Here are 1,000 pages' worth of books that are supposed to be good for a wheeze.
Flann O'Brien, The Third Policeman1940 (pub.1967) / Ebook / 212 pages / Ireland
****
This isn't the most poignant eschatological voyage in literature, but it is notable for devoting a substantial chunk of its page count to surreal comedy sketches. It's a shame no publisher would touch it in the author's lifetime, or we could have got more.
David Nobbs, The Death of Reginald Perrin (a.k.a. The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin)
1975 / Ebook / 287 pages / UK***
I haven't seen the TV adaptation that followed the novel, but picked up the idea that the frustrated bloke abandoning his obligations and walking naked into the sea was regarded as something of a nonconformist hero. A middle-aged Neo for the 1970s.
Reading the actual story and Reggie's selfish and thoughtless thought process, he comes off less favourably and it's a bit like being stuck with the unpleasant narrators of Lolita or American Psycho again. But funnier.
Robert Sheckley, Options
1975 / Ebook / 158 pages / USA***
There comes a time in an experimental artist's career when they have to decide whether to stop messing around and be sensible now or to keep pushing boundaries and audiences away.
Robert Sheckley's first novel after an extended leave admirably takes the latter option, though it's not clear whether all the jarring false starts leading to frustrating dead ends are trolling tomfoolery or a genuine breakdown and failure hidden in a postmodern cloak. I like to think it's both.
Robert Sheckley's first novel after an extended leave admirably takes the latter option, though it's not clear whether all the jarring false starts leading to frustrating dead ends are trolling tomfoolery or a genuine breakdown and failure hidden in a postmodern cloak. I like to think it's both.
Alan Moore and Steve Parkhouse, The Complete Bojeffries Saga
1983-91 (collected 1992) / Ecomics / 79 pages / UK
***
Moore's miscellany will keep me going for a few decades yet. This is one of the odder odds and sods, his take on an Addams/Munsters macabre sitcom that starts out brilliantly but runs out of ideas after the introductory tale. The remainder is mostly stock gags and a weird musical, padded out with mock activity pages to justify releasing the paperback.
It's a shame Alan's enthusiasm fizzled out, but it's not like he wasn't busy revolutionising the medium and churning out loads of classics at the time, so it's forgiven.
Viz, The Viz Bumper Book of Shite for Older Boys and Girls
1993 / Ebook / 81 pages / UK
**
Viz has probably made me laugh more than anything else in print, but I always optimistically forget how low the hit rate is. It's worse than ever in this Ripping Yarns-style special, which lacks the curated quality and quantity of the regular comic annuals by presenting bespoke weird content.
Most of the stories are longer, duller and more outlandish than the norm, sending characters to space or flashing back to their teens, and the mock educational articles in-between are a complete waste of time. The sole story that tickled me was Jack Black and His Dog Silver foiling a wallpaper counterfeiting ring, that earned a star.
Steve Aylett, Bigot Hall: A Gothic Childhood
1995 / Ebook / 160 pages / UK
***
Lint is one of the funniest books I've ever read, but like Sheckley and many other writers, starting out with Aylett's most popular one was a foolish decision that was only going to cause downhill disappointment.
Another kooky, ooky sitcom, this is pretty funny in a satisfyingly sick and twisted way, coining idiosyncratic phrases all over the shop and never committing the sin of being realistic. It's begging for ghoulish doodles to accompany every thousand-word sketch in the family album, but white space is provided if you want to scrawl your own.
Fave: The one where the mad scientist wires his nervous system to the greenhouse so he can feel what's going on, inadvertently ensnaring the creature that haunts their nightmares.
Fave: The one where the mad scientist wires his nervous system to the greenhouse so he can feel what's going on, inadvertently ensnaring the creature that haunts their nightmares.
