Planet Bob

As far as reading goes, I figure the over-under at three Jeschoneks. I mean it this way:

If you read one story from Robert Jeschonek you’ll probably say “What the hell was that?” Another Jeschonek will have you tied up in knots and saying, “Holy crap, this guy lives in a different world.” It’s the next one: the third Jeschonek in which you’ll either fall to your knees saying “This kind of insanity is just too much,” and be gone for good, or, if you’re reasonably intelligent, normal geekoid like most of us around here, you’ll instead pull up the Jeschonek collection and begin forking it in.

Welcome to Planet Bob, the water is freaky good.

Anyway, I’m thinking about this because I went to the car place to get my oil changed today, and in process I binged on Introverted Exhibitionist—a relatively new podcast in which he spends 20-40 minutes just talking about what his week has been like.

Best.Oil.Change.Ever.

Really.

If you’re a Jeschonek fan, you’ll want to listen. Or if you’re just a writer trying to get along, you’ll want to listen to. If you’re not yet a Jeschonek fan, I’d say you need to go read three of his stories and cast your fate to the wind.

I mean, here are the titles to each story Bob has put in the revamped Pulphouse magazine, just for an idea of how his mind works:

  • “A Little Song, A Little Dance, A Little Apocalypse Down Your Pants”
  • “In the Empire of Underpants” (which, I think, might be the single greatest short story ever written, though it almost killed me as I was reading it while on a treadmill)
  • “Identical”
  • “Time, Expressed as an Entrée”
  • “Bigger Than the Monkey”
  • “Offensive in Every Possible Way”
  • “The Thousandth Atlas”
  • “A Choose Your Own Fangle Adventure”

    Needless to say, Bob Jeschonek is one of my personal faves. He’s a guy whose stories move in ways impossible to predict, but who you can tell is in total control of what he’s doing. I love that.

    Seriously, go hence and get thee three of these issues, and, well … just well.

    After that you might find yourself more interested in the podcast. It’s more low-key, more a simple mainlining of Bob’s take on life and priorities and how you can be a creative guy while living a “regular” life that includes work and family as well as being part of a small-town community. These things are all great. Us writers are just people, you know? Living lives inside dreams and daily events. Sometimes, though, the smalltown life events of the day in the podcast make it hard to juxtapose him with the writing—until, that is, you get to the places where he’ll read excerpts, or when he gets to geeking out on things he’s enjoying…or gets to the streakers.

    Yes, there is nudity.

    Which maybe I’ll tell you about later…though if you need to know now, you can hear about it straight from the horse’s mouth by listening to the podcast.

    But first, take the three stories.

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  • Posted in Other Writers.

    One Comment

    1. Another vote for “Empire of Underpants” being absolutely freakin’ awesome. 😀 Planet Bob is definitely a great place to hang out.

      Angie

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