Jeffrey Price (1) (1949–)

This book is as improbable as the title suggests but is all the more fun because of it.

Set in Vanadium, a town built around a worked-out uranium mine in South West Colorado, "Improbable Fortunes" tells the story of a likeable, impeccably honest, and almost unbelievably naïve, ranch hand called Buster,

The story opens with a dramatic and slightly zany disaster, involving a mud slide a destroyed luxury ranch house that is, for some reason, full of cattle, a damsel in distress and Buster, show more apparently to blame for it all.

Most of the rest of the book is spent recounting Buster's progress towards this event from his birth onwards.

Abandoned at birth, Buster is raised by a variety of foster parents who gift him, almost accidentally, with a wide range of skills that will become useful to him in later life

The families that Buster lives with each has something odd about them and each suffers an unexpected tragedy that soon gives Buster a reputation as Jonah or worse.

Buster is guided through his chaotic life by the local sheriff who acts as Buster's guardian angel for reasons that only become clear towards the end of the novel.

The sheriff, like many of the other characters, is a larger than life individual with complex, and sometimes concealed, motives for his actions.

Few people in this book, apart from Buster, are who they at first seem to be. The fates of the characters are as dramatic and as interwoven in surprising ways as those of characters in a Restoration Comedy.

Although many bad things are done by many bad people, some of whom are the same people you thought were good people, I was left with a persistent sense of optimism and hope.

“Improbable Fortunes” is the kind of book that you can only really get by reading it, not be reading about it. Even then, if you're like me, you'll be smiling, scratching your head and saying "I've no idea what just happened but I enjoyed it so much I want ti to happen again”. show less

When Shrek the ogre's father-in-law dies, he is left as the heir to Far Far Away unless he can find the only other person with a legitimate claim to the throne. While Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots set off on a journey to find this heir, who happens to be a loser of a kid named Arthur, Princess Fiona, pregnant with her first child, is left to face an invasion of villains, led by the evil and handsome Prince Charming, who are intent on creating their own "happily ever after." This movie, show more while still fun and intelligent with smooth CGI animation, is weaker than its two predecessors in the franchise. The story, with its disparate elements of anxiety over impending parenthood, examination of what it means to be a loser or a hero, villains trying to rewrite their stories, and examination of the motif of princesses waiting to be rescued, feels like it is trying to be too many things to too many people, and never settles on its own vision. Some bathroom humor and swashbuckling action makes the film deserve its PG rating. Recommended for middle schoolers and early high schoolers who have followed the Shrek franchise or who delight in twisted fairy tales or off-beat takes on the legend of King Arthur. show less

This movie scared the buh-jesus out of me when I first saw it as a kid. As an adult, however, it has become a traditional watch that may-or-may-not be constantly on repeat in December. The humor in this version captures two (or more) types of sarcasm. It's one of those movies that seems to get better with age. Give it a go, and see what you'll be referencing the next time you're dressing for a night out.

Adds a lot of extra material to establish Whoville's materialism and expand on characters. I could only make it half-way through, so cheesy. The script did include a narration of Seuss's original poem but the animated version is better.