Scan barcode
hakimbriki's review against another edition
4.0
"I SHOULDA KNOWN something was up when the dog meowed at me."
Best opening line ever!
I've played out the body-swapping scenario in my head so many times, it became an obsession at one point. What if I swapped bodies with Mark Zuckerberg (please) ? Kat Dennings's BF (please, please, please) ? A diabetic tortoise ? A Latvian nun ? The list goes on... So yes, I think it's a fantastic and intriguing story device.
Steve Lowe brilliantly explores the physical and psychological impacts of body-swapping (or 'the Old Switcheroo') in Muscle Memory. He offers us a very simple, funny and compelling story with very lovable and realistic characters, and a superb ending. I simply could not put my kindle down.
Best opening line ever!
I've played out the body-swapping scenario in my head so many times, it became an obsession at one point. What if I swapped bodies with Mark Zuckerberg (please) ? Kat Dennings's BF (please, please, please) ? A diabetic tortoise ? A Latvian nun ? The list goes on... So yes, I think it's a fantastic and intriguing story device.
Steve Lowe brilliantly explores the physical and psychological impacts of body-swapping (or 'the Old Switcheroo') in Muscle Memory. He offers us a very simple, funny and compelling story with very lovable and realistic characters, and a superb ending. I simply could not put my kindle down.
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
What would you do if you woke up in your wife's body and saw your own body dead and poisoned on the bed? That's the problem facing Billy Gillespie one morning. Can Billy figure out what the hell happened and get back into his own body?
In this entry in the New Bizarro Author Series, Steve Lowe crafts a tale that asks the question "What Would Kirk Cameron Do?" When (most of) an entire town gets the old switcheroo pulled on it, chaos ensues and Steve Lowe is the one directing the chaos. Guys, imagine waking up and having to breast feed. That pretty much sums up the bulk of the book; coping with an unfamiliar body. Beyond that, you've got a cat in a dog's body, a man in a sheep's body, and government agents named Agent Tim and Agent Joey. Funny stuff.
I love that Steve Lowe worked in references to the body swapping comedies of the 80's. It was a really nice touch. The humor was better than I was hoping for. It was a little short but thems the breaks with the NBS.
With Muscle Memory, Steve Lowe enters the hallowed club of Goodreads Authors Who Aren't Assholes. Not only is he a funny guy in the Get the New Bizarro Authors a Book Deal Group, he's also pretty generous. How many authors do you know that would offer you a free copy of an earlier book when purchasing one of theirs? Being a whore for free books, I jumped at the chance and wasn't disappointed.
If 18 Again is a 1 and Like Father, Like Son is a 10, this book is a solid 8, right up there with Bodyswap, the episode of Red Dwarf where Lister and Rimmer switch bodies. Go out and buy it today. Steve would do it for you if your book was part of the New Bizarro Author Series.
Here's the interview I did with Steve Lowe.
In this entry in the New Bizarro Author Series, Steve Lowe crafts a tale that asks the question "What Would Kirk Cameron Do?" When (most of) an entire town gets the old switcheroo pulled on it, chaos ensues and Steve Lowe is the one directing the chaos. Guys, imagine waking up and having to breast feed. That pretty much sums up the bulk of the book; coping with an unfamiliar body. Beyond that, you've got a cat in a dog's body, a man in a sheep's body, and government agents named Agent Tim and Agent Joey. Funny stuff.
I love that Steve Lowe worked in references to the body swapping comedies of the 80's. It was a really nice touch. The humor was better than I was hoping for. It was a little short but thems the breaks with the NBS.
With Muscle Memory, Steve Lowe enters the hallowed club of Goodreads Authors Who Aren't Assholes. Not only is he a funny guy in the Get the New Bizarro Authors a Book Deal Group, he's also pretty generous. How many authors do you know that would offer you a free copy of an earlier book when purchasing one of theirs? Being a whore for free books, I jumped at the chance and wasn't disappointed.
If 18 Again is a 1 and Like Father, Like Son is a 10, this book is a solid 8, right up there with Bodyswap, the episode of Red Dwarf where Lister and Rimmer switch bodies. Go out and buy it today. Steve would do it for you if your book was part of the New Bizarro Author Series.
Here's the interview I did with Steve Lowe.
sheldonnylander's review against another edition
4.0
“I shoulda known something was up when the dog meowed at me.”
And thus begins Steve Lowe's Muscle Memory, a short but hilarious take on the oft copied but rarely improved upon body-switching sub-sub-genre. And Steve pulls no punches, going after several aspects of body-switching that aren't dealt with in “nicer” material.
Given how short the book is, it's difficult to write a lot about it without giving too much away. So to sum up, Billy wakes up in the body of his wife with his own body dead, finds that most of the town has switched bodies with their “significant others” (placed in quotes for...well, you'll find out), receives a visit from investigating Agents Tim and Joey, who only give their first names because of the new policy trying to make them appear warm and friendly, and finally has his life explained by the great sage Terry Bradshaw. If this hasn't made you want to read Muscle Memory yet, then nothing will aside from a body-swap of your own. Then you can use Muscle Memory as a how-to manual for your new life.
Steve has a great sense of humor and fun. You'll find yourself chuckling frequently, and whats more impressive is the way Steve will make you chuckle at some pretty average, everyday stuff. A short but fun read and a great little unexpected journey that comes highly recommended.
4 out of 5 stars.
And thus begins Steve Lowe's Muscle Memory, a short but hilarious take on the oft copied but rarely improved upon body-switching sub-sub-genre. And Steve pulls no punches, going after several aspects of body-switching that aren't dealt with in “nicer” material.
Given how short the book is, it's difficult to write a lot about it without giving too much away. So to sum up, Billy wakes up in the body of his wife with his own body dead, finds that most of the town has switched bodies with their “significant others” (placed in quotes for...well, you'll find out), receives a visit from investigating Agents Tim and Joey, who only give their first names because of the new policy trying to make them appear warm and friendly, and finally has his life explained by the great sage Terry Bradshaw. If this hasn't made you want to read Muscle Memory yet, then nothing will aside from a body-swap of your own. Then you can use Muscle Memory as a how-to manual for your new life.
Steve has a great sense of humor and fun. You'll find yourself chuckling frequently, and whats more impressive is the way Steve will make you chuckle at some pretty average, everyday stuff. A short but fun read and a great little unexpected journey that comes highly recommended.
4 out of 5 stars.
djinn_n_juice's review against another edition
4.0
What would I do if I woke up with breasts and a vagina? This is the ethical question Steve Lowe wrestles with in his opus, Muscle Memory.
Actually, that's not the only issue he wrestles with here. This is a book about guilt: the guilt of having neglected a person who loves you and not having the chance to take it back. It's about coming to terms with loss, and accepting loss, and accepting your own failures. These issues are just as important as ones having to do with waking up genderly resituated.
This book laughs with you, and tells you funny jokes, and very clearly came here to party. Then, it stabs you in the fucking head and you die before your death even registers. That's what this novella does. Which is a combination I LOVE: comedy by itself feels like angel food cake, but when you mix some real emotional resonance in with humor, you end up with the recipe for my favorite kind of book. This combination is often pulled off by Vonnegut and sometimes by John Irving, but I can't think of many other authors who I've felt truly made it work.
A lot of the humor comes from the fact that this book is a hilarious modern update of the "who's on first" joke, only in technicolor and with dick jokes. Main character wakes up in his wife's body. His own body, laying next to him, is stone dead. He quickly discovers that almost everyone is in someone else's bodies, most of the time spouses trading skins. Almost all the characters are in bodies that aren't really theirs, and they're trying to keep track of who is who, and figure out whether they should refer to the name of the BODY or the name of the person INSIDE the body, and figure out whether a man in a woman's body should be referred to as a he or a she...is all bizarro about gender identity? Anyway, this dynamic adds a lot of hilarity. So do bestiality humor, hiding-the-body humor, and a bunjillion other genres of humor.
I can tell that I should've started reading bizarro much sooner, because I've loved all of it I've read yet. Before trying it out, I was expecting something much closer to splatterpunk, but clearly that's not what bizarro is about. Lowe's main character is in an unbelievably strange world, yet the story really revolves around his attempt to come to terms with his wife's death and how he treated her before she died. The peripheral characters are also struggling with relationships in various ways, some of which are very funny. But, these characters are mainly foils to the main character's maturation.
I usually don't like short stories, and this almost qualifies as one. But, Steve packs a lot into sixty pages, keeping the story moving, showing us his character's internal struggles, and finally reaching a climax that I will say nothing about, because the last two pages are haunting and perfect. If you're lucky enough to find a copy of this, I would definitely recommend it. And if you can't find a copy, I still have Caris's signed copy at my apartment, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I gave it away.
Actually, that's not the only issue he wrestles with here. This is a book about guilt: the guilt of having neglected a person who loves you and not having the chance to take it back. It's about coming to terms with loss, and accepting loss, and accepting your own failures. These issues are just as important as ones having to do with waking up genderly resituated.
This book laughs with you, and tells you funny jokes, and very clearly came here to party. Then, it stabs you in the fucking head and you die before your death even registers. That's what this novella does. Which is a combination I LOVE: comedy by itself feels like angel food cake, but when you mix some real emotional resonance in with humor, you end up with the recipe for my favorite kind of book. This combination is often pulled off by Vonnegut and sometimes by John Irving, but I can't think of many other authors who I've felt truly made it work.
A lot of the humor comes from the fact that this book is a hilarious modern update of the "who's on first" joke, only in technicolor and with dick jokes. Main character wakes up in his wife's body. His own body, laying next to him, is stone dead. He quickly discovers that almost everyone is in someone else's bodies, most of the time spouses trading skins. Almost all the characters are in bodies that aren't really theirs, and they're trying to keep track of who is who, and figure out whether they should refer to the name of the BODY or the name of the person INSIDE the body, and figure out whether a man in a woman's body should be referred to as a he or a she...is all bizarro about gender identity? Anyway, this dynamic adds a lot of hilarity. So do bestiality humor, hiding-the-body humor, and a bunjillion other genres of humor.
I can tell that I should've started reading bizarro much sooner, because I've loved all of it I've read yet. Before trying it out, I was expecting something much closer to splatterpunk, but clearly that's not what bizarro is about. Lowe's main character is in an unbelievably strange world, yet the story really revolves around his attempt to come to terms with his wife's death and how he treated her before she died. The peripheral characters are also struggling with relationships in various ways, some of which are very funny. But, these characters are mainly foils to the main character's maturation.
I usually don't like short stories, and this almost qualifies as one. But, Steve packs a lot into sixty pages, keeping the story moving, showing us his character's internal struggles, and finally reaching a climax that I will say nothing about, because the last two pages are haunting and perfect. If you're lucky enough to find a copy of this, I would definitely recommend it. And if you can't find a copy, I still have Caris's signed copy at my apartment, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I gave it away.
sticksnstout's review against another edition
4.0
Too short! The guys cracked me up, but man nothing tops Edgar
jasminenoack's review against another edition
5.0
I hate you steve. like really really hate you. how can this book be only 56 pages long. I mean I was thinking it was about 75 and when it ended. Well I'm not speaking to you for at least the next 20 minutes because that was just mean.
This book is totally in my top 2 for bizarro novels. To avoid offense, I'll withhold the other contender so you can all pretend it's your novel. Fuck this is probably in my top ten novels overall. I love this book. In the book do you think what you think you think or some similar nonsense title there is a quiz on aesthetics. The point of the quiz being the thing you would take with you to a desert island is not the thing that you would claim is great art. We like to say things like "Look at that skill?" But really skill can go fuck itself. Well traditional "you can't compare modern writers to shakespeare type "skill"". Steve Lowe is totally better than shakespeare... Except maybe othello but that is another debate for another review.
I wasn't going to read this book today. See I started this other book the alternative hero but it has suggested listening and since I'm not a music person I have none of the right songs on my ipod and have to download them. So this morning I got up late and grabbed London is the best city in america because it was on my bed and this because it was in the barnes and noble bag on my desk chair and short so I could read it then move on to the book I wanted to read. Plus I told him I would read it like forever ago. But now that poor book. It isn't going to be able to compete with this amazingness.
Are you getting the point that this book is awesome?
Okay somethings actually about the book. It has a nice sentimental side and says hornbyesqe things like "when did we stop laughing." It takes an overused plot device and uses it ironically and in a new way, umberto would be proud. and it is fucking amazingly fun to read.
Steve... I want a longer book... NOW
This book is totally in my top 2 for bizarro novels. To avoid offense, I'll withhold the other contender so you can all pretend it's your novel. Fuck this is probably in my top ten novels overall. I love this book. In the book do you think what you think you think or some similar nonsense title there is a quiz on aesthetics. The point of the quiz being the thing you would take with you to a desert island is not the thing that you would claim is great art. We like to say things like "Look at that skill?" But really skill can go fuck itself. Well traditional "you can't compare modern writers to shakespeare type "skill"". Steve Lowe is totally better than shakespeare... Except maybe othello but that is another debate for another review.
I wasn't going to read this book today. See I started this other book the alternative hero but it has suggested listening and since I'm not a music person I have none of the right songs on my ipod and have to download them. So this morning I got up late and grabbed London is the best city in america because it was on my bed and this because it was in the barnes and noble bag on my desk chair and short so I could read it then move on to the book I wanted to read. Plus I told him I would read it like forever ago. But now that poor book. It isn't going to be able to compete with this amazingness.
Are you getting the point that this book is awesome?
Okay somethings actually about the book. It has a nice sentimental side and says hornbyesqe things like "when did we stop laughing." It takes an overused plot device and uses it ironically and in a new way, umberto would be proud. and it is fucking amazingly fun to read.
Steve... I want a longer book... NOW
nkmeyers's review against another edition
5.0
What if you woke up to find that your wife had post partum depression so bad that she was ready to murder you? What if she succeeded? But somehow you'd swapped bodies during the night? And so had your neighbors? You'd think that would be creepy, dark and sad, but its actually pretty damn funny.
It's less than 100pp long, you can read it in an evening and still have a little time left over for whatever you think you should be reading instead.
But, yes, this is such a fun and at the same time thoughtful book that you SHOULD put that other book aside for a while.
To make it even easier I put my copy up on swap (it's already taken, so you'll probably have to wait a while before you see that title on there again), but seriously, I bought a copy during [a:Steve Lowe|315800|Steve Lowe|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s "Buy a Book, Help a Kid" campaign and it arrived in two days. Less than 100 pp, two day delivery time, what's not to love?
I would love to see this story dramatized as a short film, heck -even a feature length film. It would be a BLAST and a challenge to act in it! Winona Ryder would be great for one of the roles.
This was the first book in a long time that I considered giving FIVE whole stars. So, here's the deal I made: If my pure enjoyment in this wacky tale of bodyswitching, post-partum depression, government conspiracy and implied bestiality inspired anyone to read this and they liked it too, and let me know by posting a comment to this review or sending me a message and I would up my rating to a FIVE. GR users, you have spoken! Thanks! And [a:Steve Lowe|315800|Steve Lowe|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], you deserve that five!
It's less than 100pp long, you can read it in an evening and still have a little time left over for whatever you think you should be reading instead.
But, yes, this is such a fun and at the same time thoughtful book that you SHOULD put that other book aside for a while.
To make it even easier I put my copy up on swap (it's already taken, so you'll probably have to wait a while before you see that title on there again), but seriously, I bought a copy during [a:Steve Lowe|315800|Steve Lowe|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s "Buy a Book, Help a Kid" campaign and it arrived in two days. Less than 100 pp, two day delivery time, what's not to love?
I would love to see this story dramatized as a short film, heck -even a feature length film. It would be a BLAST and a challenge to act in it! Winona Ryder would be great for one of the roles.
This was the first book in a long time that I considered giving FIVE whole stars. So, here's the deal I made: If my pure enjoyment in this wacky tale of bodyswitching, post-partum depression, government conspiracy and implied bestiality inspired anyone to read this and they liked it too, and let me know by posting a comment to this review or sending me a message and I would up my rating to a FIVE. GR users, you have spoken! Thanks! And [a:Steve Lowe|315800|Steve Lowe|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg], you deserve that five!
xterminal's review
4.0
Steve Lowe, Muscle Memory (Eraserhead Press, 2010)
I actually finished reading Muscle Memory over four months ago. I've only been writing reviews sporadically this summer (trying to get a bunch of really big projects hurried along toward their conclusions), so I've ended up sitting on this one in particular for way too long. Sorry about that, Steve. As you will know if you've read the one I tore off a while back for Wolves Dressed As Men, I am an unrepentant, unapologetic Steve Lowe fanboy, so I'm not even going to attempt to put up some sort of facade that this is an unbiased review in any way. In fact, if I could just write “read this!” three hundred eight (and a half) times, I'd do that.
Now, normally I'm not a big fan of comedy; if you've read enough of my reviews you'll probably get that impression. But when I find an author who actually manages to come up with good, solid comic timing, I become a fan pretty quick. Lowe, for all that Wolves... was a serious book, is capable of firing off the witty one-liners as well. And where better to do it than in the middle of a scurrilous, jaundiced, obscene murder mystery? And despite this being a comedy, and even better one about switching bodies (and the point at which the main characters discover the law that oversaw the switching of bodies is one of the book's most hilarious), it is at heart a mystery. Our main character, Billy, wakes up one morning and finds his consciousness inhabiting the body of his wife Tina. And here's where it gets interesting: it's entirely possible that Tina floated over into Billy's body... but no one knows, because Billy is lying there quite dead. It's pretty obvious what happened, since there was no one else in the house, and wasn't that the best karmic joke ever on Tina? But the fact remains, this whole body-switching business is not just limited to one household. Which means, inevitably, the guys in the black suits are going to get involved. Billy and his cadre of redneck pals have to figure out what happened before the Feds decide to haul everyone away to Gitmo or something. But, and here's kicker #2, do they want to put it back? After all, Billy's body is lying in the house decaying...
My main complaint with Muscle Memory is the same as my main complaint with Wolves Dressed As Men: it's too bloody short. Lowe is easily gifted enough to be writing full-length blockbuster novels, and judging by the differences in subject matter form his first two books, he may well be capable of doing so for any genre to which he turns his hand. (And while I'm not sure if this parenthetical will make it through the Amazon censors, I should note that the sequel to Muscle Memory is available free on Lowe's website... which I can't link to because I KNOW that'd get pulled. Google it.) But for the ninety-odd pages we get, Muscle Memory is a sheer joy, as long as you don't mind scatology, rednecks, dead bodies, guys who react exactly the way you think guys would react when finding themselves in female bodies, the Man, and intimations of sexual acts so perverse they're banned in Seattle. In other words, as one highly astute reviewer of another book I reviewed in this ish said, “Not for Christians to read.” Well, I wouldn't go quite that far, I know a few who would probably split themselves laughing at this.
And if you didn't like the review, just pretend I said “read this!” three hundred eight and a half times. But one way or the other, read this! *** ½
I actually finished reading Muscle Memory over four months ago. I've only been writing reviews sporadically this summer (trying to get a bunch of really big projects hurried along toward their conclusions), so I've ended up sitting on this one in particular for way too long. Sorry about that, Steve. As you will know if you've read the one I tore off a while back for Wolves Dressed As Men, I am an unrepentant, unapologetic Steve Lowe fanboy, so I'm not even going to attempt to put up some sort of facade that this is an unbiased review in any way. In fact, if I could just write “read this!” three hundred eight (and a half) times, I'd do that.
Now, normally I'm not a big fan of comedy; if you've read enough of my reviews you'll probably get that impression. But when I find an author who actually manages to come up with good, solid comic timing, I become a fan pretty quick. Lowe, for all that Wolves... was a serious book, is capable of firing off the witty one-liners as well. And where better to do it than in the middle of a scurrilous, jaundiced, obscene murder mystery? And despite this being a comedy, and even better one about switching bodies (and the point at which the main characters discover the law that oversaw the switching of bodies is one of the book's most hilarious), it is at heart a mystery. Our main character, Billy, wakes up one morning and finds his consciousness inhabiting the body of his wife Tina. And here's where it gets interesting: it's entirely possible that Tina floated over into Billy's body... but no one knows, because Billy is lying there quite dead. It's pretty obvious what happened, since there was no one else in the house, and wasn't that the best karmic joke ever on Tina? But the fact remains, this whole body-switching business is not just limited to one household. Which means, inevitably, the guys in the black suits are going to get involved. Billy and his cadre of redneck pals have to figure out what happened before the Feds decide to haul everyone away to Gitmo or something. But, and here's kicker #2, do they want to put it back? After all, Billy's body is lying in the house decaying...
My main complaint with Muscle Memory is the same as my main complaint with Wolves Dressed As Men: it's too bloody short. Lowe is easily gifted enough to be writing full-length blockbuster novels, and judging by the differences in subject matter form his first two books, he may well be capable of doing so for any genre to which he turns his hand. (And while I'm not sure if this parenthetical will make it through the Amazon censors, I should note that the sequel to Muscle Memory is available free on Lowe's website... which I can't link to because I KNOW that'd get pulled. Google it.) But for the ninety-odd pages we get, Muscle Memory is a sheer joy, as long as you don't mind scatology, rednecks, dead bodies, guys who react exactly the way you think guys would react when finding themselves in female bodies, the Man, and intimations of sexual acts so perverse they're banned in Seattle. In other words, as one highly astute reviewer of another book I reviewed in this ish said, “Not for Christians to read.” Well, I wouldn't go quite that far, I know a few who would probably split themselves laughing at this.
And if you didn't like the review, just pretend I said “read this!” three hundred eight and a half times. But one way or the other, read this! *** ½
More...