You know, I keep hearing about the King family’s connection to the March on Washington, but I never see them in the film footage:
Meanwhile, I’ve been in serious need of some cheering up as the jury selection gets rolling up in Kentucky, and luckily, I ran into some in the form of What the Shadow Told Me, a satirical novel by Kurtis Davidson. The premise is pretty straightforward:
What happens when America’s greatest author dies before delivering the long-awaited sequel to the greatest novel of the 20th century? His young editor is left racing to find the missing manuscript before a rogue’s gallery of opportunists can exploit it for their own devious purposes.
So it’s a search-for-the-hidden-treasure plot, but in many ways that’s a MacGuffin, as the quest leads us to a number of set pieces skewering higher ed, the publishing industry, hip-hop culture, daytime television, and numerous other targets. At the same time, we meet several memorable, likable characters, and at least one wonderful one, in the person of Biminim Strimpoonamanam. This last character translates bootlegged Asian-language editions of English-language novels back into English — sort of. He’s worth the price of admission all by himself, but there’s a good deal more in the book. It’s a quick, fun read, and worth your time.
(Full disclosure: One half of Kurtis Davidson is the latest addition to the Mondoville English program, and we’re glad to have him.)
I hope your day had bright spots as well.
Thanks for stopping by!
Professor Mondo 