THE MONKEYS

by G. K. Wilkinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 1962

Comic embroilments progress geometrically from a single fantastic situation in this first novel by G. K. Wilkinson. The setting is a small village in the Provence and the innocent perpetrator of all the mischief is Taustarin Maridadon, a bachelor who inherits his uncle's olive grove. M. Maridadon finds olive picking by hand rather dismal, so he decides to train monkeys as pickers. They can be paid in bananas, he reasons. Maridadon teaches four similar females and has only to await the ripening of the olives. Before this happens much else does. The local Communists protest the exploitation of the monkeys and plot against Maridadon. The lady-monkeys become disenchanted with their work once a male distracts them. And Maridadon marries a widow with five children, all superb olive-pickers.... An entertaining comedy of errors is not just for that taste to be acquired; the novel imparts a pleasant flavor of Provencal life, and has a certain bonhomie of manner to implement its satire.

Pub Date: Sept. 13, 1962

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1962

Categories: FICTION