An experimental novel about the deep pleasures of reading and drinking, the tumultuous reign of a cabal of mystic mobsters, and the transcendent love of a father for his daughter.
The serious work of this comedy is to depict a father’s love for his daughter and their shared recognition that they won’t always be together ... The situation arouses pathos, which Leyner acknowledges before relentlessly hyperbolizing, satirizing and detonating the pathos. The novel’s underlying poignancy, however, remains intact.
... the weirdest and surely the most unsellable novel in an admirably weird career ... All the trademarks of a typical Leyner bizarrerie are on display, from the high-flown language and po-mo hijinks to the endless pop culture references and comic non sequiturs ... There is a degree of pointless virtuosity here that no other writer can, or should ever want, to match. Here’s what I respect most about Mr. Leyner: He’s the undisputed master of a style of writing he invented, whose rules no one else can really understand.
Bar Pulpo indicates the book’s intention of a singular entity with multiple tendrils operating in different directions to different ends. Which is a long way of saying The Last Orgy of the Divine Hermit is of a piece with Leyner’s body of work, while also baring an underlying sweetness as the author recognizes and updates the trope of the mad scientist with the daughter ... Its pace, like much of his work, is brisk, with humor and horror placed in close proximity to one another. But one of the narrative circles within it is of a watchmaker, and clearly that story resonates with Leyner. A meticulous approach is required to make stories so feverish. Under a microscope, Leyner’s work reminds me of works by William Hogarth, the 18th century English artist. Hogarth’s engravings share with Leyner’s fiction a sharp satirical tone. They’re also full of kinetic energy, despite being—like Leyner’s printed pages—black and white ink static on a canvas. Hogarth’s work was full of intricate markings, seemingly infinite little pieces that harmonize into a greater whole.
