Bare metal

The nudie mag for robots!

Seen on a battered old hatchback: "MY OTHER CAR IS A SNAIL".

Seen on a demotivational poster: "Learn from your mistakes...so you can make even better mistakes!"

Ahem.

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Bought this 2010 paperback from a secondhand shop. The premise was so wacky, I had to give it a go. Turned out to be a quick-ish, satisfying-ish read, apart from a handful of chapters devoted to the recollections/ravings of lamer/loonier characters. There was one twist I absolutely did not anticipate. I wonder if it inspired the 2017 comic "Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees".

Publisher blurb:

"Film noir-slick meets teddybear-sweet. A highly acclaimed, dark and edgy debut with stuffed animals...

"Eric Bear thinks he has escaped his violent past, but when crime boss Nicholas Dove threatens Eric's beloved wife Emma Rabbit, Eric has no choice but to do what the gangster asks: find a way to remove Dove's name from the Death List. 

"Problem is, no-one knows if the Death List really exists. Nevertheless, Eric gathers his old team together - sadistic male prostitute Sam Gazelle, sweet but dangerous Tom-Tom Crow and wily Snake Marek - and they set off to find the elusive list.

"What Eric learns will forever change the way he thinks about his life, his family and his town."