Another nice review, this one from Phronk.com.

The monkey-related theme was a concern to the reviewer, but it seems the novel managed to bridge the monkeys funny/monkeys never funny divide:

Let me make a confession: I don’t find monkeys inherently funny. Their similarity to humans is amusing, sure, but it’s been overdone. Given the premise of Marvellous Hairy, I was a bit worried that its humour would rely on “anything is funny if you mention the word monkey alongside it” school of thought. Luckily, its absurdity is only partially monkey-based, and it delivers some genuine funny. Many scenes had me smirking as hard as I have at any Douglas Adams novel (yeah, just smirking; it takes a lot for me to physically LOL at text).

You can find the full review here. You may also be interested in Phronk’s infamous side project: “Putting Weird Things Into Coffee”.

This is not the same thing as having a lobotomy, though I imagine they are both somewhat disorienting experiences. The creative, funny, and dare I say paranoid genius at Predator Press was kind enough to interview me about Marvellous Hairy and The Amadeus Net, though LOBO was considerate enough to ask me about hockey, the existence of Canada, and inter-species romance as well.

The results can be found at Predator Press, and include such exchanges as:

LOBO: Have you repented to your clergy for all the sex in The Amadeus Net yet? I tried to get my penance reduced by ratting you out about it, but the church was skeptical: rather than take my word for it, they ordered a case of the books to be distributed among the congregation for review. Now they are all blind, and their palms smell like Gillette. All of this could have been avoided with the simple use of a praying mantis. Are you an atheist Mark?

MAR: If you mean, do I believe in a “Magic Sky Father”, then yes. If you mean, do you believe in a “Cosmic Unconscious Fun Monkey,” then the answer is: maybe.

The whole interview is here. And you should check out the blog — it’s very funny.

Liz Cole at The Productive Cough has given Marvellous Hairy another glowing review:

Rayner accomplishes something that not enough writers do: Each character has his or her own distinct voice. Each person in the book could communicate the exact same piece of information, but each would do it with their own personal vocabulary of phrases. I love it. Why every writer doesn’t do this, I will never know. The characters, as a result, are all believable as people.

You can read the whole review at The Productive Cough, Goodreads or Amazon. Liz is one of the reviewers who responded to my open call on Twitter, and she shouldn’t feel badly about taking so long to write it; I understand how deadlines can go whooshing over one’s head!

Apparently the high-octane silliness of Marvellous Hairy ruined a perfectly good pun Calvin Chayce had all set up for the book. Of which, I’m glad. He says:

… Rayner proves to be a masterful story weaver with a gifted imagination, and a remarkable wit. If that’s not enough, a deep social conscience lies beneath it all. Those qualities combined provide for an exciting, hilarious and ultimately fulfilling reading experience. Just don’t forget to fasten your seatbelt.

You can read the full review on Goodreads here.

The next hilarious stop along the Virtual Tour for Marvellous Hairy is at Collecting Tokens today.

Collecting Tokens is a marvellous assemblage of anecdotes, observations and well, tokens, hosted by Alejna, a 12-year-old squid, obsessed with linguistics and pants. (In fact, I’d say her obsession with the word pants rivals my obsession with things simian.)

Here’s a clip for reason #6:

My mother-in-law would be farily scandalized by something that induced me to compose a sentence including both the words “sex” and “monkeys.”

You can find the other eleven here.