Rate this book

The Book Of Jokes (2009)

by Momus(Favorite Author)

3.65 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1564785610 (ISBN13: 9781564785619)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Dalkey Archive Press

review 1: each chapter of this novel is structured around a dirty joke of some kind, presented as a real world scenario. we come to learn that the protagonist's life is shaped by other people's jokes, and that he attempts to inject dignity and humanity into these jokes (and his life) by retelling them in his way. it's complicated because the subject of most of these jokes (murder, incest, child molestation, beastiality) don't leave much room for dignity or humanity.book of jokes suffers the emotional pitfalls of most postmodern fiction; the focus is on structure and form with little effort towards a pathological anchor. there's some boccaccio and chaucer in here, and it is really, really funny - but I often felt there should be more in the way of a beating h... moreeart.
review 2: This book caught me by surprise. The premise - that of a family ruled by a "Law of Jokes" in the same manner most families are ruled by, say, the Law of Gravity - is clever enough, but I wasn't sure if momus could pull it off for 200 pages. He does, though, and the result is damn funny. Not for the faint of heart or the politically correct, but then how many of those types would pick up this book in the first place?This definitely deserves readers. less

Download links for: The Book of Jokes

Advertising