Cameron Straughan

Cameron A. Straughan is an award-winning writer. He was born in a small, conservative lake-side town whose motto was “don’t change anything” and its social machinations - and their impact upon him - would not be out of place in any given Morrissey lyric. A loner by nature, his endless hours spent fishing and exploring the local woods and waterways led him to a career as a fisheries biologist.

His career led him across Canada and down into New York – where he provided outdoor education for at-risk-youth. He slowly became more interested in the social and cultural aspects of science – in particular science communication. This led him to pursue two additional degrees - a Master of Environmental Studies and a Bachelor of Education. For his Master’s Degree, he made a documentary on Algonquin Park wolves. As a teacher, he taught secondary science and biology, and primary school, for 12 years in England. He now works as a STEM teacher in a Northern Ontario First Nations school.

His vivid dreams, fascination with surrealism, love of photography and film-making, and professional experience with both scientific and technical writing helped develop his unique, clean, matter-of-fact visual style – where the commonplace is juxtaposed with the fantastic.

His blog, “Trapped on a Rock Floating in Space”, is a perfect encapsulation of his view of life and his desire to reach out and share ideas with similar-minded individuals. The blog’s tagline sums him up well: “The singular adventures of a lone traveller drifting through time, searching for peace, comfort and meaning.”

“The Surreal Adventures of Anthony Zen” Reviews

"Reminded me of ‘Rhinoceros’ - Ionesco. A commentary on the absurdity of the human condition made tolerable only by self-delusion. Shows struggle of individual (Anthony) to maintain his integrity and identity alone in a world where others have succumbed to ‘beauty’ of brute force, natural energy and/or mindlessness.” -- Colette Stevenson

"Your stories reminded me of a cross between Lewis Carroll and Richard Brautigan" -- Larry Logan SATIRE - THE JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY SATIRE

"North American authors, with the exception of a few (Kurt Vonnegut Jr., et al.), have very little sense of the absurd, something you’ve been cultivating, I think." -- C.F. Kennedy DRIFT/NECESSARY PRESS

"We like the character and the writing." -- The Editors BLOOD AND APHORISMS

"I enjoyed reading all four of your submissions [including the Anthony Zen stories 'Anthony Has Some Fun' and 'Another Day at Work']. You obviously have a well-developed sense of humor." -- Lisa B. Neuberger AMAZING STORIES

"I [found] your Anthony Zen stories funny. In fact, I really enjoyed them. You obviously have a flair for nonsense, and a knack for turning cliches on their heads. The ability to find comic potential in the everyday mundanities of life is pretty rare, and the stuff that good comic writers are made of. I think it's obvious you have this same type of funny bone." -- Tim Bowling FLASH MAGAZINE

“This book is certain to break up any reading rut, just let the silliness and bizarre tales take you away to a completely fantastic and strange land.”

-- Amanja Lambert AMANJA READS TOO MUCH

“When the book begins with poor Anthony being harassed by his ringing cat, being late for work, and rushing out the door forgetting to put on pants, you know you're in for a treat. Anthony is a likable character with a good sense of humor. His friends, Harry and Chubby, had me laughing out loud when they were prank-calling Anthony. When Anthony explains that he enjoyed prank-calling the kids in the neighborhood, telling them that "he saw Bear Gryls climbing up onto their roof and disappearing down their chimney," I had a good chuckle. That was a creative and a well-thought out scenario that you wouldn't think of when he first mentioned prank calls. All 23 short stories have the same theme, mainly the "how-to" deal with a work/life balance, dealing with family, and maintaining the kid spirit that exists in all of us while living an adult life. The Surreal Adventures of Anthony Zen is a great book if you are looking for a quick read.”

-- Danielle Watkins THE BOOK SMUGGLER’S DEN

"Anthony Zen dreamed about a costume party at a massage parlor where men could get their pants hand-washed without taking them off. Then, a man dressed up as Sigmund Freud suddenly showed up to take notes on Anthony's behavior. It was such a bizarre and vivid dream. Thankfully, the loud ringing of Anthony's alarm clock pulled him from his deep slumber. Wait a minute, Anthony doesn’t have an alarm clock!

Follow Cameron A. Straughan's The Surreal Adventures of Anthony Zen, where contemporary life is met with absurd versions of every regular aspect of life. In this story, where time is relative, we will be introduced to Anthony’s simple yet exciting life and his struggle to complete the tasks he needs to do. This book, full of humor and silliness, would show readers how a person can achieve inner peace and happiness from seemingly unusual events.

My first thought about the book is that Anthony is very relatable. The way his attention keeps drifting from one subject to another is like how my own brain functions. His easily distracted mind becomes even more hilarious as the scene twists into a weird and silly event. I’ve never seen or read a book as absurd as this one. This book is even more illogical than any episode of “The Amazing World of Gumball.”

The author’s writing prowess is immaculate. The author incorporated a lot of themes and literary devices, all the while keeping it light-hearted and fun to read. One writing style I liked was paragraph repetition. A phrase or event was smoothly repeated in the next scene but with different characters involved. It was hilariously genius.

The only thing I didn’t like was the violence described in this book. The violence fits the theme of accepting every absurd plotline as usual. However, it just feels weird to take extreme violence so lightly. It’s just a little scene, though. So, it didn’t affect my enjoyment by much.

In conclusion, I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I only found a few grammatical mistakes. The author is a gifted writer. The writing style and humor are perfect. The hilarious jokes are executed very well. The whole book is truly a story I would only accept without batting an eye if it was from my dreams. Reading this gives me the impression of dreaming bizarre things while awake. It’s kind of funny to be so accepting of all the absurdity while consciously aware of the impossibility of it.

I would recommend this to people who love novels, cartoons, or movies that have a genre of absurdist fiction. I think this is the type of book that anyone would enjoy because it is just like the cartoons we’ve been exposed to as children."

-- Eunice Geres ONLINEBOOKCLUB