Staff Picks Blog

The first line, "I opened my eyes to see the rat taking a piss in my coffee mug",  sets the tone for this entire book. The humorously disturbing images contained within are not for children or those with weak constitutions.

That is in fact the basis of the story. Our Constitution has become weak and America is full of perverse degenerates. The heroin addicted Chief of Staff forces unlucky Private Investigator Mike McGill to search for the other Constitution, a secret document with 23 invisible amendments and bound in the skin of an extraterrestrial. The infrasonic sound generated by opening it forces your eyes to read it. To hear it read aloud would cause all listeners to revert to a 1950′s morality. Unfortunately, Nixon traded the book for favors from a woman in San Francisco and it has been lost since. McGill and his new assistant, Trixie, cross the country looking for the book and meeting previous owners, most of whom belong to sexual, criminal or surreal subcultures.

While not incredibly deep the book does have its thought provoking moments. If anyone with a computer can find vast amounts of information about these "deviants" how far away from the mainstream are they really? If the power exists to reset the country’s moral compass back to what the founding fathers had secretly intended, should it be used?

This is a must read for fans of Ellis’ prolific comic book output. If you like Chuck Palahniuk or Isaac Adams you should give this one a go. Just be prepared to laugh and be disturbed in equal amounts.