Millard Kaufman (1917–2009)

Well made film noir with memorable lead performances. Cummins and Dall are immediately attracted to each other because of their love for guns. But when they run off together and start a a life of crime, bad things happen--imagine that! You know where it is going, but at least it gets there with style!

This short novel is such fun and so depressing to read--it's a true satire and reminded me of "Catch 22" in its spoofs of the military but is about much more than those misadventures. Kaufman is--not surprisingly, given his roots in comics--a genius at coming up with iconic images for his young prodigy's misfortunes. The larger than life totems constructed of dung that represent other characters in the novel will in particular stay with you. Not a perfect novel, but pretty nearly a perfect show more satire--so 5 stars! show less

Very original, some great characters who don't get the development they deserve, and some uninteresting ones who do but are unfortunately central to the book. It's funny, zany and an old man's take on modernity. You might disagree but you'll see why people compare him to Vonnegut, the Coen Brothers, etc. The plot bogs down at times as does Kaufman's writing, which is mostly engaging and entertaining, but sometimes delves too deep into the dictionary. Worth a read, and you'll probably wish show more like most of us that Kaufman had started writing novels before the age of 80. show less

People either love or hate this book. While I like Vonnegut, Catch-22, etc, this book is unique. And entertaining. Kaufman's word choice is fantastic (yeah. he uses big words. Get over it and learn something) and he has great characters (a zany egyptologist who only wears dirty bathrobes, for example) and absurdly comical locales (a porn studio, old mansion, etc), and the circumstances that get the main character to Iraq are great. Tried to explain this book to a friend and came off sounding show more like a crazy person. The second half isn't as good but I was still more than willing to push through it and get to the end. Over all, I found this book entertaining, thought-provoking, and different.

(And better than his second book, Misadventure) show less