Shipp, Jeremy C. Vacation. Hyattsville: Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2007. 164 pp. $13.95. ISBN 1933293411.

Jeremy C. Shipp's surreal debut novel, released earlier this year from Raw Dog Screaming Press, combines the absurd, conspiracy theories, and more shifting layers of reality than you can shake a travel brochure at. Vacation is the story of Bernard Johnson, a rather boring individual who goes on his "Vacation," a free one-week round-the-world trip presented to all citizens by the government. When he becomes entwined with the mysterious "Garden," his trip tears apart everything he thought he knew about himself and the world in which he lives.

Vacation is ambitious in its attempts to deconstruct the very reality it creates, and for the most part it succeeds. The plot is exceptionally complex, assaulting the reader with new ideas and characters every few pages. The numerous elements of the story never overwhelm the reader, but the plot can become lost in the many tangents and existential dialogues. If readers stay with these side-trips, everything quickly becomes clear.

While the book is being heavily promoted as a horror novel, many horror fans may be disappointed. The horror in Vacation does not come from the supernatural or the homicidal, but from abstract ideas such as the meaning of freedom and problems of everyday communication. With its mind-bending ideas and shifting sense of reality, fans of science fiction and the surreal should buy a ticket for this trip.

Vacation is an exciting first novel announcing an imaginative new voice. Creativity radiates off the page as Shipp's story conjures and explores idea after idea. With a bit more focus, Vacation could have been an instant classic. As it stands, it is an immensely readable first effort that is a sure sign of good things to come from Mr. Shipp.

—Jeff Burk