Starred review from January 30, 1995
The gonzo humor and imagination that popularize Pinkwater as both NPR commentator and children's author permeate every line of his hilarious third novel for adults. Echoing A Confederacy of Dunces in tone, iconoclasm and choice of subject matter (right down to the inclusion of fat men, hot dog vendors and Trailways buses), this is an out-there New York Jewish fantasy of dizzying proportions and convolutions. Hugely obese and a ``lousy" editor,' Milton Cramer is murdered and finds himself in a Heaven that is a Catskills resort where everyone is ``circumferentially challenged,'' God is a stand-up comic and there are no prunes. In flashbacks, Milton's nemesis turns out to have been Milo Levi-Nathan, former employee of Bird Wirld , owned by his stepfather, Felix MacGregor. Milo subsequently becomes a counterman at Rubenstein's Orthodox Hot Dogs and sends proposals for novels (like Mamzers from Cassiopea ) to Milton. Milton rejects them all, including one he has lost without reading. So when Felix anoints Milo as a son of his ancestral Blint (you have to be there) and orders him to fulfill his destiny, Milo murders Milton. Throughout, the spherical antagonists bounce up against one another and a riotous supporting cast, including a face-stuffing psychiatrist, a channeling literary thief, deli owners, publishing moguls, diet gurus and big women. You need a wacko sense of humor for this one, but those who qualify will read it a dozen times over and laugh out loud each time. Author tour.
January 29, 1996
Set in San Francisco, Shigekuni's first novel draws on the disparate voices of four generations of a Japanese American family.