urban@trwspp.UUCP (05/08/84)
() Daniel M. Pinkwater (his real name) is a quite prolific writer whose rather peculiar books have gathered something of a cult following. This is particularly unusual because his books are all marketed as "juveniles", and indeed follow many conventions of juvenile fantasy (young characters, simpler language, etc.). His works range from picture books intended for young readers to books intended for teenage audiences. One of his loyal fans has described Pinkwater as "a twinkie who doesn't have both oars in the water." These books are strange. The humor is surrealistic and witty. Recurring themes include pop culture and junk food. To give you an idea of the sort of things we're talking about, his titles include "Lizard Music", "Fat Men from Space", "Yobgorgle, Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario", "Alan Mendelson, Boy from Mars", "Young Adult Novel", "The Last Guru", "The Hoboken Chicken Emergency", "Atilla the Pun", "The Magic Moscow", "Slaves of Spiegel", and "The Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death", which appeared about a year ago. The sequel to this last, "The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror", has just appeared and is the best of his books to date. Besides the usual surrealistic hilarity, this book actually demonstrates that Pinkwater can write quality prose. It's about werewolves, an Asian avacado relative, a guru from the Serious Hat sect of Tibet and New Jersey, Napoleon pastry, the Napoleon of crime, a shopping center called the Grand Mall, awful poetry, drive-in movies, pyromania, fresh-baked stale doughnuts, and of course, the Snark Theatre. The dust-jacket blurb asserts that the book can be read "at fourteen different levels" making it superior to Alice in Wonderland, "which can only be read at nine." Find your local children's-book section and pick up some of the titles I mentioned above. Too good for kids! (neeble-neeble!) Mike