Paper Bullets: A Fictional Autobiography

by Kip Fulbeck

Book Overview

Award-winning videomaker, performance artist, and pop-culture provocateur Kip Fulbeck has captivated audiences worldwide with his mixture of high

comedy and personal narrative. In Paper Bullets, his first novel, Fulbeck taps into his Cantonese, English, Irish, and Welsh heritage, weaving a fictional autobiography from 27 closely linked stories, essays, and confessions. By turns sensitive and forceful, passionate and callous, Fulbeck...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0295980796
• ISBN13: 9780295980799
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Length: 282 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Straight up and no apologies!!!

We read this for my class on contemporary pop fiction. Almost everyone really liked it especially the pop culture and frankness about sex and Asian-American politics. No one writes about this stuff so that was refreshing and way better than a lot of the other books on the reading list. It does push you though so watch out. Two people just couldn't get over it or themselves. One girl kept calling it sexist even though our professor and the other women in class including myself kept trying to explain the book was a criticism of it (duh) and one guy couldn't separate the author from the character and kept calling him cocky and narcissistic no matter how much we discussed the concepts of critical non-fiction which was the WHOLE POINT OF THE ASSIGNMENT. I think they just had issues! All in all it's one of the better books I've read (certainly the best in this class). And since I love spazzing reactions I'm glad it pushes people's buttons!

gutsy, well-written and moving

though i'm not hapa myself, i borrowed this book from a friend, and i'm really struck by it. this guy just fillets himself open to the readers examination, not sugar-coating or excusing his own insecurities or narcissism. the kind of secrtets that he reveals about himself are what we normally keep tucked safely away--from others as well as our own concious minds. though the book's focus is largely that of growning up struggling with being a variety of mixed race not yet really acknowledged, the poignancy of fulbeck's metamophasis into manhood will appeal to any reader. awesome!

Over The Top and Out!

This guy is crazy! I picked up this book after a friend at school read it for her class. I read it in a night. It's freaking hilarious! If you haven't read it, the main character (the author maybe???) is a pop culture junky. It was like playing 80s trivial pursuit. There's a lot of sexual situations in it, some funny, some pretty wacked. I had never heard the term Hapa before but this pretty much gives you a whole new look at what it's like to be a multiracial.

Truly an incredible novel

This book is hilarious, heartbreaking, fast-paced and emotional. Kip Fulbeck's "Kip Fulbeck" character is one we have never seen before and the novel is truly moving beyond the typical memoir/autobiography or the typical Asian American novel. His writing is so clear and concise it's easy to read the 250+ in one sitting although there is much much more to discover if you spend the time. There are more pop culture references here than any book I've read, but it's no distraction, it only helps place everything for the character in his world. If anyone has seen Kip Fulbeck perform live, this novel is like that, but on paper.

An exceptional accomplishment of storytelling

Reading "Paper Bullets" has given me so much insight into what it means to be an artist and what it means to be an asian american male. It brings you from laughing outloud to the point of tears with a grace that is uncommon these days and the use of popular culture references only enhances the immediacy of the experience. Kip Fulbeck writes about his coming of age and his experiences in love with a wisdom and awareness that I can only aspire to. This book is a unique and inspiring must read for everyone. And the cover rocks too.