Roo Kickkick & the Big Bad Blimp by Ryan Gattis

Roo Kickkick & the Big Bad Blimp

Ryan Gattis

Welcome to Barguss, a typical small town in the United States - or is it? This is a place where nothing much happens - does it? In fact, in Barguss the ordinary is bizarre and the bizarre is ordinary. A series of stories gradually becomes a whole and the disjointed style is deliberate and quirky.

Extract
For a year, Roo Kickkick had been healing. Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually. At least, that's what his therapist told him. And now he had great nice big scars that made him look about like the biggest smiler in all of Barguss. Sometimes people would go and do silly things to make him smile just to see his face crinkle around his prosthetic teeth.

They were beautiful those teeth, so much better than real: white and strong, not discolored in the least. He could eat nuts or steak or even motor oil if he wanted and it didn't matter, not a single stain. 'Beautiful technology,' he would call them, and smile big and sometimes the girls with the matching jackets who hung out on Gee Street would get that kind of attracted/pitying look in their eyes and everyone knew that Roo Kickkick did all right with the ladies cuz he was a survivor.

Parallels
  • Lake Wobegon Days by Garrison Keillor
  • Forrest Gump - the film