Couch
— a novel

Pick up a copy:

IndieBound/local book store | Powells.com | Amazon | Audible

selected reviews:

"What Parzybok has done here…is to revive the genre and make it relevant again. And by making the magical MacGuffin a beloved household item that nearly everyone has a complicated relationship with, he gives the story the depth and allure of the best modern literary fiction."

–The Stranger

"Couch hits on an improbable, even fantastic premise, and then rigorously hews to the logic that it generates, keeping it afloat (at times literally) to the end."

Couch in Czech (Gaucč)
Couch in Czech
Couch in Turkish (Koltuk)
Couch in Turkish

—Los Angeles Times

"Once upon a time, Donald Barthelme, Jonathan Lethem, and Umberto Eco attended a film festival together. The featured flicks were Kiss Me Deadly, Fitzcarraldo, and Repo Man. Inspired by this odd bill of fare, the trio set out to collaborate on a novel. The result was Benjamin Parzybok’s debut, Couch."

—The Barnes & Noble Review

"Beyond the good old-fashioned story, Couch meditates on heroism and history, but above all, it’s an argument for shifting your life around every now and then, for getting off the couch and making something happen."

—The L Magazine

"Parzybok’s quirky humor recalls the flaws and successes of early Douglas Adams."

-Publisher’s Weekly

"The book succeeds as a conceptual art piece, a literary travelogue, and a fantastical quest"

– Willamette Week

"It is an upholstered Odyssey unlike any other you are likely to read. It is funny, confusing in places, wild and anarchic. It is part Quixote, part Murakami, part Tom Robbins, part DFS showroom…It has cult hit written all over it."

—Scott Pack, Me and My Big Mouth

Couch in Turkish (Koltuk)

"One of the strangest road novels you’ll ever read. It’s a funny and fun book, and it’s also a very smart book. Fans of Tom Robbins or Christopher Moore should enjoy this."

—Handee Books

"An amazing debut novel about three roommates who get evicted and take their couch with them on a journey that becomes a epic quest that becomes one of the most truly weird and original books I’ve read in ages."

—Karen, A Stranger Here Myself

COUCH - cover



This box is you.

Some adventures can be undertaken name-less. This is not one of them.


Go ahead! it'll be fine...

{{pseudonym}}

Hello {{pseudonym}}!

This is your inventory satchel. Your gathered items, new destinations, and any actions you acquire will all go here. Good luck questing!

(...what is this? Try the help button below)

{{detailTitle}}

Items ({{items.length}} of 18)

  • {{item}}

Destinations ({{destinations.length}} of 5)


Actions ({{actions.length}} of 3)

  

This is a game.

This is a game, built on top of a fairly boring straightforward author's website.

It's part scavenger hunt, part narrative, part fight-scene. The objective, of course, is to fight, and win, against the author.

Items are things you gather. They often look something like this: (←if you've already entered a pseudonym, try clicking on the ambulance...you should see a message 'item added to inventory')

Destinations are places you visit

Actions are things you can do

As you play, new items/destinations/actions will be added to your inventory satchel.

Look for the numbers next to your Items, Destinations,and Actions in order to see how far along you are:
Example
Example number of actions

If you lose the game or wish to become someone else, hit the 'start over' button.

Tip Explore! Many peculiar things are clickable, hidden, or require a certain amount of time to be spent somewhere, or require interaction to work. And as you get deeper into the game, places that were once normal begin to alter.

Fight scene

If you spot any bugs, irregularities, surprises, etc - drop me an email: ben@ideacog.net - thanks for visiting!