ClownFellas
Carlton Mellick III
Hydra, an imprint of Random House
July 14, 2015
Reviewed by Tim Potter
ClownFellas by Carlton Mellick III is a singularly fantastic reading experience. It’s a rare book that succeeds on all levels, which is saying something, considering how many levels this book has. More than I could ever identify or explain, that’s for sure.
The premise is as simple as it is crazy. Crime families are made up of clowns. Actual circus and birthday party clowns. Clowns named Don Bozo, head of the Bozo crime family, and Bingo Ballbreaker, the unwackable clown mafia buttonman. Pies are weaponized, balloon animals come to life, as many people fit in a clown car as needed physics be damned and clowns are a racial minority.
The novel is obviously bizarre, and a fine example of bizarro literature at its best, but it’s also a great mob novel. Strip away all of the outrageous clown action and this is still a great mafia story that could stand on its own. The prose is likewise excellent and the author shows a deft touch with dialogue. The characters are almost all clowns, yet still come to life as real people in three dimensions, their clownness just a facet of who they are.
Mellick III starts the novel off through the eyes of an average human, albeit one with with a serious case of coulrophobia, as he is thrust into the world of New York City’s clown community, known as Little Bigtop. This eases the reader nicely into a world that will soon be inhabited entirely by clowns. The novel is structured in six sections, all of the same general length, and they each focus on a different character, though all of the characters weave seamlessly through all six parts together.
I recommend this book enthusiastically to anyone interested in great fiction who is willing to go into a book with an open mind. It’s not just for fans of bizarro lit and genre fans, this is a book for anyone who values daring literature, stories that leave the rules behind and simply fine fiction.
- Midian Unmade – Book Review - September 30, 2015
- Wolf Land – Book Review - September 16, 2015
- Convalescence – Book Review - September 7, 2015
- Rage Master – Book Review - September 3, 2015
- The Art of Horrible People – Book Review - August 28, 2015
- Greasepaint – Book Review - August 26, 2015
- Bonesy – Book Review - August 17, 2015
- Dark Screams: Volume Four – Book Review - August 13, 2015
- Trust No One – Book Review - August 10, 2015
- The Monstruous – Book Review - August 3, 2015
