).
The end comes crashing down like a punchline filled with bricks — as if the author grew weary of letting his readers figure it out and said: Okay, fine. Here you go. Sort of. The wrap-up spells it all out, except for any additional metaphorical or allegorical musings that a reader wants to lend it.
And yet, overall, Naked Gulls deserves its five stars for being different. This tiny novel is ideal for anybody who wants to read something fresh and enjoys people like Warhol, Kafka, and other artists who won't conform to the so-called rules of reality.
That's not to say the devil (despite the unseen host being named Mr. Delivan) is truly behind the protagonist's entrapment (or maybe he is). On the contrary, the surreal story is set in a hotel supposedly designed by Andy Warhol with equal parts enticement and annoyance. (The main character's hotel room lacks a bathroom, and staff will serve him whiskey but not water.)
Most of the story is consumed with the hero trying to explore the hotel and understand all of its oddities and colorful cast of other guests. Cavazos gives up just enough to let his readers fill in the blanks, seeing it for what it is — a place in between two realities with an absurd blending of rules. I found it an enjoyable farse of artistry — certainly fresh, original, and intellectually funny.
Some readers might quibble with the front and end. It takes an extra minute to become consumed by the story as Cavazos begins with an editorial riff about the book's title. I'm not sure that particular darling was even needed to hook us in before the hotel's unique characteristics are laid bare (an orgy floor, smoker's garden, ocean-water rooftop pool, and build-it-yourself ice cream bar with coconut shell bowls).
The end comes crashing down like a punchline filled with bricks — as if the author grew weary of letting his readers figure it out and said: Okay, fine. Here you go. Sort of. The wrap-up spells it all out, except for any additional metaphorical or allegorical musings that a reader wants to lend it.
And yet, overall, Naked Gulls deserves its five stars for being different. This tiny novel is ideal for anybody who wants to read something fresh and enjoys people like Warhol, Kafka, and other artists who won't conform to the so-called rules of reality.