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When we enter the pagoda, ten addicts look up at us and glare. We're not stealing anything from them, yet they all look like we raped their dogs for half a line of coke. The looks might not be undeserved; I don't always remember what I do when I'm high.
If my thirties taught me something I ought to have known about myself already, it's that I don't like what everybody else likes. Whatever I might like always gets tainted by mainstream popularity, causing me to lose interest. I like to explore new and (somewhat) extreme things. I had no idea what to expect of Jessica McHugh's novel THE GREEN KANGAROOS, but I had a hunch it was as far as it could get from Jodi Picoult's comfort zone. It's not exactly the kaleidoscopic, experimental genderfuck I was afraid it could be either. It's a smart, cleverly structured and wickedly original speculative cult novel about the drug addicts of the next century. I'm sure you're reading that last sentence a second time, but don't worry. It's as awesome as it sounds.
Perry Sampson is an addict to the spiritual successor of heroin, an injection drug called Atlys (that is best consumed when shot into one's genitalia) and lives in an abandoned Baltimore high school with his comrades of misfortune. Most of them end up "potsticking" to feed their addiction, which is basically selling parts of their body to local Chinese restaurant Kum Den Smokehouse, so that richer people can eat the lower class of society under the form of sophisticated cuisine. Perry has another demon looming over his shoulder, though. The strained relationships to family and his ex-wife Serena keep him in a loop of self-loathing that threatens to undermine his high on any given day.
Jessica McHugh has this intense, overwhelming persona on social media. It's interesting to me, because most people who behave the way she does on Facebook don't have any game. They are people who love to talk about writing more than they are actually writing. I have to admit, I've picked up THE GREEN KANGAROOS to stress test that theory and I turned out to be completely wrong in this case. The prose of THE GREEN KANGAROOS doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel, but Jessica McHugh's storytelling pushes the envelope. She had that gift that few other master storytellers have (I'm thinking Lawrence Block and Joe. R. Lansdale from the top of my head) to twist and turn her narrative in unexpected directions and yet drive home a cohesive and well-wrapped story.
In THE GREEN KANGAROOS, Jessica McHugh builds two competing narratives within the same novel, which is not a groundbreaking technique per se, but the way she collapses them together is original, crazy and a lot of fun. I know I'm being deliberately cryptic here, but there are so many fun details I cannot spoil about THE GREEN KANGAROOS that I'll have to leave it to you to pick it up. I had, I believe, one major issue with the novel and it's that Perry's annoyingly unapologetic for an addict. Being addicted to something that destroys you and vaporizes your life shouldn't be as much fun, even if the life you used to live was an existential nightmare. There is a little self-loathing to Perry, especially about his family, but he has a little bit too much love for his addiction, at least I though.
Originality is Jessica McHugh's calling card. If you read as many books a year as I do, you know how invaluable it is. THE GREEN KANGAROOS is violently original, like a tornado of clashing ideas that create something new. Originality wouldn't be anything without sounds storytelling fundamentals though and Jessica McHugh goes above and beyond the call of duty in the storytelling department in THE GREEN KANGAROOS. I would go as far as calling her a rare talent. The lesson to be learn from this kids is: always read a writer first, before passing judgment on their social media presence. Especially when they have an impressive trail of publications like Jessica McHugh does. All that should matter is the work, kids and the work here passes with flying colours. THE GREEN KANGAROOS is a blast and while it's not for the weak-hearted, it's probably better than what you're reading right now.
Originality is Jessica McHugh's calling card. If you read as many books a year as I do, you know how invaluable it is. THE GREEN KANGAROOS is violently original, like a tornado of clashing ideas that create something new. Originality wouldn't be anything without sounds storytelling fundamentals though and Jessica McHugh goes above and beyond the call of duty in the storytelling department in THE GREEN KANGAROOS. I would go as far as calling her a rare talent. The lesson to be learn from this kids is: always read a writer first, before passing judgment on their social media presence. Especially when they have an impressive trail of publications like Jessica McHugh does. All that should matter is the work, kids and the work here passes with flying colours. THE GREEN KANGAROOS is a blast and while it's not for the weak-hearted, it's probably better than what you're reading right now.
