A wildly funny sendup of the politically chaotic 1960s.
An undercover informant infiltrates an activist group that intends to nominate a pig for president at the Democratic National Convention in 1968 in this debut novel.
Corman Hodges served in Vietnam. As the result of some terrible misunderstanding never unambiguously described by the author, the veteran is compelled to work clandestinely for COINTELPRO, a “secret unit charged with snuffing the anti-war protests,” under the authority of the FBI. He insinuates himself into a band of Yippies—politically activist hippies—committed to nominating a pig for president during the tumultuous Democratic Convention in Chicago, a move the group believes will blanket the government in shame. The head of the Yippies is the infamous Abbie Hoffman, who puts the perennially agitated Sal in charge of the pig, dubbed “Pigasus” but frequently referred to as the president. Corman’s job is to play caretaker to the pig and to vigilantly watch Sal, of whom some in the group are suspicious. The feds are desperate to shut down Hoffman’s crew—they suspect that the Yippies plan to release LSD into Chicago’s water supply or maybe use the pig to hide an explosive device to perpetrate a terrorist attack, the possibilities described with delicious comic verve by Schneider. The feds command Corman to plant an envelope of heroin in the radicals’ headquarters, but he grows anxious that the bureau will eventually turn on him, too, and starts to plot his own escape. Everything goes awry, though, when the pig is captured by the cops and delivered to an animal-processing plant, from which Corman rescues him, a dangerous move. The author graphically reproduces the feral turbulence of the time and the shared cynicism of the two warring sides. Schneider displays a keen sensitivity to the politically surreal—Hoffman’s crowd really seems to believe its mischievous prank will topple the despotic powers that rule America. Further, Corman is the perfect middle ground between the two battling factions, a straight man to their humorous perversions and completely free of ideological baggage—he merely wants to extricate himself from the madness. The plot drags on at too great a length but remains a hilarious depiction of a strange time.
A wildly funny sendup of the politically chaotic 1960s.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 284
Publisher: Glimmerglass Publishing Co.
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Rather than settle for a coming-of-age or travails-of-immigrants story, Hosseini has folded them both into this searing...
Here’s a real find: a striking debut from an Afghan now living in the US. His passionate story of betrayal and redemption is framed by Afghanistan’s tragic recent past.
Moving back and forth between Afghanistan and California, and spanning almost 40 years, the story begins in Afghanistan in the tranquil 1960s. Our protagonist Amir is a child in Kabul. The most important people in his life are Baba and Hassan. Father Baba is a wealthy Pashtun merchant, a larger-than-life figure, fretting over his bookish weakling of a son (the mother died giving birth); Hassan is his sweet-natured playmate, son of their servant Ali and a Hazara. Pashtuns have always dominated and ridiculed Hazaras, so Amir can’t help teasing Hassan, even though the Hazara staunchly defends him against neighborhood bullies like the “sociopath” Assef. The day, in 1975, when 12-year-old Amir wins the annual kite-fighting tournament is the best and worst of his young life. He bonds with Baba at last but deserts Hassan when the latter is raped by Assef. And it gets worse. With the still-loyal Hassan a constant reminder of his guilt, Amir makes life impossible for him and Ali, ultimately forcing them to leave town. Fast forward to the Russian occupation, flight to America, life in the Afghan exile community in the Bay Area. Amir becomes a writer and marries a beautiful Afghan; Baba dies of cancer. Then, in 2001, the past comes roaring back. Rahim, Baba’s old business partner who knows all about Amir’s transgressions, calls from Pakistan. Hassan has been executed by the Taliban; his son, Sohrab, must be rescued. Will Amir wipe the slate clean? So he returns to the hell of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and reclaims Sohrab from a Taliban leader (none other than Assef) after a terrifying showdown. Amir brings the traumatized child back to California and a bittersweet ending.
Rather than settle for a coming-of-age or travails-of-immigrants story, Hosseini has folded them both into this searing spectacle of hard-won personal salvation. All this, and a rich slice of Afghan culture too: irresistible.Pub Date: June 2, 2003
ISBN: 1-57322-245-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2003
SEEN & HEARD
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An excellent debut that combines wit, humor, and emotional intensity.
A woman refuses to be with her soul mate, but life intervenes, making her choice harder and more heartbreaking.
Josh meets Kristen with a bang, literally, when she slams on her brakes and he runs into her. There's minimal damage, so she disappears. Minutes later they discover that their best friends are engaged to each other and they were slated to meet that day at the fire station where Brandon and Josh work. Josh is immediately smitten, but Kristen has a boyfriend, Tyler, who’s deployed overseas. Counting down the days until he gets home for good, Kristen adamantly puts Josh in the friend zone, refusing to acknowledge their growing closeness and her spiking attraction. Then Tyler reenlists, effectively breaking up with her. Kristen and Josh sleep together, but she slams the door on his hope for a real relationship, telling him it will never be more than a friends-with-benefits situation. Josh thinks Kristen is mourning the end of her relationship with Tyler, but really, Kristen realizes Josh is her perfect match. Unfortunately she also knows Josh wants children, which would be nearly impossible for them due to her malfunctioning reproductive system. The two reach a painful impasse, but when tragedy strikes, they find themselves reevaluating their relationship. Josh knows he’ll never be happy without Kristen, but he’ll have to think outside the box to convince her to take a chance on them. Jimenez tackles a myriad of issues in her debut and hits each one with depth and sensitivity. Kristen’s take-no-prisoners attitude is smart and sassy and perfectly balanced by Josh’s easygoing resourcefulness, though at times her lack of transparency while jerking him around makes her seem more immature than self-sacrificing.
An excellent debut that combines wit, humor, and emotional intensity.Pub Date: July 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5387-1560-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
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