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What Goes Around Comes Around
The Fanny Upping follows a Japanese girl living in a multi-dimensional mayhem who is trying to unravel everything that has turned upside down and backward in the world. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
As you say, I wanted to paint a world upside-down. Driving the story is what’s called the colloquium—where participants, always unwilling, learn a life lesson. For those that survive, it’s a valuable learning experience—though the unhuman entity that runs this colloquium seems indifferent to the fate of its participants. This story is just a natural growth from the first novel, The Cuckoo Colloquium, though I write the novels so that they can all stand alone.
What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating your characters?
Evenhandedness. Justness. What goes around comes around. The colloquium can be a harsh and unforgiving mentor. Self-indulgence will be corrected. Those who think themselves superior, or in some way better, will find themselves on the wrong, maybe fatal, end. It probably all comes down to the fundamental scruple of doing the right thing.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Coming of age is a big theme, of course, as we follow the maturity of Pinky Bell from gangly little girl into womanhood. But it’s also about honesty and being true to oneself. The stories look at what it means to assimilate into another culture, too, and play with the highs and lows of this exacting process. I hope the themes stray from mainstream novels and challenge social norms in ways that readers don’t usually get.
Will there be a follow-up novel to this story? If so, what aspects of the story will the next book cover?
No follow-up planned, but the themes and messages will continue into my next book called 33 Frivolous Pricks (out in June 2024) that returns to the theme of time travel and the human toll one inevitably must pay for the experience. The story, like most of what I write, is set in Kyoto and Los Angeles, two cities I know well. Like The Fanny Upping, 33 Frivolous Pricks is a wild ride, and I just hope readers are able to hang on and enjoy it until the end.
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The crazy colloquium is back, and it’s up to Japanese Pinky Bell to come to grips with the mystifying events of multi-dimensional mayhem all around her. The haves and the have nots—the system we’ve had throughout time has gone fanny up opposite: the poor and downtrodden find themselves owning vast fortunes, while the prideful, the selfish, the greedy, must now endure life as the objects of their past scorn in this wild, furious reversal of fortune. Unpleasant things are happening to Pinky Bell’s teachers too, giving what they call faculty development a whole new meaning!
And it’s up to Pinky Bell (again) to deal with all this madness.
Her exploits lead back to the rain forest of Sarawak, where the wildlife is set to unleash a brutal reckoning on unsuspecting tourists in a final, most frenzied, fanny upping of this crazy, new colloquium.
The Fanny Upping
In this wild adventure, full of talk of buttocks and backsides, The Fanny Upping is not what one would call a typical science fiction adventure. Our story follows the tale of 16-year-old Pinky Bell Asano, a Japanese teenager whose life focus seems to be dodgeball. As the tale progresses, we see the emergence of the TittiButt, a creature who has an unworldly eyeball for an anus. As it goes around, sucking people up, one thing is for certain that after reading this book you will never be the same.
The Fanny Upping, by Michael A. Greco, is a novel written to make its readers think about the world differently. Cultural taboos, teenage dramas, and investigations into supernatural occurrences that would make the most dedicated science fiction readers pause. Filled with Japanese influences throughout, this book brings a unique perspective on the world of fantasy and fiction.
Greco’s infusion of Japanese terminology lends an authentic cultural flair to the narrative, adding depth and color to the tale’s tapestry. The distinctive character names, such as Pinky Bell and Candy Buppie, are a testament to the novel’s creative spirit, though they may require the reader to pay close attention to the unfolding story. This element of complexity in character development adds a layer of engagement, encouraging readers to immerse themselves more deeply into the world Greco has crafted. While the journey through the character arcs may be intricate, it invites a delightful challenge to the adventurous reader, making the experience of unraveling the plot all the more rewarding.
The narrative of The Fanny Upping joyfully defies a linear storyline, offering a mosaic of events that invite readers to piece together the plot in a way that is as engaging as it is unique. The novel’s liberal use of humor, including its cheeky references, is a bold choice that adds to its distinctive voice and charm. While the unconventional structure may seem like a jigsaw puzzle with its scattered pieces, this quality makes it an intriguing read for those who delight in assembling the bigger picture from the whimsical details. This book is a perfect match for readers who relish the opportunity to think outside the box and enjoy a narrative that keeps them guessing.
Pages: 234 | ASIN : B0CKPJ9LZM
LITERARY TITAN 