Customer Reviews

The Cat Who Killed Lilian Jackson Braun: A Parody

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(19)

 

 

I enjoyed the Cat Who mysteries at first...the early books were well plotted and interesting to those who prefer their mysteries genteel rather than grisley/gritty. (In other words, pleasant, escapist summer reading in a world that has enough of the grisley/gritty.) But after Quill moved to Pickax, inherited a bundle of money, and essentially morphed from a newsman into a frumpy old woman, I lost interest.

So I thought I would enjoy this parody, and did for about 5 pages. (I laughed out loud at the scene where our parody protagonist Q prepared a gourmet meal for his cats, who spurned it in favor of dry kibble.) And yeah, it was cute to have it turn out that Braun was trolling in a gay bar. Ha ha. But after one has poked fun at the fussy cats and the fussy author, there just ain't a whole lot left to parody, so Kaplow writes what could be considered the anti-Cat Who book, saturated with gratuitious sex and violence. It grows tiresome very quickly once the shock value and irony have worn off at page 6.

The maliciousness against Braun also grows tiresome. Ok, so she's no Cather or Fitzgerald, writing the Great American Novel...and I'm sure she's not aspiring to be. But then, neither is Kaplow despite his attempts to impress us with his vast knowledge by dropping every name he can think of, and I sense more than a little envy and anger in this book over the fact that Braun's franchise continues to rake in the cash. She won the lottery, and he didn't. (Though he's not above trying to cash in on her fame here.)

A quote from Susan Stamberg on the jacket says "Mercifully short." Alas, if only that were true. Though if you deleted the expletives, the book would be half as long.

If you still feel you must read this, get it at the library.

I can save you from having to read the first 66 pages by telling two of the VERY few things that had to do with the original Cat Who books and were actually funny. 1: In a meeting with LJB "...he (Qafka) sang 'Mas Que Nada.' She would later use the incident in her novel The Cat Who Loved Sergio Mendez and Brazil '66." 2: After Qafka prepared an exrordinary breakfast for the cats, "The cats took one sniff and slinked away, irritated at not getting the dried-up stars of DeliCat they so loved."

I would tell you what went on after page 66 but the escalating vulgarity, lack of humor and lack of connection to the original Cat Who novels got the book taken back to the library in less than 24 hours.

The sexually exlplicit quote opposite the dedication page is not misplaced as I thought when I stated reading the book with expectations of writting consistent with LJB. It was adequate warning of the brainless trash that dominates this book.

Parody can be a difficult style to write well, and Robert Kaplow does not live up the challenge he set for himself in attempting to parody Lilian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who..." Series. I was hoping for a book poking fun at the very sterile universe Ms. Braun has created in her mystery novels, however this parody falls flat. Although Ms. Braun's bestselling novels are said to be the target of parody they seem to be merely a vehicle for Mr. Kaplow to rant about modern life -as many of the positive reviews have pointed out he takes aim at many public figures and popular trends. He may be lambasting "The Cat Who" in one sentence by making a vague reference about the spelling of the main character's name, but for the rest of the page he is poking fun at, say, Oprha. Sadly he does neither one well. Mr. Kaplow's device for tying his disparate subject matter together is weak sex oriented humor. For example a repeated theme in Mr. Kaplow's book is that of describing his characters as "masturbating violently". I found this to be uninventive and uninspired. While this may appeal to some, those looking for a true parody of "The Cat Who..." series should pass this book by.

This is a very very strange book. The author clearly clenches his teeth when discussing Lilian Jackson Brown, and he also dislikes much of modern American literature and culture. As a result, he writs this book in a tone that veers between weird parody and manic satire. The title character dies in a gay bar, beheaded in the men's room, and so a writer she knew begins to try and solve the case of her murder. The author of this book (not Qafka, the character in it) is relentless in his harpooning of everthing in his path, from the conventions of mystery writing (one of the police detectives, in the early stages of the book, bemoans the fact that he won't solve the mystery because he's a supporting character) to the vulgarities and egotistical moanings of American literatary figures (Philip Roth at one point insists that each and every one of his books should have won a Pulitzer). He does almost everthing differently from Lilian Jackson Braun. Her books are (according to characters in this book, anyway) all lily-white, so they're different here, for much of the book. Her characters are almost sexless, and never even get near sexual innuendo or double entendres, so Kaplow's spend half the book masturbating or discussing sexual practices. Her cats help solve the myster, so Qafka's do nothing of the sort, just provide comic relief.

This is one of those books that's hard to judge. You've got to have a pretty strong tolerance for sex and profanity to like this book. If you have such then you probably won't have read any of the Cat Who books and won't get half the satirical references. On the other hand, you'll probably loathe the Cat Who books themselves, which could be a good thing when reading this one.

I must confess that I was unable to get through this book. By page 70 I was sick of the mess--revulsed. Scatology, per se, is not humor. Apparently the writer was not aware of that.

The book has no focus. It is an ignorant, pubescent boy's idea of a joke. Moreover, it is a cruel and malicious attack without cause. I cannot imagine anyone reading it who was not a reader of Lilian Jackson Braun's novels, and I cannot imagine any such reader being even mildly amused by this nonsense.

Ms. Braun is not the greatest of mystery writers, and her books, sometimes just too cute, do lend themselves to satire. But a lampoonist is supposed to be--well--clever. And this is not even remotely a work of wit or a work of art or a work of anything worthwhile.

I give this one star because the site doesn't allow zero or negative stars. This book is an example of something written by a guy stuck in the mindset of an inadequate male adolescent who thinks Beavis & Butthead or Howard Stern are examples of the highest form of intellectual comedy. To speak in language the author would understand, this book sucks. It's not funny, and it's definitely not a "parody." Avoid it.

This book is not funny! The only amusing material in this book was a description of the main character trying to give his cat a pill. What a waste of money!

This book certainly wasn't what I expected, after some of the reviews I had read. I had been really curious, when I saw the title, since I've been reading LJB's series for years as a sleeping aid, so I was ready for a good parody.. Well, what Qwilleran's and Polly's relation is lacking in sex, this one sure makes up for it...Other than that, throughout the whole book I had the impression that I'm of the wrong age group, gender and cultural background to really get half the jokes.(But someone DID explain to me what the cats' names meant...yup!)

If you are a fan of The Cat who books, AVOID THIS BOOK AT ALL COSTS! I couldn't even make it through the first chapter without getting sick at the graphic violence, sexual content and description of bodily functions that are better left to other books. This book is raunchy, vulgar, and not for anyone one who enjoys the lightweight mysteries of our beloved author. The book should have been entitled, "The Parody That Killed Lilian Jackson Braun".

I've not been this disappointed in a book in a long time. I managed to get through 2 chapters before I pitched in the recycling bin. The story had great potential, but was filled with references to sex acts, boobs, and genitals. I don't see how this book would appeal to ANYONE that has read any of the Cat Who books. Don't waste your money on this garbage if you're a Jackson Braun fan.