Bizarro

From the Bizarro FAQ at the Mondo Bizarro message board:

So what is Bizarro anyway?

Bizarro is a genre of film and literature.

Is Bizarro a new thing?

Bizarro isn't really a new genre. Just a new term. For decades, people have been going into bookstores and video stores looking for the weird stuff. To them, "weird stuff" is a genre, just like horror or science fiction. But it has never been given an official name before. Until now.

What makes a book or film Bizarro?

Basically, if an audience enjoys a book or film primarily because of its weirdness, then it is Bizarro. Weirdness might not be the work's only appealing quality, but it is the major one.

Isn't this stuff just weird for the sake of weird?

The comment "weird for the sake of weird" is just empty rhetoric used to devalue work of this kind. Would you say punk bands are punk for the sake of punk? Or does Stephen King write horror for the sake of horror? Bizarro is a genre of the weird so it is weird. Sure, there might be some authors who puke blobs of nonsensical words onto paper and call it weird. But that's not Bizarro, that's just bad writing.

Are there any subgenres of Bizarro?

Bizarro encompasses a limitless number of styles and subgenres. From irreal westerns to romantic absurdism to surreal splatterpunk to post-apocalyptic avant-garde crime noir porn. There's a wide range of possibilities.

What are some popular examples of Bizarro?

Eraserhead, Alice in Wonderland, Naked Lunch, Visitor Q, Bartholomew and the Oobleck, Tromeo and Juliet, Ichi the Killer, Fando & Lis, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Dellamorte Dellamore, Uzumaki, Conspirators of Pleasure, Lost Highway, or anything described as Lynchian.

Why bother labeling this at all?

It's all about the audience. A lot of people love this type of work but have difficulty finding it. They don't even know what to call it. Well, by creating the Bizarro genre this just makes it easier for readers to find Bizarro books and films. It also makes marketing to the Bizarro audience a bit easier.

Where can I buy Bizarro books?

Due to the underground anti-mainstream nature of the books, you'll most likely have to buy them through ironically large online retailers such as amazon.com or special order them through your local bookstore. Some of the more popular Bizarro titles are available in select stores.

For more information:
http://www.angelfire.com/az2/eraserheadpress/zbizarro.html
http://p103.ezboard.com/bmondobizarro

How 'bout Carlton Mellick III? I've only read Razor Wire Pubic Hair but that had enough "weird" in it for a couple of books.

I've got a couple of Mellick books on my wishlist. Satan Burger being the one I can remember. The guy has a ton of books so I'm really interested in seeing what his style is like.

I don't like the term Bizarro very much. It makes me think of the Superman villain. If stuff (pick a medium) is different in it's format (a story with no characters, a large canvas with only a small red dot, a movie shot through a glass of water) I call that "experimental". If it's a fairly normal format (a story with characters, a canvas completely covered, a movie shot without filters) but the meaning is unclear or nonsensical I would probably call it "post modern" or "surreal". If it made sense and was in a fairly normal format but with very 'different' or 'extreme' ideas I'd probably call it "absurd" or "weird".

So I have convinced myself that you are correct, it would be nice to have a label that meant a medium contained some subset of "weird-absurd-surreal-experimental-post modern". I'm just not sure I can come up with a label that I like.

ragwaine: Mellick's style is actually pretty straightforward ... it's the content/plot that's so weird ... the main character in Razor Wire is some kind of living creature that's been bred to provide sexual gratification to its owners and has both male and female genitalia ... yet it's not really a book about sex.

Sounds like fun. I definitely want to read his books now.

The think you have to be careful of with authors like Mellick is the shock value. I have read Satan Burger and get the impression that he just puts anything in there that seems extreme. I actually thought the storyline was naff!

bizarro is where its at

www.mondobizarroforum.net for details

Carlton Mellick III (aka CM3) is the champion of bizarro right now; he's smart, challenging and entertaining (but definitely over the top ... which I, personally, like). There's a lot of absurdist humor in bizarro but be prepared for sexual frankness and gross out imagery. Personally, I enjoy its zeal for experiment and surprise...it's a lot of fun to read.

There's a good introduction to this literary movement in the form of The Bizarro Starter Kit -- which is an anthology of all the different strands and approaches to bizarro right now, featuring its key practitioners. Read D. Harlan Wilson's new book Dr. Identity or Pseudo City , if you're looking for a strong novel-length example. For poetry, check out The Troublesome Amputee by John Edward Lawson.

-- Mike Arnzen

nasherr - I haven't read Carlton yet, but this was my impression upon browsing, which may be unfair.

Intersting that most movies made purposely to be "so bad they're good" ( Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is supposed to qualify ) are....not so good. A refreshing exception to this was "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra Canyon", which was hilarious.

I agree that "Bizarro" is probably a combo of Surreal and Experimental. We could use some more of it.

Anybody near Chicago ? Perhaps we could inspire one another's writing, get together for beers etc.

Check out the new www.bizarrocentral.com site. It's pretty great.

I have Angel Dust Apocalypse from Jeremy Robert Johnson. A collection of strange short stories. Many are over the top but very memorable, above all, it's fun to read. The Bizarro Starter Kit is a good starting guide, a good intro to many of the authors.

Anyone read Andersen Prunty? One of his latest, The Beard, looks pretty interesting/weird/funny. I'd be curious about others' opinions.