"Gnarl!" is the companion volume to "Seek!" and probably one of the best story collections I've ever read. Featuring almost the entirety of Rucker's professional short-story output, "Gnarl!" includes hysterical and visionary pieces reminiscent of authors ranging from Kurt Vonnegut to Bruce Sterling (whose collaborative effort "Big Jelly" is featured here alongside gems co-written with Marc Laidlaw and Paul de Fillipo). As far as collections go, "Gnarl!" is becomingly introspective, and can be read as a transrealist autobiography. Rucker creates grim futures and funny scenarios that cover the spectrum of human emotion. Pac-Man addiction. Religious fervor. Microgravity sex. Beatniks and hydrogen bombs. Time warps and deranged aliens. "Gnarl!'s" got it all. You can't come away from the experience unmoved.