Me & Mr. Cigar

(Hardback)

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Description

From legendary Butthole Surfers front-man Gibby Haynes comes a darkly humorous speculative YA debut about a lost Texas teen and his supernatural dog, and the power of found family. For the past five years seventeen-year-old Oscar Lester has never been without his dog, Mr. Cigar. The two have made a pretty good life for themselves in North Texas. Oscar spends most of his time organizing drug-fueled dance parties with his best friend, Lytle Taylor. And all three benefit from the care of Carla Marks, the genius behind the mysterious IBC corporation. Oscar's deceased CEO father "discovered" Carla, though Oscar's mother spends all her time with her new boyfriend. As for Oscar's older sister, Rachel . . . she fled Texas after Mr. Cigar bit off her left hand. Oscar was twelve. But he alone knows now as he knew then- his beloved pet is no menace. Mr. Cigar is a supernatural companion. After years of silence, Rachel-now a twenty-two-year-old artist living in New York-phones Oscar out of the blue. She's being held hostage and will only be released if she pays a debt she owes. At the same time, Carla Marks warns Oscar to get out of town. Nefarious forces are after his dog. Suddenly Oscar, Lytle, and Mr. Cigar find themselves on the run to New York, to save Rachel and to save themselves. And in the end, the truth of Rachel's circumstances ultimately uncovers the truth of Oscar's own . . . and the truth about Mr. Cigar.

Reviews

AnLA WeeklyBook of the Month
AKirkus ReviewsBest Young Adult Novel of 2020

Praise for Me and Mr. Cigar

It takes a book as hilarious, bizarre, profane, and heartfelt as Me & Mr. Cigar to truly convey the surreality of coming of age as a teenage boy. This book hit this former teenage boy and new dog owner right in the heart, by way of the gut.
Jeff Zentner, Morris Award winning author of The Serpent King and Goodbye Days

This book is so wild, so mind-blowing, much fun to read, that I almost forgot it was fiction! (Itisfiction, right Mega-giant tech companies aren'treallyin cahoots with the government, right Flying alien creatures aren't really mistaken for lawnmowers . . . right Please, tell me this is fiction!) Fast-paced, brilliantly funny, irreverent, clever . . . AND its illustrated Me and Mr. Cigar is the quintessential teen read, and ipso facto a must-read for adults, too!
Garth Stein, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain

In the book world we call it 'magical realism.' In the music world they call it 'psychedelic rock.' Gibby Haynes is very good at both, which he proves with his brilliant first novelMe and Mr. Cigar. This novel has it all: glimpses into Haynes's Texas childhood and teen years, a touch of his distinctive surrealism, and a heartfelt story which makes it a very good read."
Blake Nelson, author ofGirlandRecovery Road

I felt like I was diving into a YA written by Thomas Pynchon. It was a dang blast!
Geoff Herbach, bestselling author of Stupid Fast

Butthole Surfers Gibby Haynes wrote a YA book as weird as the bands music.
The AV Club

"Particularly odd."
Houston Chronicle

"Between the bindings ofMe & Mr. Cigardwells a strange chain of events indeed, but profane, tangible fantasy is what indie nation has come to expect from the wild heart of this Native Texan."
Austin Chronicle

"Could this be Haynes true medium"
Austin American-Statesman

This is a story of friendship and the complexities of family. Of retribution and forgiveness. And its hard to say much else without giving too much away . . . The bookdoesfeel rebellious and mildly dangerousthe sort of thing a young teen will delight in reading when the parents are downstairs watching TV, smiling at the fact that theyll never know the subversive nature of the prose because, lets face it, most parents dont read their teens Young Adult novels. But the flip-side is that there are real life lessons in here.
LA Weekly

[Haynes] has traded in the bullhorn-blasted vocals for a more nuanced, but just as outrageous, form of expression . . . Combines the coming-of-age edge of The Catcher in the Rye with the surrealism of David Lynch.
San Antonio Express-News

YA the Gibby Haynes way.
The HypeMagazine, Gift Guide

Are you sitting uncomfortably Butthole Surfers chaos magnet Gibby Haynes has written a YA novel . . . Its midway between a coming-of-age fable and a psychadelic road novel.
UNCUT Magazine

By far the weirdest book I have ever read.
The Nerd Daily

Me & Mr. Cigaris a mind-blowing, surrealistic novel about a boy and his dog . . .This wonderfulif completely odd book is unlike anything youve read before.
The Big Takeover

Haynes has concocted a compelling story. The cartoon chaos he used to create within the confines of a five-minute rock song were legend. Given 250 pages (divided into 90 speedy chapters), its bonkers.
Red Hook Star-Revue

Oscar is wreathed by a colorful supporting cast led by a pooch who is generally the brightest and most dangerous character in the room . . . As boy-and-his-dog tales go, a long, long way from Lassie.
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

Hayness fast-paced debut is full of colorful characters and concepts.
Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Gibby Haynes is a musician, visual artist, writer, and filmmaker best known as a founding member of the Butthole Surfers, whose outrageous concerts spawned a global cult following and whose albums have sold millions worldwide. He lives in Brooklyn with his family. Me & Mr. Cigar is his first novel.