Misha Burnette is one of those writers who first came to my attention in the pages of Cirsova Magazine, with his eldritch earth story. The strength of that story led me to his blog, and I've been a regular reader ever since. His post on the Five Pillars of Pulp (Action, Impact, Moral Peril, Mystery, and Romance, for those of you following along at home) has been the subject of much well deserved praise. He is definitely an author who deserves more support than he has gotten to date.His writing advice and analysis is outstanding, and his short work memorable, and so he has been on my "to read" list for quite some time. It's time to move one of his books over into the "have read" column. The fact that several men whose judgment I trust enjoyed his books gives me the confidence to select Catskinner's Book as the March Puppy of the Month selection.
A warning, this book is one of the darker books ever selected for reading. My understanding is that it is a moody and solemn story that harkens back more to the New Wave sf/f than to my typically preferred pulpy style. That's not a contradiction or compromise. The Pulp Revolution has no purity test. It has no interest in retconning previous styles out of existence, and can readily admit that every style of fiction has its classics that can be enjoyed by anyone.Let's see if Catskinner's Book is one of those together this March.
