M. THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER GOES TO MARS

by Thomas Disch ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 3, 1988

This sequel takes its appliance protagonists to outer space--which, unfortunately, is not far enough away to avoid its predecessor's stylistic problems. Disch postulates that the hearing aid invented by Einstein and subsequently purchased at a rummage sale by Madam--owner of the toaster and its friends--teaches the radio enough about broadcast signals to enable it to receive messages from Mars. When these messages reveal an invasion of killer appliances on the verge of rescuing Earth from biological domination, the toaster and its friends undertake a journey to talk them out of it. They succeed--but not before the toaster has been elected their new Supreme Commander, prepared to lead the invasion force into interstellar exploration as an alternative to attacking Earth. In his clumsy style, Disch packs a lot of moderately funny and interesting ideas into a plot that plods rather than builds. His talking appliances, however, are not believable even in the context of the book, existing only as mouthpieces for his whimsies. The talking-appliance genre may have been appropriated by Mr. Disch but, as yet, it eludes his mastery.

Pub Date: June 3, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 72

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1988

Categories: CHILDREN'S