The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart » (Unabridged, 1 MP3-CD, 14 hrs, 35 min)

Born and raised in rural Pennsylvania, Jesse Bullington spent his childhood exploring the surrounding woodlands and reading everything he could lay his grubby mitts across. He received a bachelor's degree in both History and English Literature from Florida State University. Upon graduating he immediately set to work on The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart, the very debut novel that the reader has so recently completed--excepting those individuals who first inspect an author's website before deciding to invest in a given text. To these sagacious and prudent readers, the author gives a hearty welcome and the assurance that, being a capital liar, his fictions are far more compelling—and far less pretentious—than this biographical sketch might lead one to believe.

The year is 1364. Hungry creatures stalk the dark woods of medieval Europe, and both sea and sky teem with unspeakable horrors. There is no foulness, however, no witch nor demon, to rival the grave-robbing twins Hegel and Manfried Grossbart. This is their tale, sad but true.

“Darkly funny, profane, erudite, bawdy, and wickedly original... the debut of an amazing new talent.” — Jeff VanderMeer

Publishers Weekly

With liberal inclusion of vomit, gore and turnips, Bullington's bizarre debut follows two monstrous siblings across 1364 Europe and the Middle East as they seek ever-richer graves to rob. The Crusades, the papal schism and the Black Death all make appearances, as do the obligatory witches, priests and knights. In addition to robbing, torturing and murdering innocent peasants, the brothers dispatch demons and imitation popes while debating theology and the nature of mercy, e.g., finishing a victim off rather than leaving him for the crows. The mix of grimmer-than-Grimm fairy tale tropes, spaghetti Western dialogue (“Yeah, can't suffer no traitorous churls to keep on bein traitorous”) and medieval history is striking and often funny, but it may not be compelling enough to keep readers slogging along with the brothers' endless travels and copious letting of bodily fluids. (Nov.)