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Clive Barker
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Mister B. Gone Hardcover – October 30, 2007

by Clive Barker (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 802 ratings
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From Clive Barker, the great master of horror and the macabre, comes a brilliant and truly unsettling tour de force of the supernatural—a terrifying work that escorts the reader on an intimate and revelatory journey to uncover the shocking truth of the battle between Good and Evil.

“Burn this book!”

So warns Jakerbok, the spellbinding narrator of this fabulously original “memoir,” a tale of good and evil deliberately “lost” for nearly six hundred years. Jakerbok is no ordinary soul; he is a minion of hell with a terrifying plan to cast the world into darkness and despair—a plan thwarted by a young apprentice of Johannes Gutenberg who buried the one and only copy of this damnable manuscript that his master printed in 1438.

Compelling and direct, Jakerbok shares the secrets of his life, going back centuries to recall the events that shaped his childhood, including the traumas he suffered at the hands of his parents, super demons themselves. He explains how he rose from “minor” to “major” demon status, and gleefully reveals his nefarious plot to “invade” the minds and hearts of unwitting humans everywhere thanks to the ingenious Gutenberg and his invention. “Burn this book!” he advises throughout—a taunt, a warning, and a command that will actually unleash the evil with which he has hidden in every word and every page, infusing the very ink and paper upon which they are printed.

Inventive and irresistible, Mister B. Good reaffirms Clive Barker is one of our most brilliant and original voices, an artist with a keen insight into mysteries deep within the human heart.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    HarperCollins
  4. Publication date
    October 30, 2007
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 0.95 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0060182989
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0060182984
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This offbeat novel in the form of a minor demon's diary may satisfy devoted Barker fans eager for his return to adult fiction after several years writing the Abarat series, but others, especially first-time readers, are likely to find this fable about good and evil less than rewarding. Jakabok Botch, the child of two demons who has inherited his father's two tails, is rendered even more grotesque after he tumbles into a fire and most of his face is badly burned. A violent dispute with his abusive father, Pappy Gatmuss, leads to the pair being trapped by a net from our world. Jakabok manages to elude capture and eventually finds his way to the home of Johannes Gutenberg, whose wife turns out to be an angel in disguise. The book's format—simultaneously Botch's first-person narrative and his break-the-fourth-wall address to the reader pleading for him or her to burn the book—may puzzle readers unused to Barker's quirks. (Oct. 30)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Mr. Barker is much more than a genre writer, and his extravagantly unconventional inventions are ingenious refractions of our common quest to experience and understand the mysterious world around us and the mysteries within ourselves.” — New York Times Book Review

“Think of a darker, more aggressive version of C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters. . . . Filled with wicked mischief and dark dares.” — Kansas City Star

“A swift, spare novel that reminds us, once again, of the discipline and focus Barker can bring to shorter forms. . . . A subtle, surprising book. . . . Barker, who rarely does anything predictable, confounds expectations once again, giving us one of the most resonant, provocative novels of his career.” — Washington Post

“It’s about time for something nastier from the man Stephen King once called ‘the future of horror literature.’ . . . Filled with tongue-in-cheek depravity. . . . If you know what you’re getting into, Mister B. Gone is great fun.” — Rocky Mountain News

“A clever book. . . . Succeeds admirably. Because Barker remembers that everyone loves a measure of fright in their stories.” — Globe and Mail (Toronto)

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins; F First Edition (October 30, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060182989
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060182984
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.95 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 802 ratings

About the author

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Clive Barker

Clive Barker

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Clive Barker was born in Liverpool in 1952. His earlier books include The Books of Blood, Cabal, and The Hellbound Heart. In addition to his work as a novelist and playwright, he also illustrates, writes, directs and produces for stage and screen. His films include Hellraiser, Hellbound, Nightbreed and Candyman. Clive lives in Beverly Hills, California

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
802 global ratings
Fine Jakabok......you win!
1 Star
Fine Jakabok......you win!
Meh at best. Burn after reading but not because Jakabok tells you to, but because it genuinely was incredibly boring and no one else should have to suffer through it!
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Top reviews from the United States

Lloyd Crespin
5.0 out of 5 stars Barker At Another Level.
Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2012
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This book is a more than worthy successor to Imajica, The Great and Secret Show, and the Books of Blood. I couldn't put it down. It's addictive. Some days, I even looked forward to getting home just so I could continue reading it. Barker does a great job of forcing you into the skin of a grotesque demon who you'd normally want nothing to do with. His insight into how people avoid the grotesque for fear of it being contagious is brilliant. The description of Mister B's childhood is as good as anything else you'll find in Barker's catalogue. Another major strength here is the dark comedy. You could tell Barker enjoyed writing this thing. The descriptions of the gore and carnage that this demon creates and encounters throughout his journey is hilarious. The breaking of the fourth wall drags you into the whole mess and makes you feel dirty. A few times, I even felt guilty about it. This book is the perfect reflection of the thoughts and emotions of our times. Barker is working at another level here. He writes with the comfort of an author who has nothing to prove. Because of that, I can look past the typos and grammatical errors. This is the raw stuff, people. The unfiltered honey. Enjoy.
6 people found this helpful
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T. R. Rak
5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderfully Original Horror Allegory
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2010
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One wonders after having read Clive Barker's latest and delightful return to his "bread and butter" horror genre, is this author a student of media prophet Marshall McLuhan's as well? It sure seems so. Without giving very much away, the crux of "Mr. B. Gone" has to do with Professor Herbert Marshall McLuhan of Toronto University's "second great technological tsunami" in the history of human kind. The first environmental "catastrophe" in technological terms for human beings, according to McLuhan, was the phonetic alphabet. Because it gave humans "an eye for an ear" and offset the balance of the five senses, making the all-detached eye sovereign, and launching all kinds of madness thereupon - destroying the tribal nature of human life, which by the time of the Renaissance, the SECOND cataclysmic invention EXTENDED, ushering in nationalism, the city state, schizophrenia, and ultimately world war. And what was this SECOND technological "scourge?" Well: This second technological "breakthrough," shall we call it ... if you don't already know, you will after having read Barker's inventive tale of demons versus angels, gore and grue, hellspawn and heaven's heathens. Barker takes McLuhan's thesis and paints it awful and hideous, where God plays dice and the Pope is DEFINITELY not what he seems. The implications and ramifications of Barker's allegory play out nothing short of dire and apocalyptic, wrapped in a surface tale of, literally, a very, VERY "minor demon," about whom one cannot help but feel extreme pity, as one would unto humanity itself, exposed to the REAL evil - "the second coming" of sensorial-skewing technology, perhaps Yeats' "rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem to be born." You as the reader might well roll your eyes when you consider this trope (or rather if you do not), but then, McLuhan (and arguably now, Barker also) would say that you are a somnambulist if you refuse to contemplate your environment which is determined by technological change. McLuhan often quoted from another consummate author of the macabre, Edgar Allen Poe, and in particular, his short story, "Descent into the Maelstrom." Mr. Barker's "Mr. B. Gone" might well be considered, an extended sequel to Poe's horrific vision, and how one escapes from it or rather, provides a counterirritant to being sucked into the black hole of technological idiocy. Undoubtedly Dr. McLuhan, if not all scholars well-versed in the theory of technological determinism, and now Mr. Barker himself, continue to be onto something here, if nothing else, the salvation of humanity through control of its environment, rather than the other way around.
7 people found this helpful
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John Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars Nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2009
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After finishing Clive Barker's Mister B. Gone, I have to say that it was rather amusing, and nowhere near as bad as people made it out to be. I can't remember any typos at all in the book.

The passages where the narrator begs, bribes, or threatens the reader to burn the book were not as frequent or annoying as other people made them out to be. They did become a more frequent occurrence toward the end of the book; however, even then I did not feel they were overdone, though some people would clearly disagree. In any case, they did not interrupt the flow of the narrative for the most part, and while they did leave a few cliffhangers here and there, they were not just placed randomly in the worst possible place. The only time when this bothered me at all was when the book tried to describe what "I" was feeling or thinking while reading it; since it was completely off base with my reactions, it just didn't work for me at all.

The ending scene, which describes how the character got trapped in the book in the first place also didn't work for me because it didn't mesh well with what happened before that scene and in general it seemed rushed and poorly thought out. Those who read the book might understand what I mean.

Otherwise the book is an enjoyable read. As said before, I didn't find anything in it to be the least bit scary or amusing, but with the way the book was written, I don't think that was the intended reaction, since the book rarely seems to take itself seriously. What the book is, is an amusing and intriguing look at what it might be like to be a demon from hell and it documents the misadventures of that demon nicely. The writing is fluid and I found it easy to get into while still leaving plenty for the reader to ponder long after they put the book down.

If you are new to Clive Barker, I would probably suggest not reading this book first, but instead start off with something along the lines of The Damnation Game, Hellbound Heart, or the Books of Blood. However, if you are a fan of Barker's work, then I would definitely recommend going into this with an open mind; this isn't his best work by any means, but I still enjoyed it nevertheless and hope others do as well.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Lintula Hannu
2.0 out of 5 stars Not that good at all. What a disappointment
Reviewed in Sweden on April 23, 2024
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Always loved Clive Barkers work in fiction and movies so I was eager to read this. But. But what a disappointing experience. So not interesting in that degree that I started jumping pages just to get it done. Before Barkers work had always a notch of sensualism, despair and the macabre but not this one. It felt like it was written to children.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Very Original
Reviewed in Canada on October 28, 2014
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It's not often I will read a whole book in one day. I just couldn't put it down, even though Jakabok wanted me to burn it and even threatening me to do so. I don't want to give any more spoilers, just read this book and trust me, it will be a story you never forget. Clive Barker has quite an imagination as this story will show, quite a unique way to tell a story. You become part of it. There were times I really did think about burning it.
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Cliente Amazon
2.0 out of 5 stars Decepcionante (dicho por un fan de Clive Barker)
Reviewed in Spain on May 8, 2016
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Creo haber leído todo lo publicado por Barker hasta ahora y me declaro fan de su literatura y de alguna de las películas (Hellraiser, Dread, Midnight Meat Train...) y comics (Tapping The Vein) basadas en sus relatos. El concepto de este libro lo hacía a priori tremendamente atractivo (un libro en el que un demonio le habla directamente al lector del mismo), y sus primeras páginas son ciertamente atrayentes, pero el relato no tarda en perder fuelle hasta desinflarse por completo. Clive, siento que has malgastado mi tiempo, pero no pierdo mi fé en tí.
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Graeme B
4.0 out of 5 stars Classic Clive
Reviewed in Australia on May 4, 2015
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Blood and guts....sprinkle with horror and some very dark humour and you have a rollicking yarn about an unfortunate demon from the
Ninth circle of hell
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Max Watt
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for originality, but there are flaws
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 21, 2010
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A posessed book talking directly to a reader is such an interesting idea that I read this novel based only on knowing that. I really enjoyed the concept, it's doubtless a really innovative idea, and the reader being involved in the book is fun too.

Unfortunately, there is not much to back it up. The story of how the demon protagonist escapes from Hell (the World Below, as he names it) is intriguing, and then his first few days on Earth promise a gripping read. Then he meets Quitoon. The latter character is cardboard, making it impossible for the reader to generate any feeling towards him (same, in fact, is pertinent to the other characters). The two of them voyage together, murdering, raping, and commiting other disturbing acts which are briefly mentioned.

They argue and are separated but then the protagonist decides he needs to search for his lost love (who is on his way to discover a Machine which will change the World. Everything else is monotonous and futile, and that's counting the messages about good and evil.

Most of the characters have no involvement at all. Cawley and his group are promising, but then they're instantly gone and we have nothing more to do with them. Quitoon promises the same, but once again, he's cardboard.

Alongside this the book threatens the reader, and attempts to persuade them to BURN THE DAMN BOOK!! and reads into their thoughts and feelings and describes how it's going to kill you, and if I weren't so analytical about things, I probably would have believed it. That part is fun too.

Entertaining, albeit a forgettable lazy Sunday.
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