Look, I have a lot of catching up o do, here in Blogsvania. But I want to lead off with this little treasure that I got for two bucks at Ye Olde Half-Price Bookes: a kids' adventure/comedy called "Whales On Stilts".
My friends, this book rocks.
It's a gentle riff on pulp adventure novels, told with an absolutely absurd sense of humor -- in fact, I'm jealous that I didn't write it. The characters are charming and endearing, the writing is sharp and incisive and it's genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, even to grumpy old grown-ups like you and me. (Of course, we tend to be the type of grown-ups who would enjoy brief, humorous asides explaining why someone would NOT feel the jolt of a laser striking a mirror, but I think you get my point.)
The best thing about this book, though -- the thing that really hit me where I live, is that it's shot through with a deep, serious feeling of longing. Longing for youth, for endless Summers, for those hazy, gauzy things that make friends friends. Trying to explain what I mean wuld require more time than I have at the moment, so...just go read the book.
Doc Rotwang! sez "Check it out."
