Vacation

A novel by Jeremy C. Shipp.

Awards:

Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot

One of the top 10 horror novels of 2007 in the P&E Readers' Poll

What they're saying about Vacation

"Shipp's clear, insistant voice pulls you down into the rabbit hole and doesn't let go."
—Jack Ketchum

"This is an intriguing, challenging, literate, provocative novel I'm not sure I understand and suspect I'm not meant to… I recommend it to those who find reality boring; it may make them see it in new ways."
—Piers Anthony, author of the Xanth series

"Jeremy C. Shipp's Vacation is a surreal, bizarre, and utterly captivating tale. This ambitious story covers a lot of territory: it's disturbing, funny, thoughtful, and even touching. A wildly unpredictable first novel from one WEIRD author."
—Jeff Strand, author of The Sinister Mister Corpse

"Every once in awhile I read a debut novel that isn’t like anything else I’ve ever read before. Jeremy C. Shipp’s surreal fantasy Vacation falls into that category. Part Voltaire-like satire, part Philip K. Dick mind-trip. What could have been merely “gonzo” fantasy is instead both serious and deep. Shipp displays a fanatical devotion to taking his character and situations just one step further than most writers."
—Realms of Fantasy

"It's rare to find a work that claims to be a mind-bender actually live up to its claims, but Jeremy Shipp's Vacation does just that. Imagine the finale of 2001: A Space Odyssey set in a deceptively everyday world that quickly— and effectively—jumps into William S. Burroughs territory by way of Donald Barthelme...and even that comparison won't prepare you for the head-trip that awaits you in these pages. The mundane turned mystical turned metaphysical turned indescribable. This is a genuinely one-of-a-kind trip, and one you won't want to miss."
—Gary A. Braunbeck, Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild Award-winner, author of Prodigal Blues, Destinations Unknown, and Mr. Hands

"None of the usual accolades work for Jeremy Shipp's Vacation. The reader is not amazed, astounded, or aggrieved - the reader is achingly curious, alarmingly moved, and at the end, astonished by the vision and darkness and redemption. No one writes like Shipp, and that's a great thing."
—Susan Straight, author of A Million Nightingales

"I'm convinced Jeremy Shipp is a little bit crazy, in the best possible way. Vacation is edgy, surreal, and original. This is one of those books that alters your brain in a way similar to Philip K. Dick. A very good first novel."
—Jeff VanderMeer, author of City of Saints & Madmen and Shriek: An Afterword

"I don't think there has been a more aptly titled book in recent memory than Jeremy Shipp's Vacation. This sprawling psychological pseudo-fantastical surrealistic mind-trip of an adventure story demands that you step out--far, far, far out--of your comfort zone, and embrace the possibilities of a universe that may be a dream, a nightmare, or just wishful thinking. Vacation is a headfirst dive into the rabbit hole, assuming those rabbits lined their burrow with mirrors, because as bizarre as this novel ultimately appears to be on the surface, there's very little here that we won't find in ourselves, assuming we're brave enough, and know how and where, to look. For now, we will have to content ourselves with author Shipp's efforts to do that very thing on our behalf."
—Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Currency of Souls, The Turtle Boy, and The Hides

“Vacation is a potent social theory, a spiritual hopscotch from start to finish. With interesting scenarios and thought-provoking dialog, it is a compelling reason for fans of psychological fantasy to look up Jeremy Shipp.”
—Jesse Gordon, author of The Reformed Citizen

“Jeremy Shipp delivers a first novel that is surprisingly readable and thought-provoking; one worthy of being included in a college course on dystopian fiction.”
—Dru Pagliassotti, The Harrow

“Vacation is a wild romp through the fertile imagination of Jeremy Shipp.”
—Bradley Sands, author of It Came from Below the Belt

“Vacation is a bold experiment in science fiction themes that pulls few punches, recalling the works of Burroughs and Ellison, but it has a deeper, more bizarre agenda, one that may be up to each reader who experiences it to decypher for his or herself. It starts at full-blast, then like some fever-dream cartoon freak-out, blows through the roof. In a genre filled with so many safe ideas and easy solutions, what Jeremy Shipp has done stands alone . . . or at least stands in rare, bizarre company.”
—Stephen Romano, author of The Riot Act

“Parts spiritual, psychological, and scatological, Shipp's debut novel is a fast, blistering roller-coaster of a novel that never ceases to keep the reader running to keep up. Shipp's "Fight Club"-esque narrative and unusually adept insight into the human psyche make this novel a must read for fans of in-your-face fiction. The textual incarnation of an exploding rocket! Five stars!”
—Ronald Damien Malfi, author of Via Dolorosa

“This is a headtrip worth taking, and a short, fast-paced one at that. There's something energetic and purposeful about every string of words in here, telling the reader when to stop and go and pause for a minute. You're in good hands with this writer who gets a lot out of these few words. Some of the bizarre turns of phrase are jarring until the realization sets in that these are the words best suited to the situation. Get your hands on this one now.”
—Horror World Reviews

“Vacation is a diverse, unpredictable, and intelligent read. Two thumbs up!”
—Midwest Book Review

“This is a fun book! It’s gruesome in spots, wildly psychotic sometimes, and yes, irreal, but also fun.”
—Kim McDougall, author of In a Wink

“Readers looking for light horror genre reading may be disappointed at the effort and attention required to explore this brief, yet dense book, but those who accept the challenge will be rewarded with an engrossing 'vacation' into the world of post-modern, phenomenological, existential, but nonetheless truly enjoyable fiction.”
—Icons of Fright

“It packs a dizzyingly, stomach lurching, punch to the brain...It's one of the rare books that once I finished it, I started to read it again pretty much straight away.”
—SciFi UK Review

“Some will find it too challenging, much like Mark Z. Danielewski's The House of Leaves, only a hell of a lot shorter. But for those readers who are seeking something different in the current all too predictable genre fictions, Shipp delivers a vision of strangeness and truth, and a character who could be the everyman in all of us who sometimes find life too complicated and overwhelming. It is easy to feel the author's confusion and cynicism with the real world, but it's how he helps Johnson find his own sense of peace by tale's end that displays the author's maturity and compassion. I hope to see much more from this fresh voice in literature.”
—Hellnotes

“Jeremy C. Shipp's Vacation takes you on a wild ride through dreams and puts your smack dab in the middle of a realistic world of underground organizations and corrupt governments. A hoot for anyone seeking a crazy wild mind melt.”
—Dayla Weskamp

“I think 'Vacation' is a great example of philosophical-bizarro at its best...written by a very smart weirdo.”
—Ash Lomen

“'Vacation' is so cleverly written and so intelligently unveiled, as Jeremy Shipp punctures the line between dream and madness so vividly, you aren't sure which direction he is coming from. You do know you have gladly woken up on the side of his pen that surely wrote this tale before his feet hit the floor in the mornings.”
—Stephanie Curry

“Vacation is a surreal jaunt skittering across the calm surface of social norms (on an ocean that certainly doesn't exist) hellbent on splashing waves of ever-disturbing rings disrupting the way one thinks: As if you could still think for yourself. And it deserves a fast read. Except that one might miss out on a rather grand experience that begs to be savored like an aged box wine. Read it like your life depended upon it. Then read it again; you'll be both happy and uncomfortable that you did.”
—Keith Dugger

“If you were to throw William Burroughs, Harlan Ellison, Phil Jose Farmer and Philip K. Dick into a blender, Vacation would be the result. Smartly written, Vacation tells the story of one man's journey. To say more than that is to take away the surprise and pleasure of seeing what happens next. And despite being a short 154 or so pages, Vacation packs more inventiveness, thought, and emotion than many books 5 times its size. A definite must have from an author I will now surely follow.”
—Scott Colbert

“Jeremy Shipp’s Vacation takes you places you didn’t intend to go. Once there, any psychological discomfort you may feel is quickly forgotten as you throw on your Bermuda shorts, black socks and open-toed sandals. Tour this bizarre vacation destination; you just might question your answers. Vacation’s an intelligent read that deserves a second go ‘round, just to see what you missed the first time. Don’t miss the plane for this trip.”
—Sue Mattson

A review by Jesse Gordon

The world has, since the inception--intentional or otherwise--of humankind, always been a dubious plane of existence. You'd be hard-pressed to find an author, poet, artist, musician, politician, holy man, or everyman who has never spoken out concerning the human condition, from the tiniest fib to the most horrific act of genocide. Newspaper columnists, Sunday preachers, eastern philosophers all dissect the meaning of life in their various fashions--but Jeremy Shipp's Vacation, a first-person tour de force that takes place in an alternate universe and/or future-in-the-making, actually takes the human condition and turns it inside out.

On the surface, Vacation is about a disgruntled English teacher named Bernard Johnson who goes on Vacation (yes, proper capitalization) with an ex-student, once-male, now-female friend and discovers the world is not what he initially thought it to be.

Okay. Simple enough premise--you see it all the time in various forms of literature (well, maybe without the sex change). Peel away that superficial layer, though, and you soon find yourself entangled in a labyrinth of spiritual testing and social commentary unflinchingly portrayed by Shipp's characters. In this world, society exists in two major flavors: the Tics and the Meeks, the former being the well-to-dos of the industrialized nations, the latter being the poor, the exiled. Using this metaphor, it quickly becomes obvious the Tics are our own pop culture, the pill-popping, credit-card-wielding, overfed, and over-stimulated masses who have been shielded from the terrible truths of the world in a sort of global propaganda scheme to bolster big business. The Meeks are, well, everyone else--a grassroots conglomerate of militants who have cleansed their bodies and minds of all social poisons. Somewhere in between is the Garden, an external haven lead by Noh, who seeks to seed truth back into the world, one mind at a time.

Bernard's adventure plays out in the classic escapist fashion--on crack. Indeed, much of his transformation has to do with the altering of his mind, the skewering of his perspective, so that he may glimpse the dream he's been living from the outside. He goes on Vacation, falls in love, becomes a tool for the Meeks, and ultimately helps to realize Noh's vision of social revolution--but don't expect any of this to be A-B-C, for the strength of Shipp's narrative lies in his ability to toss the ball to his characters and trust that their decisions, their reactions will guide the story true. The underlying meaning is present throughout, but it is quite obvious from the start that you, the reader, are just as responsible as Bernard in coming to your own conclusions.

Shipp's style in Vacation demands an agile approach, as various scenes shift seamlessly between dreams and reality--often without warning. I'm reminded of S.P. Somtow's Riverrun Trilogy: one quarter real, three quarters surreal. Considering the concept, I can't imagine it any other way.

Vacation is a potent social theory, a spiritual hopscotch from start to finish. With interesting scenarios and thought-provoking dialog, it is a compelling reason for fans of psychological fantasy to look up Jeremy Shipp.

Vacation at Amazon.com, paperback

Vacation at Amazon.com, hardcover

Check out the ebook version of Vacation ($5)

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