HELP! A Bear is Eating Me!

HELP! A Bear is Eating Me!
by Mykle Hansen

HELP!  A Bear is Eating Me!
List Price: $10.95
Our Price: $10.94
You Save: $0.01 (0%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $5.48 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Mykle Hansen
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-02-26
ISBN: 1933929693
Number of pages: 132
Publisher: Eraserhead Press

Book Reviews of HELP! A Bear is Eating Me!

Book Review: Smart and hilarious.
Summary: 5 Stars

Normally I'm not beguiled by first-person narratives, especially when the voice is that of an obnoxious boorish narcissist. Mykle Hansen's HELP! A Bear is Eating Me! is an honorable exception. Despite having a protagonist of unparalleled loathsomeness, unblemished by even a hint of concern for others or a scintilla of self-awareness, this book charmed the pants off me. The title is sheer genius, and completely accurate. As the story opens, its truly despicable antihero, Marv Pushkin lies pinned under his all-terrain vehicle somewhere off-road in Alaska. The rest of the 120-page story is structured as an ongoing monolog from Marv to the reader.

If you think about it for a second, you realise that Mykle Hansen set himself a nearly impossible challenge. A first-person narrative in the voice of a complete jerk that still manages to engage the reader is a pretty tall order. I'm happy to report that the author rises to the occasion, magnificently. I read the book in a single afternoon. It was hilarious, and written so smoothly that you ask yourself "how did he do that?"

Lying trapped and helpless isn't the only trial Marv has to survive. There's that angry bear whose cub he ran over with his Range Rover who takes revenge by gnawing off his extremities. He also suffers several hallucinatory visitations, both human and ursine, as he self-medicates to counter the mounting pain. This makes him the quintessential unreliable narrator.

The character of Marv works as a (hilarious) caricature, but the thought does occur that Hansen may have sacrificed the potential for greater emotional impact by making him so relentlessly loathsome. Most readers will be ambivalent on whether to root for the bear or for Marv. Scrooge's four ghostly visitors ultimately cause him to undergo a change of heart. Lear's misadventures in the storm teach him compassion and effect a reconciliation with Cordelia before he dies; Gloucester learns to see more clearly as a result of his blinding. HELP! A Bear is Eating Me! is not a story of growth and redemption. But so what? It's brilliantly realised and genuinely hilarious.

Summary of HELP! A Bear is Eating Me!

Trapped in a remote Alaskan forest, pinned under his own SUV, gnawed upon by nature's finest predators, Marv Pushkin -- Corporate Warrior, Positive Thinker, Esquire subscriber -- waits impatiently for an ambulance and explains in detail the many reasons why this unfolding tragedy is everyone's fault but his own.

Comic Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Comic Books
Plum Lucky (Stephanie Plum: Between the Numbers) ImagePlum Lucky (Stephanie Plum: Between the Numbers)
by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-01-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $17.95
Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 13) (Stephanie Plum Novels) ImageLean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum, No. 13) (Stephanie Plum Novels)
by Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-06-17; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops: $8.99
The Oxford Bookworms Library: Stage 4: 1,400 Headwords Three Men in a Boat ImageThe Oxford Bookworms Library: Stage 4: 1,400 Headwords Three Men in a Boat
by Jerome K. Jerome, Tricia Hedge
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2000-08-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Nine Kinds of Naked ImageNine Kinds of Naked
by Tony Vigorito
Mariner Books; Published: 2008-10-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.07
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime ImageThe Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime
by Jasper Fforde
Penguin Audio; Published: 2006-08-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $12.07
Price in other shops: $39.95
The Late Mr. Shakespeare ImageThe Late Mr. Shakespeare
by Robert Nye
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2000-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.50
Price in other shops: $27.00
The Other Side of the Story: A Novel ImageThe Other Side of the Story: A Novel
by Marian Keyes
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2006-04-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.53
Price in other shops: $14.99
Guards! Guards! ImageGuards! Guards!
by Terry Pratchett
HarperTorch; Published: 2001-07-31; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.74
Price in other shops: $7.99
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson) ImageAngus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson)
by Louise Rennison
HarperTeen; Published: 2000-05-31; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $15.33
Price in other shops: $17.89
Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants: Even Further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson ImageDancing in My Nuddy-Pants: Even Further Confessions of Georgia Nicolson
by Louise Rennison
HarperTeen; Published: 2003-03-04; Library Binding; Book
Best price: $1.25
Price in other shops: $16.89
Similar Books and other products
John Dies at the End ImageJohn Dies at the End
by David Wong
Thomas Dunne Books; Published: 2009-09-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.50
Price in other shops: $24.99
The Haunted Vagina ImageThe Haunted Vagina
by Carlton Mellick III
Eraserhead Press; Published: 2006-09-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops: $7.95
The Cannibal's Guide to Ethical Living ImageThe Cannibal's Guide to Ethical Living
by Mykle Hansen
Eraserhead Press; Published: 2010-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.89
Price in other shops: $10.95
The Baby Jesus Butt Plug ImageThe Baby Jesus Butt Plug
by Carlton Mellick III
Eraserhead Press; Published: 2004-02-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.87
Price in other shops: $7.95
The Faggiest Vampire ImageThe Faggiest Vampire
by Carlton Mellick III
Spunk Goblin Press; Published: 2009-03-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.95
Satan Burger ImageSatan Burger
by Carlton Mellick III
Eraserhead Press; Published: 2001-12-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops: $13.95
Rampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere: Three Novels ImageRampaging Fuckers of Everything on the Crazy Shitting Planet of the Vomit Atmosphere: Three Novels
by Mykle Hansen
Eraserhead Press; Published: 2008-10-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.82
Price in other shops: $11.95
John Dies at the End ImageJohn Dies at the End
by David Wong
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2010-09-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.06
Price in other shops: $14.99
A Practical Guide to Racism ImageA Practical Guide to Racism
by C. H. Dalton
Gotham; Published: 2008-12-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.38
Price in other shops: $15.00
Apathy and Other Small Victories ImageApathy and Other Small Victories
by Paul Neilan
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2007-06-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.53
Price in other shops: $12.99
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories