A witty, enjoyable distraction.
Manos’ (Lucifer’s Revenge, 2012) silly, irreverent book covers a lot of weird ground, including implants in teenagers' heads, gurus and magic berries.
Advice columnists will enjoy this book, as will many aspiring genre-fiction writers, cat lovers (and fearers), extraterrestrials, evil geniuses and their nemeses, poets, preteen veterinarians and molluscophiles. In short, there’s something here for everyone. The book consists entirely of letters written to and or by “Babalu,” who dispenses advice in an undefined but apparently at least partially public forum, like a column of sorts. Babalu has a faithful audience of readers who come to him repeatedly for advice on issues large and small. Some even reach out to text Babalu when a call to 911 might have been in order. Manos’ quirky, deadpan style—reminiscent of Douglas Adams and A Prairie Home Companion as well as Monty Python—uncovers a community full of overlapping absurdities and dysfunction, from the family of aliens (“Not you know, undocumented aliens, but like from outer space”) that just wants to blend in to the man who can communicate only through poetry to the out-of-work whaler who wants a job screening Babalu’s mail. The book is pure fantasy, but one suspects it has roots in real life: Care of the Difficult Patient: A Nurse’s Guide (2005), another previous title by Manos, presumably also addresses the notion of recurrent questions and how to handle them with humor. Manos’ writing is terribly clever, and turns of phrase—“One exorcism is almost always sufficient if you put enough meat into it”—interweave with plotlines and a seemingly solid base of knowledge about quantum physics to make the book a treat even for readers who may think they’re above such follies. Black-and-white, Edward Gorey–like illustrations by Liebowitz add to the weird fun.
A witty, enjoyable distraction.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2013
ISBN: 978-0615810843
Page Count: 234
Publisher: Peter J Manos
Review Posted Online: Dec. 27, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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