An Opening Act of Unspeakable Evil

by Jim Munroe

Ever walked in on a roommate in, uh, the middle of something? When Kate interrupts Lilith's demonic ritual, it's pretty awkward, but it gives her a great idea for a new online journal:... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0968636330
• ISBN13: 9780968636336
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: No Media Kings
• Length: 249 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Rommate from hell

Kate's life is a bit unusual. Her roommate Lilith may (or may not) be an actual demoness. She certainly engages in bizarre rituals. Seeing an opportunity to break out of her rut, Kate talks Lilith into taking her act on the road as a performance art piece. An Opening Act of Unspeakable Evil is a slice-of-life novel in the form of a blog, following nine months of Kate's entries about her experiences with Lilith and on tour. Like many real bloggers who focus on their personal lives, Kate is likable if a bit too earnest, and her story convincingly captures a young person trying to find herself by adding some excitement to her life. Even so, Kate's story on its own could easily have become boring. However, the "is she or isn't she" questions floating around Lilith add just enough spice to hold the reader's interest without descending in silliness or fantasy. And in the end, Lilith's growth and self-discovery are the most compelling parts of the novel.

Very entertaining and definitely recommended, but...

If there were 4.25 stars available, I definitely would have rated this book with that. It's very enjoyable, fast-moving, funny, with just enough indie/pop-culture stuff to be credible, but not come off as trying too hard. The narrator is interesting enough, well-developed and quite likeable. The other characters are as well. I couldn't help thinking, though, that Lilith had the more intriguing outlook and background. Which, of course, is the whole idea here. Is she really a demon? Was all the satanic stuff for real? What was it like growing up with her parents? What's the history of that language? The nuggets we got through Kate's eyes only made me want more -- from Lilith rather than Kate. It made me think about what this book would have been like if it had been told through Lilith's pov. (Of course, right there you'd loose the blog-construct, but, I'm not entirely sure that would have been a bad thing). I don't remember thinking like this way for any of his other books -- as in, hmmm..I wonder what Flyboy would have been like if we were in Cassandra's head instead of Ryan's...? That nit-pick aside, it's still a fun, interesting read and well worth picking up.

A small story spread across north america

One of Jim Munroe's strengths is his connection with artists - ones who are trying to make it on the edges of society. This story focuses on four of them, one of whom might actually be evil. Another of his strengths is his realistic grasp of the power of technology - the book takes the form of a series of convincing blog entries by Kate, whose roommate behaves very strangely indeed. From this "small" story focusing on four people comes large ideas about dichotomies that we have all accepted and take for granted, among them rich/poor and good/evil. Much less sprawling than his last work, "everyone in silico," "An Opening Act of Unspeakable Evil" brings a lot of depth to its characters and their travels. Jim Munroe once again shows us the potential inherent in all of us, and the possibilities brewing in artist communities everywhere.