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Foop! By Chris Genoa
01/06/2005 . Source: Phil Jones 
pub: Eraserhead Press. 293 page enlarged paperback. Price: $13.95 (US). ISBN: 0-9729598-9-0. Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out websites: www.eraserheadpress.com and www.chrisgenoa.com
Joe is a tour guide. Not just any sort of tour guide but one who takes people back in time to significant events and places. One such event was the shooting of Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, because of unforeseen circumstances, Joe was the one who was to, how shall we say - do the shooting. The usual candidate was otherwise, indisposed. This was not the usual duties that Joe had to fulfil on the tour, but hey, this was just a one off. Normally, it would be a case of reeling off the usual patter to the wealthy customers.
Joe's boss, Mr Burk, the creator and owner of Dactyl Inc. has a dilemma. To this end, Mr Burk promotes Joe from tour guide to Chief of Probes. His job to ascertain who has been travelling back in time and torturing the young Mr Burk and leaving photographic evidence. Strange things happen to Joe on the way home. He is tailed on the train by two strange characters, a midget and a very tall man who just stare at him.
This is Chris Genoa's first novel and well...er...it shows falling straight into the new and would authors first trap, writing in FIRST person (click as the trapdoor opens a pause and splash as he hits the water at the bottom of the pit). Now what do you ask is wrong with first person? Hey, it works fine for a vehicle for this little tale of his. Well, yes to some degree it does but, boy, does he slip down the slippery slope from time to time. It's like asking someone to be the Dali Lama after trying out Buddhist meditation for the first time. Leave it to the experts, those veteran authors who can handle it safely. It can become tedious and just seem, well, down right boring if you are not extremely careful. It leaves your writing wide open. It can at times just seem like a string of incoherent thoughts and that is what happens in many of the chapters of this book.
There are times where Chris Genoa just wanders off from the main plot. Now this doesn't necessarily bother me at all. The past and present master, to me anyway, is Robert Rankin. You can forget about plot, even characters or content but you need something there to play on. Idle thoughts are just that, lacking substance they must some type of charm to win the reader over. Sometimes Chris Genoa's sense of humour does revive these passages, but they can also slide into 'stand-up comic routine' losing that spark that makes the good parts of this book shine.
He resorts to toilet humour. Believe me, I have no objection to people using the lowest denominator. Hey, I like the TV series 'Bottom' for starters but it feels over used and out of place in much of his writing.
So is there anything about this book that I actually like. Yep! Oh you want me to elaborate do you? OK, the character of Mr Burk especially at the start of the book is truly hilarious. This does have the unfortunate side effect of diminishing the character of Joe though. You can't have everything, can you? There are some good ideas, both with plotting and characters. The genetically manufactured monkeys who drink urine or the idea of tourists travelling back in time to see events to name a few. The artwork by Chris Daily is spot on, just not enough of it in my eyes.
This isn't a totally wasted book. There are plenty of neat ideas. Maybe Chris Genoa just shouldn't be quite as indulgent in dilatory meandering and concentrated more on plot and characters. On the cover, the book is described as surreal. I wouldn't necessarily agree with this. The book does stray to some degree out of the norm and I ironically think it is brought back to the ground by Genoa's writing (we're back to first person). Comparing this book to other authors such as the likes of Steve Aylett, it surely isn't weird or surreal. Actually, if you want to see how to do 'weird' then Aylett's books are one of the best places to start. I think Chris Genoa could do with reading a few of his books along with Robert Rankin, Tom Holt and a few others along the way.
I think this is a bit of a missed opportunity. There are good ideas, humour and characters lurking in the recesses of this book. Perhaps one to pick up and read when you've got nothing better to do. Hopefully, Chris Genoa will do better next time.
Phil Jones
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