Bob Roosevelt is an ageing Private Detective, reformed hippy. He also has a sharp-tongued Guardian Angel named Pea Brain who during life was a 14th century monk. When he stops at a greasy spoon diner while on a road trip, he bumps into a friend that he hasn’t seen on almost four decades. The Guardian Angel warms him against getting involved though he cannot explain why and sure enough, as he is returning to the family home of his old friend, the friend is killed. Continue reading
Tag Archives: comedy fiction
Book Review: Fifty Sheds of Grey – A Parody
This is a parody in every sense of the word. Not only is it a play on the title of the best selling worst book of all time, nor is it just a parody of the theme between “shades” and “sheds” transporting the action from an erotic dungeon into a garden-based wooden shack and the innuendo that goes with the jokes, but it is also a parody of E.L. James simplistic writing style.
Let me make this clear: I have not read the book on which this parody is based, nor do I ever intend to but I am full aware of the over-used phrases “bites top lip pensively” etc, the schoolboy errors in the writing style and juvenile tone of the prose. All of this is recreated here to provide laughs merely beyond the double entendre and worplay. This is a very British sense of humour so if you do not like British comedy, it probably won’t be for you. Continue reading
Fantasy and SciFi Comedy writers
Today’s ‘Post a Day’ question is:
Who are the three funniest people in the world?
Instead, I’m going to discuss three writers who manage the difficult task of fusing science fiction or fantasy with comedy.
Terry Pratchett: Arguably the king of them all. Set on Discworld, a flat planet that rests on the back of four elephants that stand on the back of a giant turtle that swims through space, Terry Pratchett’s fiction through both comedy and fantasy offers a unique insight into how he sees our own world. He deals with big issues in a way that can often surprise and delight. Hogfather, for example, is arguably the most serious statement about the meaning of Christmas since Dickens invented Scrooge. And Pratchett does it with humour and warmth.
Of particular note: Hogfather, Nightwatch, Small Gods
Robert Rankin: Most of his titles are playing on words or phrases (like: Sex, Drugs and Sausage Rolls; The Brentford Chainstore Massacre; The Da-Da Dee-Da-Da Code) and usually his fiction comes across as a parody of a particular social trend. The Da-Da Dee-Da-Da Code for example was written around the time that Dan Brown’s remarkably similarly titled conspiracy novel was storming book charts. Decidedly more adult than Pratchett with less philosophy and a greater dose of the abstract, the gags come thick and fast and can sometimes be easy to miss.
Of particular note: Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse, Knees up Mother Earth, The Da-Da Dee-Da-Da Code
Jasper Fforde: Most definitely the writer for avid bookworms and fiction writers, Fforde’s alternate reality Swindon in his Thursday Next series is a delight to any native of the town. But even better is the world of fiction coming to life. It is possible to enter into a book and interfere with the plot (Thursday is taken to court for changing the end of Jane Eyre). Books that never get published get lost in a void, it is a world where typos are caused by bugs called grammasites, where Miss Havisham is the ultimate petrol head and croquet is as physical as ice hockey and twice as dangerous.
Of particular note: The Eyre Affair, The Big Over Easy.