Millard Kaufman (1917–2009)

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

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!

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

This was the second (and last, as he died before it was published) book by Kaufman, who wrote Bowl of Cherries in his nineties. I liked Bowl of Cherries better -- I found it's craziness a little more entertaining and the vocabulary/word choice was just fantastic (in a $10 word kind of way). That, said, this was still a very enjoyable book (and unlike Bowl of Cherries, had a good second half). Whereas Bowl of Cherries was more Vonnegut, this is more Coen brothers.

Noir genre, ambiguously set show more in the 80s in LA, murder mystery: Jack Hopkins is a real estate agent with a checkered past, an obnoxious boss, whiny girlfriend, and what seems to be a life of a hit man in front of him. A real estate mogul wants Jack to kill his wife, while his wife (our femme fatale) has offered to pay Jack $10 million to kill her husband. But then she turns up dead. Add in private islands, monkeys, illicit affairs, murder, rubies, backstabbing and dealmaking and it's an interesting, fast-paced read. This is more than just a murder mystery -- the characters are great in and of themselves and the ending is more than a "voila the murderer is revealed" type of ending (it's deeper).

I'd give this a B+. It's a rare combination of a quick read with actual substance, the characters are great, and I was entertained. It's a pleasant weekend read, but not life-altering or going to stick with you for years to come. Kaufman is such a great storyteller, you wonder what he would've done with an A+ plot. show less