Can Your Heart Stand the Shocking Facts? A Deep Dive into an American Masterpiece, Edward D. Wood, Jr.’s Plan 9 from Outer Space*
by Dr. Brentwood Masterling, M.F.A., D.V.M., Ph. D.
*(a parody by Daniel M. Kimmel, author of Jar Jar Binks Must Die and Father of the Bride of Frankenstein)
 
Daniel M. Kimmel has made us think about movies as the veteran critic who wrote the Hugo finalist Jar Jar Binks Must Die… and other observations about science fiction movies. He's made us laugh as the author of Shh! It's a Secret: a novel about aliens, Hollywood, and the Bartender's Guide, Time on My Hands: My Misadventures in Time Travel, and Father of the Bride of Frankenstein. Now, for the first time anywhere, in the guise of his pompous alter ego Dr. Brentwood Masterling, M.F.A., D.V.M., Ph. D., he gets to do both.
 
Can Your Heart Stand the Shocking Facts? is indeed a "deep dive" into the world of director Edward D. Wood, Jr.'s Golden Turkey Award winner for Worst Film, Plan 9 from Outer Space. In it, Dr. Masterling provides an annotated complete transcript of the movie, along with an essay about Wood, and several questions for further discussion. Herein you'll learn how star Bela Lugosi cleverly died before the film was even made, and how Plan 1 had been to bring a gift basket to Earth. Is any of it true? As the Amazing Criswell asks in the film's stirring climax, "Can you prove that it didn't happen?"
 
Reviews:
 
"It's a fun, meta-satirical, faux-scholarly, bizarro-world critique of Ed Wood's classic flick." —Hugo- and Nebula-Award winner David Brin, author of The Ancient Ones
 
"As if Plan 9 wasn't hilarious enough by itself, Kimmel's inane alter-ego's analysis of the script is laugh-out-loud funny!" —Michael A. Ventrella, author of Big Stick
 
"Can Your Heart Stand the Shocking Facts is not for the faint-hearted—because the faint-hearted might collapse with hysterical laughter while reading it. Here's the book we never knew we needed until it was written: the thesis parody of Plan 9 from Outer Space! Whether you love, hate, or love-hate Ed Wood's legendary disaster, be prepared for a whole new take, thanks to extensive annotations from Daniel M. Kimmel (as Dr. Brentwood Masterling), who wields a razor-sharp pen on a very, very blunt object." —Randee Dawn, author of Tune in Tomorrow
 
"A combination of classic parody with the panache of satire and the sparkle of a good zinger every now and again, this faux PhD thesis on the worst movie ever made strikes knowingly home." —critic and author Nat Segaloff
 
"Winner of 'creative title of the month' goes to this parody offering a deep dive into legendary director Ed Wood's most famous (and most maligned) film." —Gizmodo