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The Exploding Memoir
A mystery-fantasy thriller by the author of Name of the Stranger and Murder in the Medina.
Eddie Knox skips Pennsylvania before the local authorities can send him to reform school. After he settles in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the mysterious Dr. Kublar takes him under his wing. What seems a benign gesture, gifting him with a job running "errands," plunges him into a quest for an ancient stone tablet with powerful occult secrets. Now Eddie is the unwitting courier, cautiously threading his way between the authorities and the local tongs, against the backdrop of San Francisco’s underground music scene.
“These are real maps of real places. That’s what marks the artist — he’s been there and has brought it back.” — William S. Burroughs on Ports of Hell
“A perfect harmony of street rhythm and noir shadow as Strike’s anti-hero careens through the end of the sixties with cynical style. Colliding somewhere between Camus and Jim Carroll, Strike’s memoir shows us the real back alleys of San Francisco during its zeitgeist.” — Tom Pitts, author of Hustle, American Static
“After settling in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Eddie Knox is taken under the wing of the mysterious Dr. Kublar, who sends him on a series of covert missions involving an ancient stone tablet that holds powerful occult secrets. The story moves along at a propulsive rock ’n roll clip, pulling us through a chain of bizarre plot twists that draw on elements of vintage crime and science fiction, shot through with sex, drugs and mystery, and splattered like blood from a syringe against the backdrop of San Francisco’s underground music scene in the early ’70s. Like a well-thumbed crime thriller, once you pick up The Exploding Memoir you won’t be able to put it down.” — Mike Stax, Ugly Things magazine
Eddie Knox skips Pennsylvania before the local authorities can send him to reform school. After he settles in San Francisco’s Chinatown, the mysterious Dr. Kublar takes him under his wing. What seems a benign gesture, gifting him with a job running "errands," plunges him into a quest for an ancient stone tablet with powerful occult secrets. Now Eddie is the unwitting courier, cautiously threading his way between the authorities and the local tongs, against the backdrop of San Francisco’s underground music scene.
“These are real maps of real places. That’s what marks the artist — he’s been there and has brought it back.” — William S. Burroughs on Ports of Hell
“A perfect harmony of street rhythm and noir shadow as Strike’s anti-hero careens through the end of the sixties with cynical style. Colliding somewhere between Camus and Jim Carroll, Strike’s memoir shows us the real back alleys of San Francisco during its zeitgeist.” — Tom Pitts, author of Hustle, American Static
“After settling in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Eddie Knox is taken under the wing of the mysterious Dr. Kublar, who sends him on a series of covert missions involving an ancient stone tablet that holds powerful occult secrets. The story moves along at a propulsive rock ’n roll clip, pulling us through a chain of bizarre plot twists that draw on elements of vintage crime and science fiction, shot through with sex, drugs and mystery, and splattered like blood from a syringe against the backdrop of San Francisco’s underground music scene in the early ’70s. Like a well-thumbed crime thriller, once you pick up The Exploding Memoir you won’t be able to put it down.” — Mike Stax, Ugly Things magazine
164 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 11, 2018
5 people want to read
About the author
Johnny Strike
6 books2 followersGary John Bassett known as Johnny Strike, was an American writer, mostly known as songwriter, guitarist and singer of the proto-punk band Crime based in San Francisco.[
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 14, 2021
A fun read from a punk rock pioneer, but ultimately a bit rote and pedestrian in execution. Television show metaphors and glam Rock references can’t save the shoddy story telling, leaping from one ‘cool’ film noir episode to another hippy counterculture scene, pasted together in an idealized world of a bygone era. Conspiracy theories and occultist aspirations try to weasel into the plot, but it all breezes by with the ease of a writer impatient to finish a book. Stick with reading Pynchon and Burroughs for depth. Mr. Strike’s talent is best suited for a turntable.
April 6, 2018
A perfect harmony of street rhythm and noir shadow as Strike's anti-hero careens through end of the sixties with cynical style.
Colliding somewhere between Camus and Jim Carroll, Strike's memoir shows us the real back alleys of San Francisco during its zeitgeist.
Colliding somewhere between Camus and Jim Carroll, Strike's memoir shows us the real back alleys of San Francisco during its zeitgeist.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews