The Butthole Surfers have been known to make some of the weirdest, most psyched out experimental music in rock since the ‘80s. With album titles like Psychic… Powerless… Another Man’s Sac and Rembrandt Pussyhorse, and a knack for questionable song titles like “I Saw an X-Ray of a Girl Passing Gas,” the band has crafted a legacy of weirdo rock that went on to influence Nirvana’s sound, and create a league of rabid fans who love overly loud and chaotic live performances. To put it simply: The Butthole Surfers are legends, and very weird ones.
Well, frontman Gibby Haynes has harnessed his weirdness for a new venture into the world of prose, and his first book is a young adult novel titled Me and Mr. Cigar, out in January of 2020. It’s about a teenager named Oscar Lester who throws drug-fueled parties with his telepathic dog, Mr. Cigar, and must rescue his artsy New York-based sister–who ran away from home after Mr. Cigar bit her hand off, by the way- from evil captures. Really.
Here’s the full synopsis, per Amazon.
Seventeen-year-old Oscar Lester is never without his dog, Mr. Cigar. The two have made a pretty good life for themselves in North Texas, organizing drug-fueled dance parties with Oscar’s best friend, Lytle Taylor. The only real grownup in Oscar’s life is Carla Marks, protégé of his deceased father and the genius behind the enigmatic IBC Corporation. (Oscar’s mom spends all of her time with her new boyfriend.) Carla doesn’t approve of Oscar’s nefarious activity, though his parties provide an ideal environment to test-run some of IBC’s more freakish technology. As for Oscar’s older sister, Rachel . . . she’s been gone for the past five years, having fled after Mr. Cigar bit off her hand.
But Oscar knows that his dog is no menace. Mr. Cigar is a loyal protector: a supernatural creature that can exact revenge, communicate telepathically, and manipulate car doors and windows with ease. So when Rachel—now twenty-two and an artist living in New York—calls out of the blue and claims that she’s being held hostage, Oscar sees an opportunity to make things right between them . . . at least until Carla Marks warns Oscar that Mr. Cigar’s life might be in danger, too.
Suddenly Oscar finds himself on the run with his dog and his best friend. Together they race north to save Rachel and to flee the mysterious evil forces after Mr. Cigar. Ultimately they discover that this dual quest might untangle Oscar’s own strange life and reveal the true nature of Mr. Cigar’s existence.
The book will also feature illustrations by Haynes himself to accompany this surrealist YA tale of supernatural dogs and potential acts of evil violence. You can pre-order the book now or risk Mr. Cigar biting your hand off, too.
[Via Boing Boing]