Go Get The Axe

Told without the constraints of the linear narrative, James L. Menzies’ Go Get the Axe is the absurdist story of one family’s journey into the depths of madness, heavy drinking, and impending death — and the humor that can be found at rock bottom.

At the center of several interconnected stories are Jim and Jessica Drinkwine, siblings who were torn apart by one death, and just may be reunited by another. The Drinkwines have a familial euphemism for the mental illness that they’re all inextricably tied to: they call it “The Shouters,” an affliction that takes on many forms and faces and leaves no member unscathed. Some drink to fight it off. Some do worse.

Go Get the Axe weaves back and forth from past to present, from conscious to subconscious mind, from the living to the dead, and ultimately shows us that self-forgiveness and redemption may be possible in this life.