Greetings! Welcome to the latest edition of The New Absurdist‘s ‘Siskel and Deadebert’ story reviews. As you may or may not know, Deadebert has been, well...dead for some time now. He can no longer give the thumbs up so we’ll have to do rotting appendages. I myself, Gene Siskel, am NOT dead, but I have infected my limbs with gangrene, so that I may also give a rotting appendage up or down. This week’s story is going to be 'The Firetruck' by Ray Fracalossy.
Siskel : I think that “The Firetruck” is a perfect example of absurdism. Deadebert : Please explain, my rotting friend. Siskel : Its format bears similarity to the masterpiece we all know: “Shriek“. Deadebert : Ah yes, now I see. Both stories strengths are their lack of attention span, so to speak. Siskel : Yes, this is a powerful way to write in an absurd fashion. Start with one topic, let it lead into another, then abandon the original idea and start to embellish the second. Deadebert : Until you grow tired of that and move on to the next. Siskel : Exactly. “The Firetruck” is a bit longer than “Shriek” so it has more instances of this tangential style of writing. Deadebert : “Shriek's” plan of attack goes something like this: shriek, door, bite-sized version of self, fridge, milk, coffee.
Siskel : 'The Firetruck': red, blue, hose, sound system, fire chief, magical powers, house, matchbook. Deadebert : And looking at these seemingly nonsensical lists above, you can really see the randomness of the stories, that which makes them great. Siskel : No arguments here. I give it one rotten appendage up. Deadebert : No arguments here. I give it one rotten appendage up. Also.
Siskel : Wow, that sure was original, Deadebert. You bloated fucking hog, why don't you learn to come up with something unique to say? I hate you! Deadebert : (mocking) I hate you! Siskel : Keep it up, I swear to god I'll... Deadebert : What, kill me? I'm already dead! Ha ha ha!!! Siskel : Damn.