A pop art version of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, with a touch of Tarantino violence sums up Small Change: Andrez Bergen’s buzzing novel, or to give it its full title, A casebook of Scherer and Miller, Investigators of the Paranormal and Supermundane. Degenerate detective Roy Scherer and his cunning sidekick, Suzie Miller, take on a whole barrage of bizarre cases from a vengeful Japanese spirit to a collection of dismembered talking heads. Small Change is a cleverly woven narrative, edited to perfection. It reminded me of the bell jar I have in my study that I collect coins in, when emptied you realise there’s a significant amount more than expected. Read more: http://10mh.net/2016/09/20/small_change_andrez_bergen/ ~ John Maguire, 10mh (Ten Million Hardbacks)

Remember the gum from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? The one that made Violet turn violet? It was an entire three-course meal concentrated into one stick of gum. That’s kind of what Small Change by Andrez Bergen is like; its a book that reads like an entire season’s worth of TV episodes condensed into a 25 minute sizzle reel, and I mean that in the most honorific way possible. This slim novel is a ‘casebook’ of its two main characters, Roy Scherer and Suzie Miller who are self-titled investigators of the paranormal and super mundane. These are characters Bergen has worked with before in the comic book medium and, thus, he is very familiar with them. Many of these stories were comics until Bergen decided to replace the artwork with prose. Typically, I’m not a big fan of a novel becoming a comic or vice versa, but Bergen manages to avoid the cardinal sin of writing a lazy adaptation that just rehashes what was already written and doesn’t bring anything new to the table. This noir/horror/fantasy mashup manages to tread its own path and view the familiar characters and cases through a new lens. The genre mashup can be a tricky thing to conquer. Sometimes it is skewed so far in the direction of one of its genres that it leaves the reader wondering why the other is even there. Other times it can be so heavy handed that it leads to unintentionally humorous scenes, characters, and conflicts, and there are few things more terrifying to a storyteller than creating something that is unintentionally funny. But Bergen has come to master the genre mashup story. Each genre (in this case I would consider the main ones to be noir, horror, and fantasy) support each other, working to strengthen the others while also defining themselves. One genre never drowns out the other. Noir may be the overarching genre found throughout the book, but when horror or fantasy elements, like, say, a werewolf or some bitter, sassy talking heads come into play, the tones mold together perfectly. Then, when the scene is done, they break apart and we find ourselves back in the smoky embrace of noir. Think of each genre in this book like a droplet in a lava lamp; they combine to form a larger glob and then break back into smaller separate droplets seamlessly. Like with a lava lamp, I found myself oddly mesmerized by the shift in genres without the accompaniment of a shift in tone. The dialogue, however, was my favorite part of this novel, which I’m quickly realizing is my favorite aspect of most of Bergen’s writing. The dialogue in Small Change is fantastic. It is sharp and pithy and zips back and forth between the two characters like an olympic ping pong volley (is it called a volley in ping pong?). The repartee between Roy and Suzy is noir through and through. It is clear Bergen has a soft spot (or perhaps a smokey, whiskey-soaked gritty spot) for noir. He is very adept at casting an ambiance over the entire scene he is writing to the point where your mind’s eye seems to be wearing a shadowy, black and white lens. Although, that is not to say this book is without its faults. Something that wasn’t quite as deftly handled as the dialogue or the genre mashup aspect was the pace of the book as a whole. Each individual anecdote was paced wonderfully, beginning exactly where it needed to and zipping along like a hummingbird in the wind until it reached its necessary conclusion. Unfortunately, the stories don’t fit together with each other quite as nicely. Part two, titled ‘Way Back When’ was paced the best as a whole (and was also my favorite part) but still stood out from the rest of the novel. The individual shorter stories, as well as the longer sections, kind of felt like puzzle pieces that didn't quite fit but someone jammed together anyway. Fortunately, because this is a ‘casebook’ and not a typical novel with a chronological, start-to-finish structure, it doesn’t stand out too much. Small Change is a difficult book to classify; a comic book adaptation that is part noir, part horror, part fantasy, and all strange. But that is also the beauty of the book, it is, at once, all of those things while never veering into the land of beige-colored boredom. It could have been incredibly easy for this book to garner the label of ‘Not having any clue what it wants to be,’ but it is apparent Bergen never questioned what he wanted these stories and these characters to be. To borrow a line from Dennis Green, they are exactly who he thought they were (yes, I understand that reference is not exactly what would be considered timely). Small Change, which is a fitting title for this slim novel, is a good bit of weird fun with a little bit of heart, copious amounts of well-crafted dialogue, and just the right amount of humor and appropriate references to keep you speeding right along. ​ Coming in at just under 120 pages, this novel is concentrated noir mashup goodness, despite some of its shortcomings, that can act as a good introduction to some of Bergen’s other works. So, grab a stick of Andrez Bergen’s three-course noir and enjoy, I promise you won’t turn into a blueberry. A werewolf, maybe, but certainly not a blueberry. 3 1/2 out of 5 stars ~ David Malone, Storytime Junction Reviews

I’ve said many times that I like a book with a distinctive voice, and Andrez Bergen’s work consistently hits that mark. Not only that, he’s never been content to write the same book twice. His latest, SMALL CHANGE: A CASEBOOK OF SCHERER AND MILLER, INVESTIGATORS OF THE PARANORMAL AND SUPERMUNDANE, ventures into the realms of occult detective fiction. Set in Melbourne, it’s a collection of short stories and one novella narrated by private detective Roy Scherer, who along with his partner, the beautiful blonde Suzie Miller, investigates cases involving zombies, mummies, werewolves, immortals, and other sorts of bizarre creatures. There’s a bit of jumping around in time as well (not literally), as the novella explains how Roy came to work for Suzie’s father, who founded the agency. All this would be fine and entertaining by itself, but Bergen’s fast-paced prose also includes a steady stream of pop culture references. For someone like me who grew up watching movies and TV and reading comic books and hardboiled paperbacks, this is great fun. Bergen even provides an appendix explaining the references, in case you missed any of them. (I didn’t, I have to say.) SMALL CHANGE is perhaps the most traditional of Bergen’s books so far, and being a traditional sort of guy for the most part, I think it’s my favorite. I hope we haven’t seen the last of Roy and Suzie, because I really enjoyed this volume and would love to read more about them. http://jamesreasoner.blogspot.jp/2015/12/small-change-casebook-of-sherer-and.html ~ James Reasoner, Rough Edges

...Small Change takes us through a whirlwind of quirky, but dangerous cases. Roy and Suzie, somewhat of an “Odd Couple” have a strange dynamic, though their annoyance with each other doesn’t seem to get in the way of solving cases. Roy’s sarcasm throughout the book adds to the entertainment. Make sure that you read the “Acknowledgements” at the end of the book, which will explain why author Andrez Bergen chose “Small Change” a song by Tom Waits as the title, and why this book is dedicated to Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James. While there are many American, British and Australian cultural references in the book, you can tell that Bergen was brought up with TV shows like “Twilight Zone”, “Outer Limits” and of course comic books. My only complaint of Small Change is that the story isn’t long enough. I wanted to read more about these quirky characters in Bergen’s wry style of humor. I hope that this is just an introduction into the world of Scherer and Miller and that there will be a lot more to come. http://underratedreads.com ~ JD Jung, Underrated Reads

I love the characters of Roy Scherer and Suzie Miller. I said so when I first read their adventures in Andrez Bergen’s anthology, The Condimental Op. I’m quoted as saying so on the cover of Tales to Admonish #2, which features comic adaptations of the two characters. I probably say it, or some variation thereof, every time there’s a new Roy and Suzie mystery to be read. Well, now my affinity has been rewarded. Small Change is a complete Roy and Suzie novel. For those who are not familiar with the characters, Roy and Suzie are low-rent paranormal investigators. Roy is a gritty, cynical private eye who’s seen more than his share of Humphrey Bogart movies. Suzie is his perky, blonde, “by the book” assistant—who also happens to own the company. Together, they investigate everything from vampires to werewolves to what may or may not be a zombie, all while bickering back and forth over every little detail. The book is divided into three sections. The first is a series of mostly standalone adventures of Roy and Suzie out on various cases. It begins with the ones I’d read already in Condimental Op and Tales to Admonish, then moves on to some fun, new ones. The second section goes back and tells the story of Roy’s early years: how he came to work for Art Miller, Suzie’s father; how they went from run-of-the-mill private eyes to investigators of the paranormal; and how Suzie came to take her father’s place in the family business. It also includes some stories previously published in The Condimental Op and elsewhere—and not just Roy and Suzie stories. Bergen is a master at recycling and repurposing his old stories, and, here, he cobbles together a variety of different yarns to form Roy’s backstory. However, if you haven’t already read these stories, you’d never know they weren’t originally part of Small Change. Woven together with a bit of added exposition, they actually form a more cohesive story than the first section. The sequence of events flows seamlessly. Finally, the third section brings us into the present, as Roy and Suzie have been working together for about two and a half years. It’s another series of standalone stories, but it gives us a bit of a character arc, as Roy and Suzie learn to work with and respect each other, instead of barely tolerating each other’s presence, as they did in the first section. Of course, that doesn’t mean they don’t still bicker. It’s the bickering between the two that makes these characters so much fun. Inspired by everyone from Felix and Oscar to McMillan & Wife, their banter is what drives much of the book. It’s hilarious to see them arguing over whether their quarry is a zombie or a Lazarus, as said quarry is actively advancing on them. All in all, this is a great book. I asked for a Roy and Suzie novel in my very first review of their adventures, and Small Change does not disappoint. If you’re a fan of paranormal comedy, hard-boiled noir, odd couples with witty banter, or just fun, funny, well-told stories, then you’ll definitely enjoy this latest offering from Andrez Bergen. Hopefully, by the time you’re through, you’ll love Roy and Suzie as much as I do. ~ Steven W. Alloway, Fanboy Comics

Comic book creator Andrez Bergen’s characters Roy Scherer and Suzie Miller have appeared in a number of different places, including Bergen’s pulp anthology series with artist Matt Kyme, Tales to Admonish, where they encountered zombies, vampires, and extra-terrestrials. See our review here. Bergen’s new work of prose fiction, Small Change, is a casebook of noteworthy investigations from Roy and Suzie’s careers snooping into the “paranormal and supermundane”… The novel is divided into three sections: ‘A Bit Over Two Years Ago’, ‘Way Back When’, and ‘More Recently’. The opening stretch recounts key cases from the early days of Roy and Suzie’s partnership, including some presented in Tales to Admonish which have been adapted here into prose form. The second section goes further back in time and charts Roy’s trajectory from juvenile delinquent to employee of Suzie’s detective father to eventual partner of Suzie, while the third and final stretch shifts back to the present and depicts their most recent cases and growing mutual attraction. Once again, incidents from Tales to Admonish and Bergen’s earlier Black and White (see review here) are poached for content (and sometimes re-contextualized) in these sections. Bergen’s Roy and Suzie comics are predominantly dialogue-driven, hence they transfer quite smoothly into prose, and Bergen embellishes them with enough new details, descriptions, and wrinkles that they feel like complete (if episodic) short stories. At the same time, he also refrains from going overboard with embellishment, ensuring the stories remain short and sharp and maintain the same conversational style of their original comics. Given that these tales are so dialogue-driven, it helps that the dialogue is entertaining. The banter between the two leads combines classic screwball and gumshoe speak – Suzie’s perky, enthused stream-of-consciousness brushes up nicely against Roy’s spiky, strained indulgence – with the odd Australian turn of phrase. The book is dedicated to the pairing of Rock Hudson and Susan Saint James – television’s McMillan & Wife – but there are also shades of Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, Hepburn and Cary Grant, William Powell’s Nick and Myrna Loy’s Nora from The Thin Man films, and other revered screwball/private eye partnerships. Roy adopts the role of first-person narrator as he does in the comics, which helps ensure the barbed, sardonic, sarcastic tone of the original strips transfers to prose. Moreover, while this narrative voice is a constant, Bergen also manages to sketch Roy’s transformation from wet-behind-the-ears amateur into a rumpled, Dick Powell sort. Bergen notes in his acknowledgments the influence of a hearty cross media diet on his work, and these many and varied influence permeate Small Change. The gallery of rogues and ghouls Roy and Suzie encounter is diverse, ranging from classic monsters of the vampiric and lycanthropic variety to argumentative severed heads, a vengeful Japanese spirit, a harpy, and possessed stationery. There are also tips of the hat to a number of different genres and styles (screwball, noir, horrors of the Twilight Zone and Night Stalker variety) which cohere nicely, as well as direct in-text references to the likes of Toshiro Mifune, James Bond, Bogart and Bacall, and other distinguished company. More obscure references are explained in the glossary at book’s end, which also provides definitions of some of the Australian slang used throughout. Such direct allusions to popular culture create a common intertextual grammar between Bergen as author, Roy as narrator, and the reader: we see how these influences inform and frame Bergen’s worldview, which in turn informs Roy’s worldview as revealed in his narration, which in turn informs our own reception to the story. In this respect Bergen is quite similar to Garth Ennis, another comic book author whose popular culture tastes and preoccupations are not only evident in his storytelling but often foregrounded through direct in-text allusion (see, for example, Ennis’s Preacher and Hitman). While readers familiar with Roy and Suzie from comics may miss the visual dimension of the storytelling in this prose work, the strength of the dialogue and characterisation, as well as new material introduced, should satisfy fans of the duo (and hats off to the absent Matt Kyme, whose visual rendering of the characters in Tales to Admonish was sufficiently impressionable that their ‘look’ was still felt here). Meanwhile, readers unfamiliar with these characters from comics should also get a kick out of Small Change: it’s an accessible read, episodic yet cohesive, and infused with a cheeky pulp sensibility. ~ BD Kooyman, Australian Comics Journal

...Roy, our narrator is steeped in classic noir, and never knowingly misses a chance to act or wise-crack like his hero Philip Marlowe. Suzie, by contrast, is as perky as her father was a world-weary drunk. The text is chock-full of references to classic noir in books and on film, plus more popular modern fare – from James Bond to Ghostbusters as we’ve already seen. The cases are varied but incidental to the story, the key of which is the relationships, between Roy, Art and Suzie. Steeped in noir as it is, and styled as a casebook in extended vignette form, this novella was a welcome change to the longer length paranormal crime novels I’ve read of late – c.f. Ben Aaronovitch and the Dresden Files of Jim Butcher. Roy Scherer has a way to go as a character to acquire Tom Waits’s grit and rasp, but he and Suzie are at the start of their careers really. I liked all the references and the sense of humour, so would happily read another volume of Scherer and Millers’ Casebook. Read more: http://www.annabookbel.net ~ Annabel's House of Books, http://www.annabookbel.net

Following hot on the heels of 'One Hundred Years of Vicissitude', 'Bullet Gal' and many other titles, 'Small Change' is Bergen's latest brilliant offering. Bursting at the seams with pop-culture references, this is a madcap spree featuring Roy Scherer and Suzie Miller, investigators of the paranormal and supermundane. You won't be short changed by 'Small Change' - it's far more super than mundane - so get on board the Andrez Bergen rollercoaster and don't forget to store loose items in the lockers provided. Oh, and hang on tight. ~ Guy Salvidge, Author of 'Yellowcake Springs'

Yesterday I finished the latest (and by “latest” I mean it’s not out till December) book of Andrez Bergen’s, he of TOBACCO-STAINED MOUNTAIN GOAT, WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CAPES OF HEROPA? and DEPTH CHARGING ICE PLANET GOTH fame, amongst others. SMALL CHANGE (A Casebook of Scherer and Miller, Investigators of the Paranormal and Supermundane) is, as its subtitle suggests, a set of individual stories/vignettes about a PI duo who specialise in “investigating” (more often than not blowing the brains out of the perpetrators of) paranormal crimes and events, and tracks them over three broad time periods (“A bit over two years ago”, “Way back when”, and “More recently”; easily the best timeline title cards I’ve seen in fiction). The split, and he notes in his afterword that even though many of the stories have been published here and there down the years, he always had exactly this broad time separation in mind, allows for a steady establishment of character, reveal of past history/mystery, and then demonstration of how they’ve changed. This is particularly true for Roy, the POV character, whose past is an interesting poacher-turned-gamekeeper one, but both he and Suzie have plenty of time to shine, and the shift in dynamic and relationship in the final couple of stories is good and helps the collection feel tied-off. The stories are a return to the knowingly sardonic classic hard-boiled style of TSMG. If you’re going to write the (young, here) Bogart-analogue PI and sidekick duo sprinkled with classic pop culture references, the characters have got to be enjoyable and the whole thing has to have a sense of fun and zip. Happily, both are true. This is as entertaining a slice of paranormal PI fiction as you’re likely to find. And unlike its probable closest lazy “if you like X you’ll like Y” comparison, the Dresden Files books (note: partly a guess; I’ve not read them, but I know the RPG based thereon, so your mileage may vary), neither Roy nor Suzie have any remarkable abilities of their own. They’re everyman characters, not even, in Roy’s case, especially capable in any sense except of keeping his head in a crisis, and thoroughly likeable and believable as a result. The pace is fast, like the dialogue. Most of the stories are barely about an investigation at all - a good portion of them start in media res with the pair of them dealing with the villain in question already - but about the characters, and so the whole thing rattles along from scene to shining scene. So, good characters, smart structure, entertainingly zippy pace, screwball style that’s light enough on cultural references to avoid bogging down, and a good mix of situations thrown at Roy and Suzie to keep things interesting. I’d happily recommend it to anyone who enjoys a nod and a wink to the hard-boiled classics with a sense of fun and its own identity. It’s good clean entertainment and the obvious enjoyment Bergen had writing the duo bleeds over onto the page. So when SMALL CHANGE comes out, buy it. ~ John Rickards, The Nameless Horror

If you’re a lover of the supernatural who likes their fair share of humour and detective arcs, then ‘Small Change’ by Andrez Bergen deserves to be the next purchase for your bookshelf. The book is coupled with several short stories the author has created along the years about the two main characters of the story: a sarcastic gunslinger Roy Scherer and his bookish but eccentric “assistant” Suzie Miller. ‘Small Change’ switches back in front through time, starting with a few strangely funny cases that fall into Roy and Suzie’s hands, and then exploring the beginnings of ‘Scherer and Miller, Investigations of the Paranormal and Supermundane’. Specifically how Roy managed to get himself involved with the detective business and the relationship he had with Suzie’s father, Art, who was the one that decided to switch their area of expertise to the supernatural in the first place. Of course, we also have Roy’s first experience with the uncanny; which is very refreshing to the paranormal genre, let me tell you! It is also Roy who narrates their adventures with a great dose of cynicism, which you grow immediately fond of, and likes to be your usual chain-smoking asshole with a heart. He makes a great contrast with his partner Suzie, whom her quirks mixed with her curiosity for the paranormal make her a great intellectual asset for the team. Ultimately, this book is about the interactions between these two characters and how they balance each other out, the mystical backdrop of their cases making their personalities pop out more thus creating further meaningful and funny exchanges between the two. Towards the end we also get an interesting change between Roy and Suzie’s partnership. I’m not going to give spoilers here, but it’s a moment which drives Roy to respect her a lot more than he did before and we finally see Suzie is not as feeble as we once thought. I just wish we could’ve had more. I understand these are all short stories but I think it exists a great potential for a larger arc, I guess you could say I fell in love with Roy and Suzie so much I wanted to see more of their ‘odd-couple’ dynamic against super evil-y forces (a Cthulhu parody maybe? Just throwing it out there). But besides that, this is a great read! I’ve had so much fun going through Roy and Suzie’s adventures I didn’t want to put the book down. I just love this kind of literature, the ones who mix mystery stories with supernatural elements with such ease that it actually makes you ache for more. And, as I said before, I loved Roy and Suzie. Their relationship was the best part about this book, both characters were surprisingly interesting and the unusual cases they had to deal with were a great treat. I can’t wait to read more of this author. Perhaps I’ll even pick up an issue of the Roy & Suzie comic since I just can’t get enough of them. 8.5/10 http://culturedvultures.com/book-review-small-change-andrez-bergen/ ~ Carol Days, Cultured Vultures

"A book that reads like an entire season’s worth of TV episodes condensed into a 25 minute sizzle reel, and I mean that in the most honorific way possible... This noir/horror/fantasy mashup manages to tread its own path and view the familiar characters and cases through a new lens. Bergen has come to master the genre mashup story. The dialogue, however, was my favorite part of this novel, which I’m quickly realizing is my favorite aspect of most of Bergen’s writing." ~ , Storytime Junction Reviews

"Roy, our narrator is steeped in classic noir, and never knowingly misses a chance to act or wise-crack like his hero Philip Marlowe... I liked all the references and the sense of humour, so would happily read another volume of Scherer and Millers’ Casebook. ~ , Annabel's House of Books

"I wanted to read more about these quirky characters in Bergen’s wry style of humor. I hope that this is just an introduction into the world of Scherer and Miller and that there will be a lot more to come." ~ , Underrated Reads

"This is a great book, and Small Change does not disappoint. If you’re a fan of paranormal comedy, hard-boiled noir, odd couples with witty banter, or just fun, funny, well-told stories, then you’ll definitely enjoy this latest offering from Andrez Bergen." ~ , Fanboy

"With his off-beat pulp style featured in both comics and novels, here Andrez Bergen leads us into the bizarre world of Roy Scherer, a P.I. whose eyes are more focused on the weird phantasms of the occult than Chandler’s mean streets. Helped by nerdy assistant Suzie Miller, Scherer combats criminals for whom a standard Smith and Wesson load will do little harm. Only the silver-plated variety of bullet will damage these people!" ~ , Crime Fiction Lover

"Bursting at the seams with pop-culture references, this is a madcap spree featuring Roy Scherer and Suzie Miller, investigators of the paranormal and supermundane. You won't be short changed by 'Small Change' - it's far more super than mundane - so get on board the Andrez Bergen rollercoaster and don't forget to store loose items in the lockers provided. Oh, and hang on tight." ~ Guy Salvidge, Author of 'Yellowcake Springs'

"As entertaining a slice of paranormal PI fiction as you’re likely to find." ~ , The Nameless Horror

"If you’re a lover of the supernatural who likes their fair share of humour and detective arcs, then ‘Small Change’ by Andrez Bergen deserves to be the next purchase for your bookshelf." ~ , Cultured Vultures

“Twisted and warped with the best influences from pop culture.” ~ , Sons of Spade

"Bergen’s characters embody very relatable human frustrations and impulses... these arch, nostalgic vignettes also showcase identifiable human flaws and imperfections, investing them with more dimension than their humorous pulp trappings outwardly suggest." ~ , Australian Comics Journal

"Nobody else today writes with the same dark wit, style or mad creativity." ~ Christopher Black, Available in Any Colour

"I really got a kick out of Roy and Suzie's unusual ‘odd couple’ dynamic—they had me wanting to see more from these two main characters. Bergen is clearly having an absolute blast with what he's doing, and the enthusiasm and joy creating these quirky characters and offbeat stories practically jumps off the page." ~ , Big Comic Page

"A blank slate that lets Bergen go nuts—with smart, funny results." ~ , The Cult Den

"A huge dose of irony, bleakly hilarious, darkly humorous horror in the grand tradition of the old House of Mystery/House of Secrets kind of thing that DC used to publish." ~ , Comic Book Resources

"Bravo for a story that I cannot get enough of!" ~ , NoirCon USA

"If you’ve read any of his previous work you’ll know what a magpie eye Andrez has, with influences ranging from Soviet propaganda to Dashiell Hammett to Charles Dickens." ~ Eva Dolan, Author of 'Long Way Home'

"A time machine that takes me back to a better era." ~ , Word Of The Nerd

"A droll, macabre sense of humour with exactly the right mixture of noir, supernaturalism and horror." ~ , NerdSpan

"Bergen has the perfect pitch for witty dialog and cultural references, and his characters are fascinating people you'll want to hang out with. He also creates some of the most wildly imaginative places ever encountered in fiction." ~ Chris Rhatigan, Editor, All Due Respect

"Mad genius at work." ~ , Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

“I had an idea Andrez Bergen was going places.” ~ Heath Lowrance, Author of 'City of Heretics'

"A lot to love here." ~ , All-Comic

"One thing is for sure—you won’t soon forget these tales." ~ , Geeks Of Doom

"I love Roy and Suzie!" ~ , Fanboy Comics

"In a modern age of conspiracies and corporate agglomerates, I think Raymond Chandler would be pleased as to where [Andrez] Bergen has taken his legacy." ~ , Zouch Magazine

"Brutal, hilarious, essential. Read with a martini in one hand, pistol in the other, and your crucifix in the back pocket." ~ , Impact Magazine

"Bergen’s passion for his work shines through into his prose." ~ , The British Fantasy Society

"A broad-minded pulp aficionado’s dream." ~ , The Pulp Braggart