A lively Vonnegut-esque social critique that pretends to be esoteric buffoonery.
This encore anthology of misanthropic writings offers another dose of satirical drama, essays, illustrations, asides, and a print-your-own Ph.D. diploma.
In this work, Reneau (MisAnthropology: A Florilegium of Bahumbuggery, 2003) includes four absurd “conversations” (dramas), “pontifications” (essays), and sketches by Mexican political cartoonist Rogelio Naranjo. The diverse subject matter includes the O.J. Simpson trial reimagined in the form of an opera, and a sci-fi drama with a gender-bending married couple intent on populating a planet. In his essay “The Perils of Satire,” Reneau discusses the risks and rewards of the form, saying “a ‘bad’ argument against the cause you promote can perhaps be more effective than a ‘good’ argument in favor of it.” He follows this up with “The Bugby Legacy,” a satirical guide to running an organized religion as an ultra-successful business. The book is peppered with various caricatures—like the bombastic news anchor Yam Snosnibor— who go blithely about their business, unaware of their human foibles. Playful buffoonery, clever wordplay, and ridiculous antics serve to lampoon humanity and religion. Reneau’s tone is prevailingly lighthearted. “We hitched a ride on a tedious trek to this turkeyhole in the sky?” asks a character who has just spent millions of light-years traveling to a new home. Readers should feel as if they are in on the jokes, even if some of the 50-cent words and creative language can be overwhelming: “Our task is to entice negotiables from the wallets of the illiterati, and convince these yokels that they will want to be able to comment knowingly on this Pillar of Western Literature at their water cooler or sewing circle.” The occasionally digressive conversations debate the American justice system and the First and Second Amendments. Reneau also tells jokes about various groups and icons, including the NRA and Abraham: “He was stopped from consummating this cockamamie deed when an angel of Yahweh suddenly appeared in the nickotime and assured this obedient idiot, who was just following orders, that he was only kidding.”
A lively Vonnegut-esque social critique that pretends to be esoteric buffoonery.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-9729549-1-4
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Donlazaro Translations
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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