Me & Mr. Cigar

This drug-fueled escapade from Butthole Surfers frontman Haynes follows 17-year-old Oscar Lester as he travels from Texas to New York City with Mr. Cigar, his “clairvoyant immortal dog,” and Lytle Taylor, his black best friend and business partner. The trip serves two purposes: eluding the dogged Colonel Sanders, who claims that Mr. Cigar is government property, and rescuing Oscar’s 22-year-old sister Rachel, who calls from her SoHo apartment in desperate need of $35,000. Mr. Cigar, taken in by Oscar five years ago, molted a camouflaging creature that severed Rachel’s hand, and aids Oscar in his “assorted nefarious activities”—in one scene, the terrier helpfully carries “five thousand dollars’ worth of MDMA” in his mouth. Though lightly sketched, the cast includes intriguing characters, such as Oscar’s friend and mentor Carla Marks, who uses her interspecies communication skills to invent scientific marvels. One such invention, an aerosol spray that covers surfaces in a camouflaging video film, proves useful when the boys’ repeated failures to source Rachel’s ransom result in a nude bank robbery. While the narrative often feels disjointed and absurd for absurdity’s sake, Haynes’s fast-paced debut is full of colorful characters and concepts. Ages 14–up. [em](Jan.) [/em]