The first two chapters of Nicole Del Sesto’s All Encompassing Trip introduces the reader to Nikki Nasco, a 40-year-old, single, neurotic woman obsessed with her weight (I hate her; she only weighs 119.5 lbs). Then we have her friend Amber Lawson who is a 35-year-old lesbian and aerobics instructor. (They really are more fun than they sound).

I believed I was about to take a journey into “chick lit” territory until I reached chapter three. Nikki awakens to discover there is no light and no coffee. On her porch sits a coyote with a bandana wrapped around his head. After three days of barricading herself in her home, the abnormal seems a bit more normal and Nikki finally decides to open her door and greet the bandana-wearing coyote. The coyote greets her back with a rap: “Left, Left, Left, Left, Left right left. Get on out, get on up, get it done.”

Yep, that’s pretty crazy; and this all happened within the first 25 pages of a 284-page book. You can only imagine what the rest of the book has in store as we’re introduced to Luke, a leprechaun; Biy-Em and Howard, 7 ft tall Jamaican brothers with tattoos that cover their bodies; and my personal favorite, Demi Devi Dai, an extremist whose sole mission in life is to spread the joys and benefits of having a clean colon.

I had a hard time classifying this book, so I looked at the back cover and found it was classified as “Bizarro.” What is “Bizzaro,” you ask? To quote the book, Bizzaro is a genre “dedicated to the weird, crazy, cult side of storytelling that has become a staple in the film industry…but has been largely ignored in the literary world, until now.” Some of the titles from Bizarro include Suicide Girls in the After Life by Gina Ranalli, Dead Bitch Army by Andre Duza, and Razor Wire Pubic Hair by Carlton Mellick III.

I’m going to have order a few books from the land of Bizarro and report back what I find. If the other books are anything like All Encompassing Trip then I’m sure I’ll have a fun, wacky, and philosophical excursion.