Return of the Cosmic Banditos

A.C. Weisbecker's Long Out of Print Cult Sensation is Back

Oct 6, 2009

There comes a time in every reader's life when you just put a book down, finished, completely certain that what you just read means everything and nothing at all.

Now don't feel dissuaded from the get go, that's not the intention. This is the heaviest light reading you will ever do. It is the most surface level narrative of unfathomable depth you will ever likely sink into. It... is every other unnecessary oxymoron that doesn't need to be said, but heed this advice: know what you're getting into, and then enjoy the ride.

Better the Second Time Around

No, reading this book twice is out of the question right now. The brain would spasm, shriek brainy expletives in confusion, and then wither and die on the spot. It's the book's own resurrection that, even without the heady mind trip within, deserves a story all its own.

Thankfully, A.C. Weisbecker has done just that, crafting the most mesmerizing fifteen page foreword this side of Miami Vice. Miami Vice? Yes, Don Johnson, pastel suit wearing, cops in a speed boat theme songed Miami Vice. Weisbecker was a writer for the show. But it gets weirder...

Cosmic Banditos was written in 1982, published in 1986, and went out of print due to lackluster sales shortly after. Buying up the last remaining copies from his publisher's warehouse years later, the author decided to ship every last copy to soldiers in Iraq during the 1992 Gulf Wart. Addressing them to "Any Soldier," the only thing he asked in return, in included notes with each book, was that when the soldier was done he passed it on to another, and then they to another.

While this has the air of a spontaneous game of literary 'pay it forward,' the outcome lead to a burgeoning desert cult of fans, who upon returning home, helped spread the good word to the tune of original copies becoming so in demand that sellers on Amazon.com were asking upwards of $300 for them at one point.

And the Actual Book...

There is much more to the confounding history of this novel, but it's best explored in Weisbecker's own words. There is a mysterious power in the way he drolls out his own revelations of things past that would sound self-indulgent and out of touch with the world around him if it didn't feel like the book he is speaking of didn't overcome that world almost thirty years ago.

In reality though, it could be argued this book never had a place and time. It is as bizarre and confounding now as it probably was to audiences in the late 80's, it's just had time for "it's people" to find it. A plot synopsis would be a complete mismanagement of everyone's time because it would go something like:

This guy and his dog and a snake that likes warm guns are hanging out in South America, drinking, mescal, drugs, a bandito friend robs an American family who has a slutty daughter and a dad who digs quantum physics, more drinking, mescal, drugs + quantum physics + drug raids + Stephen Hawking + low flying planes + plus time travel + more foot notes than a podiatrist + Robert and his never ending supply of grenades + quarks, subatomic particles and AHHHHHH!!!!!

It's just too much. It makes as little sense to the layperson as a magic eye puzzle would to Stevie Wonder. It is, however, a damn interesting read. If you're a fan of Hunter S. Thompson, Thomas Pynchon, or any other author that has ever claimed a counter culture stake in the sand, this might be up your ally. It's the readable equivalent of a really heavy bender. You wake up the next day, you know you had a good time, you just don't understand a single thing that happened.

The copyright of the article Return of the Cosmic Banditos in Modern American Fiction is owned by Sean Costa. Permission to republish Return of the Cosmic Banditos in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.