i will admit up front that i basically found this blog post by accident (decided to google "kevin shapiro" "grape nuts" today like i do every three years or so and i happened to find a post that was less than a week old) but i really enjoyed it and think you hit the nail on the head. really really enjoyed it. i'm really happy to have realized through your help the wild dada ducks are these frustrated life changing event looking for a protagonist. love it all. really good blog hal. thanks.
I'm sorry you didn't win the prize, but future readers will recognize this work as a cornerstone text in the too-narrow field of Pinkwater Studies. Your argument for the importance of YAN as both Rosetta Stone and funhouse mise en abyme is totally persuasive— what Tolkien did for Beowulf, you've done for Charles the Cat.
I'm also stuck by your observation that, for P's protagonists, the moment of enlightenment is often dissatisfying. In fact—and I'm writing a short paper about this—his heroes are often sidelined (eg Lizard Music and Borgel) or unable to report what happened (Neddiad) at what should be the climax of the novel. What this means is something I'm still trying to work out.
Speaking of The Neddiad, have you noticed how many specific name drop references it makes to the greater Pinkwater Cinematic Universe? Aside from the usual structural echoes, Colonel Ken Kremwinkle's in there, as are Hergeschleimer's Oriental Gardens and the Inept Eft. Even Yggdrasil Birnbaum feels like a re-skinned Rat. A loose-limbed and very interesting novel.
Anyway, thanks for this great work — I know I'll be drawing on it in the future.
i will admit up front that i basically found this blog post by accident (decided to google "kevin shapiro" "grape nuts" today like i do every three years or so and i happened to find a post that was less than a week old) but i really enjoyed it and think you hit the nail on the head. really really enjoyed it. i'm really happy to have realized through your help the wild dada ducks are these frustrated life changing event looking for a protagonist. love it all. really good blog hal. thanks.
Wow! Thank you, Kevin! I guess it's true what they say (viz. that you are the greatest funky dude and disco dancer of all time).
It's always a delight to meet someone else who has found PInkwater as inspiring as I have.
I'm sorry you didn't win the prize, but future readers will recognize this work as a cornerstone text in the too-narrow field of Pinkwater Studies. Your argument for the importance of YAN as both Rosetta Stone and funhouse mise en abyme is totally persuasive— what Tolkien did for Beowulf, you've done for Charles the Cat.
I'm also stuck by your observation that, for P's protagonists, the moment of enlightenment is often dissatisfying. In fact—and I'm writing a short paper about this—his heroes are often sidelined (eg Lizard Music and Borgel) or unable to report what happened (Neddiad) at what should be the climax of the novel. What this means is something I'm still trying to work out.
Speaking of The Neddiad, have you noticed how many specific name drop references it makes to the greater Pinkwater Cinematic Universe? Aside from the usual structural echoes, Colonel Ken Kremwinkle's in there, as are Hergeschleimer's Oriental Gardens and the Inept Eft. Even Yggdrasil Birnbaum feels like a re-skinned Rat. A loose-limbed and very interesting novel.
Anyway, thanks for this great work — I know I'll be drawing on it in the future.