Rock Manning Goes for Broke

In an America where 1984-level misinformation and drug epidemics spiral out of control, we meet Rock Manning, self-destructive master of tumbling, slapstick, and chaos. A 24/7 ball of energy, Rock teams up with aspiring filmmaker Sally Hamster to create a series of viral videos based on his Jackass-style bravado and stuntwork. But as a sinister militia grows in power and America goes to war against poorly-defined foes, Sally and Rock try to find their way in a world falling apart.

The last refuge for both expression and defiance are art and comedy, and the protagonists in Rock Manning Goes for Broke weaponize each with style and substance.

The author manages to mix in all sorts of recognizable dystopian and pop culture tropes in order to create a believable version of our society in decline, and then she lets her delightfully singular characters out into the sandbox to make of it what they will.

The result is a compulsively readable tale of broken bones, broken promises, and broken spirits, a novella that’s more “Hungry Like the Wolf” than The Hunger Games. In a world so recognizably bleak, you root for the misfits, the iconoclasts, and the rabble-rousers. And Sally and Rock are two fine additions to the pantheon.