And the reviews just keep on coming...

I've been relieved that people have been receptive to "Naked Metamorphosis". There was a distinct part of me that feared someone would accuse me of literary snobbery (and I kinda guess there's still time for that to happen). I'm truly blessed that there has been favorable and positive feedback to the book.

Kevin Shamel, author of Rotten Little Animals, a book that I reviewed here a month back, reviewed Naked Metamorphosis yesterday. And his review nearly made me cry with joy. Y'see there are some hidden jokes within the text. You don't have to get them to not enjoy it, but if you do get them, well, you win the "Where's Waldo Prize Pack". You can visit Kevin at his website: www.shamelesscreations.com. He's a wonderful author and definitely going places.

Here's his review:
It’s Hamlet. Sort of.
It’s brilliant, really.
Eric Mays has rewritten Hamlet into a bizarro world of not quite right and completely perfect. The book starts almost like Hamlet begins. It ends almost like Hamlet ends. Between beginning and end is a gorgeous, hilarious, bizarro ride through a deranged play within a play within a play. The Bard would roll over in his grave only for the chance of bumping into Kafka; both have been resurrected and mixed up with a dash of literary magic.
I admit that it took me a while to read this book. It’s not necessarily a quick read. You have to pay attention to get all the in-jokes, wordplay, and ideas packed inside. It’s really a lot like Hamlet. But it’s not a difficult read. Mays’ style is flowing. His writing is tight and right. I couldn’t put it down once I hit the middle of it.Fans of Shakespeare, Kafka, Alfred Lunt (you have to know what you’re looking for), a surprise famous author, and Bizarro will love this book. Order now!!.
It’s funny, insightful, interesting, crazy, fun, and the ending is PERFECT.
Bravo to Eric Mays. I can’t wait to see what he does next. Whatever it is, I’ll be he shines

Also, Withersin Magazine posted their full review today. Actually, at Kevin's suggestion I became a fan of Withersin Magazine, and definitely think you should too. It's good, solid stuff. And it seems to be run by one of the coolest groups around.
Here's what they said:
Eraserhead, run by popular Bizarro author Carlton Mellick III and his wife Rose O’ Keefe, has made a very bold choice with Eric Mays’ Naked Metamorphosis , the kind of choice that comes as a surprise and a relief. For one of the biggest arbiters of Bizarro taste to take this risk is quite admirable, as this book will not conform to people’s definition of Bizarro. It is one of those instances of quiet Bizarro, taking more of its influences from classic literature and pure, Kafkaesque absurdism rather than from cult cinema, comics or genre fiction. In this respect, Naked Metamorphosis is very distinctive.

Naked Metamorphosis tells the story of Hamlet from Horatio’s perspective. Horatio is an ideal existential and Bizarro hero, a person whose purpose on Earth is to gain answers and order from a chaotic world. Bizarro heroes have the choice of raging against the madness around them or becoming part of it, embracing the chaos and inviting it into their lives. Horatio fights hard for his sanity, which is taxed by the weird behavior of the rest of the play’s cast (especially constant irritant Hamlet) and encounters with Puck, a being generally accepted as an embodiment of the world’s chaos. On account of this chaos, Horatio needs a Horatio of his own, courtier Osric. An often hilarious tale of one man’s quest for sense in a world that refuses to provide any. Stoppardian, whimsical and subtle in its transgressions, this is a book for Shakespeare buffs and Bizarro readers looking for a lighter more literary brand of Bizarro. If you’re a Bizarro fan and somebody says Bizarro is brainless, filthy and lame, give them a copy of this.

Thanks kids...until we meet again.