Review by Francesca Pennisi Cuddeback, PhD
Yale University, Italian Language and Literature
The author makes the town of Tuscalaural literally a place of the imagination (his own very unique imagination informed by growing up in a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, attending college in the Baptist South, listening to the old radio shows, going to the Broadway shows, etc.) by claiming it can’t be found on a map.
Yet, the characters all have a kind of strange truth to them, besides being hilariously funny. It is quite an impressive parade, and the author proves he can continue churning them out by ending his book with the promise of a whole new entourage.
The sheer amount of invention, punning, ironizing, and convoluted craziness is enough to impress any reader, but underlying it all, is a generous appreciation for humanity in all its richness and quirkiness.
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