THE BOLLO CAPER

by Art Buchwald ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 19, 1974

This is a neater than average blend of the commonplace situation, enviably straightforward unfolding, and arch contemporary allusions that frequently result when an adult writer of some wit undertakes a ""fable"" for children. Belle is a leopard, ""the most beautiful male leopard in all of Africa,"" who is captured and shipped to America so that Felix the Furrier can make a coat for Zsa-Zsa-like Lulu La Looche to wear to the Oscar Awards dinner. Belle escapes his captors at Kennedy and on the advice of a Central Park lion hops a Metroliner for Washington to get himself declared an endangered species. Even with the further aid of a tiger named Exxon and a ""well-known musical conductor"" who throws a Park Avenue cocktail party to raise Bollo's legal fees, the leopard finds himself in a hot spot on the White House lawn -- until the President is suddenly compelled to come up with a last minute gift to the visiting Emperor of Ethiopia. This has the look, the conservationist base, and something of the tone of the Matthiessen/Pene du Bois Seal Pool (KR, 1972) from the same publisher, but all told Buchwald's story is stronger and his humor generally cagier.

Pub Date: April 19, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 56

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1974

Categories: FICTION