And the Ass Saw the Angel is the first novel by Australian musician and singer Nick Cave, relating the story of a deeply disturbed mute named Euchrid Eucrow. Born to an abusive mother and a father obsessed with animal torture and trap-building, Euchrid’s existence as an outcast in a valley inhabited by religious fanatics drives him further down the slope of madness, flooding him with religious visions until he finally turns on the people who made his life hell.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: The novel started life as The Birthday Party’s song “Swampland”, which depicted the protagonist’s death.
- Cannibal Clan: Euchrid’s father defected from such a clan; rather than killing and eating people, he now tortures animals and eventually stabs his wife to death.
- Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Euchrid’s father threatens to rip off his head and shit down his neck.
- Deep South: The novel is set in the vile hick town of Ukulore, founded by a psychotic prophet, where the average family tree is a wreath and the default mental state is either blackout drunk or pious sadist.
- Enfant Terrible: Beth, though Euchrid can’t seem to decide whether or not she’s a demonic witch.
- Funetik Aksent: The whole novel is narrated by a nutball from the Deep South.
- Mon: A creepy variant, wherein Euchrid starts collecting wild animals in cages and teaching them how to fight. He ultimately unleashes them on the town.
- Quicksand Sucks: The framing device of the story, as Euchrid relates his tale while sinking into a bog.
- Rape as Backstory: Euchrid mentions towards the end that he was raped once, but he is already so completely insane that Rape Leads to Insanity is rendered moot.
- Redemption in the Rain: Inverted, as the sick town is made worse by several years of greasy rain that kills all the sugar crops.
- Signature Style: The novel covers many of Cave’s musical inspirations, like flowers, stomach-churning violence, discussion of literature (often in very unlikely places), and semi-heretical yet extremely pious examinations of religion.
- Southern Gothic: Many of Nick Cave’s songs are inspired by Southern Gothic themes, so it makes sense that his first novel is in this genre.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: While the story first seems to be Magic Realism, the narrator is completely insane, so it is unclear how much is “real” versus happening in his own head.
- Villainous Incest: Euchrid’s father defected from an incestuous clan of cannibalistic serial killers.
