THE PINK WAR

by Eino & Eric Sjoquist Hanski ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 29, 1982

Hanski and Sjoquist are identified as ""best-selling Swedish writers,"" but we wouldn't be surprised to learn that they're really Swedish schoolkids--and wrote this dumb, leaden fantasy as a social-studies project. The weak US President, on advice from a Jewish intellectual named Goldhead, abandons the US, militarism, and traditional foreign aid; instead he declares a ""War of Love,"" inviting the USSR chairman to debate capitalism vs. communism on TV--and the leaders end up agreeing to fight only via ""gift-bombings"" of consumer goods (all US items dyed pink, all USSR items dyed blue). Within a month US unemployment has ceased and the President is a super-hero. Meanwhile, the Kremlin's in a shambles, with riots and chaos--especially after the US deports all gangsters to Russia. And finally Moscow is forced to institute economic reforms, while America (despite some fascistic excesses) is doing splendidly. All in all: one of the least publication-worthy imports in recent memory--with awkward dialogue, half-baked plotting, childish treatment of politics, and ethnic material (re Jews, Italians, and a ""Negress"") sure to offend just about anybody.

Pub Date: March 29, 1982

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Beaufort--dist. by Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1982

Categories: FICTION