Dear
Readers,
I
was sitting in front of the TV at 4:55 pm yesterday, anxiously awaiting The
Bill O’Reilly show to come on the air. I had seen his talking points rant, from
a few days before, and was curious to see his approach in handling the
avalanche of comments from all over the world. Bill continued to boldly support
his talking points and seemed more self assured than ever, if that is possible.
Thankfully we’re all entitled to our
opinions and accorded the right by our constitution to voice them. The part of
the show that I found most entertaining was his offering up suggestions for vacation
beach reads. To that end he recommended Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen. Bill did
voice a cautionary tone due to graphic content, but he certainly gave the book a
huge thumb up. Wow, I thought, how do I get a shout out by Bill O’Reilly? I can only imagine how big a jump in sales an
endorsement like that would generate.
I suspect, the only way he will ever
see my book, would be if I attended one of his Bolder & Fresher shows, got
a seat in the front row and threw a copy on the stage at his feet. Of course
that would probably result in me leaving the venue in handcuffs. Anybody think
I should try sending him a copy instead?
The mail room clerk would surely enjoy it.
For those
of you who didn’t see it, here is my review of Bad Monkey;
"There
is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and
hurt."--Erma Bombeck
I would add to Erma
Bombeck's quote; "there's a thin line between funny and ghastly."
Carl Hiaasen doesn't carefully balance between satire and black humor in the
opening paragraphs of this book, he jumps feet first into a situational comedy.
The character of James Mayberry is so well crafted by the author, that his
arrogance, and shamelessness, combine with a bold audacity, and leaves no doubt
in the readers mind as to his true nature.
What should be shockingly abhorrent to the
reader, is rendered skillfully by Hiaasen into a macabre, cynical sort of
humor. The reader is left to experience both laughter and discomfort
simultaneously.
The writing is first rate; however, I did
find it distracting when every reference to the Mayberry character included
both his first and last name. I think after this character was introduced,
further reference could have been on a first name basis. A very small criticism
on the whole.
I liked that the protagonist, Andrew Yancy
isn't perfect, in fact far from it. For me this made the character more
believable, and I found him colorful besides.
I thoroughly enjoyed Bad Monkey and I will be
looking for another book by this author, in fact I just might fire up Google
and search out his newspaper column.
I end this review with
another quote. "The most wasted of
all days is one without laughter."-E.E. Cummings
The time I spent reading Bad Monkey was not
time misspent.
I’m on the last chapter of Brad Thor’s
latest thriller; Hidden Order. I will
make an effort to get a review written sometime tomorrow.
Take care,
Shelley
Riley
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