Full description not available
S**Y
Maybe It's A Parable, Duh!
Michael Savage is a visionary. Great Minds are constantly evolving and often hard to keep up with, even when we read their words written such a long time ago, and such is the case here.Like others I was expecting something longer. My original title for this review was "Warning: This Review May Be Longer Than The Book" but I thought it would be misunderstood as "Snarky" and, possibly, picked up out of context by MS haters."Xenon" is not a novel. Not even a novella. It is a parable. The Good Doctor told us beforehand that it was a short story. And like all parables it has a moral, a lesson, a TEACHING. Dr. Savage told us he hoped it would be received like "The Little Prince." For those unfamiliar I'd suggest googling "Spark Notes: The Little Prince" for a detailed overview. I still REMEMBER learning of this beautiful tale from my 6th grade teacher.In it we learn of "good and bad seeds" and "Baobab trees" that have to be constantly uprooted before they grow so huge their roots will destroy the Little Prince's world (which is only the size of a house).Ya know, ya don't have to be Psychic to see that the kid's gonna get hit by a car when he's playing with a ball on the sidewalk and loses it between two parked cars and chases it into the street/oncoming traffic. Just need to see the pattern already in action to make an accurate prediction. MS has been doing that for 24 years.Well it gets harder to make these predictions when we can't even discern what's happening today, much less the things we can't REMEMBER from the past. This is why Xenon is so driven to rediscover his own chemically erased memories.Please don't make the mistake of dismissing this book because it doesn't have a "beginning, middle and end." It is more of a snapshot of our personal/societal present reality and possible future. It is a warning to WAKE UP lest you find yourselves rubbing the sleep out of your eyes only to find NOTHING WORTH WAKING UP TO.Why is it so short? Would any read it as a regular reminder if it was 280 pages?Why does it cost $9.95 on kindle? I met a young woman in 1988 that said to me, "We pay for what we value, and we VALUE WHAT WE PAY FOR." How much would you value it if it had been free, or even 99 cents? Ten bucks won't break the bank, but maybe it's enough to make you try to get your money's worth...maybe make you try to look a little deeper.What's to dig for? Well, at the start of the book we're given six Noble Gases. One of them is FREON, which I'm sure you just glossed over. But FREON is not one of the six Noble Gases. The sixth is, in fact, XENON which is not mentioned in that list. HINTS ABOUND! Do you notice different moods in Xenon throughout book? Which gas produces such? Like at end when he sees the Sea Horses in the fish store in a way he never saw them before? Which "gas" is affecting YOUR perceptions NOW? Just something to think about.Now, let's get to the cover art. Here we find, in The Good Doctor's own words, "one of my own simple watercolors." If you care to google I'm sure you can find Bob Dylan's cover art for his 1970's double album "Self Portrait." Kinda similar, don't ya think? But what do they really have in common aside from both being painted by the authors, themselves? Well, one famous music critic wrote in his initial review of "Self Portrait", "What is this crap" (although he used an "S-word" expletive. He has more recently eaten his words in the enclosed liner notes to the Dylan Biograph re-release of the same album with previously unreleased out-takes. I hope some future reviewers of Xenon might read this review prior to unthinkingly spouting off their initial "Adult" reactions and give The Little Prince's "Child" a chance to view it with fresh eyes.BTW, I once chided Michael Savage for saying on the air many years ago, "what should I do, give my dog (Teddy) Homeopathy?" in a derisive tone. Imagine my utter surprise when I learned that one of my most valued Homeopathic books (I have a HUGE library on the subject) was written by him. Yeah, I had to eat my words, too.Hope this helps to decide if you want to read Xenon, and if so, maybe see it with fresh eyes the first time.
J**O
"The Future is Now"
Reading this book was like being in a real jazzy place in the 60's with a beatnik doing a reading in a smoke filled room with a man in a clown mask sitting in the corner on a upside down chair snapping his fingers, cool man, that aside Michael Savages humor never disappoints and fitting the book is only offered on Kindle since books and book stores are considered mostly undesignated in Xenons future world, it's a place run by the Government where almost everyone is electronically and or chemically altered even the pets to make everyone conform to the new reality of population control where the inhabitants raid gas stores to steal and inhale different gasses to recall their past history before their designated sex changes, some animals even have human heads,it's a short read so I don't want to say too much defiantly worth breaking up your day.
A**R
Clear look at government in all its forms
Savage always speaks with great clarity about most subjects.In this case it it is the destruction of the male. I am paraphrasing, as a great American said it is time to bring our male figures back. (Candice Owens)
J**Z
Interesting Read
Learned that this book existed from the author's radio show. So much going on that I had to sit back and really think about what the heck I just read. I think the author had to be mentally high on something and like a mirror to this book, saw a glimpse of what to expect in the future: a man who is imprisoned by circumstance of the world around him. He yearns for what he instinctively desires, but controlled substances control his mind and thus he continues to live as a sheep.
D**N
Wanted a novel, got a really short story.
I usually read the 1- or 2- star reviews, but I've read Michael Savage before, so I didn't. I'll have to keep more mindful of the length, saw " 1773 KB" but didn't realize that comes out to about 22 full pages. Anywhere in the description of the few glowing reviews I'd read you'd think someone could have mentioned this is a short story. Also, though I enjoy MS's non-fiction, can't say I like his fiction style. I did get a couple good laughs out of it and it was insightful, but that's just my personal taste, your results may vary. I'll stick with the non-fiction.If he'd elaborated on it - worked on some of the characters, including the "unclipped" girl he met who wanted to see him again and find out if he ever remembers what he'd forgotten. Looking at this short story, can't help but think that this is a copy of his ideas for a book and the real novel is still somewhere on his computer. Or if not in his computer, still in his head.
P**Y
Interesting but unfinished.
Savage paints a future world that in light of today's social dystopia could become a reality, but leaves us with a reminder of unfinished business. This is a rough draft, a jotting down of scenarios of what could be and that which needs to be fleshed out. To me it is an interesting take on Dr. Savage's thought process, but leaves one adrift on a jumbled canvas of unfinished prose and dark imaginations. A cacophonous melody that needs to be revisited, for in light of the social dysfunction of today, this could be a prophetic tome, a classic yet realized.
H**0
Pynchonesque, piquant. Michael Savage knows how to turn ...
Pynchonesque, piquant. Michael Savage knows how to turn a phrase. Revel in the subtle jokes and allusions to life in Northern California. I'm not a Sci Fi enthusiast so no comment other than plot was sufficient to keep things moving. Priceless are the flourishes ... the dying phone spilling every conversation ever transmitted or received onto the apartment floor.Only downside to this little jewel is that it ended too soon, leaving me with a case of (pardon the pidgin latin) fabula interrupta.
J**O
Are you frustrate at having "it" thrown in your face? Read Xenon.
As always. I love Dr. Savage's writing. Xenon's dystopian future is almost already here--in my humble estimation. It's amazing that the author was thinking along these lines so long ago. I only wish the book was longer. If you're frustrated about having "it" thrown in your face everyday, you must read Xenon.
Trustpilot
2 months ago
2 months ago