From Publishers Weekly
The cover's spoof of
A Million Little Pieces sets the tone for this comic collection of writerly kvetching and obvious corporate parody. Kun (
A Thousand Benjamins) is a trial lawyer in L.A.; many of the 22 rifflike pieces satirize forms of legal communication, including the companywide e-mail. There's a weirdly threatening notification of the death of one "Iris Magruder of Albany, New York" (whose "intellectual property" includes sayings like "maybe next time you'll like your mother more"); the lame corporate award: "When I was first informed that I'd been nominated in the category of Best Interoffice Email (Nonviolent) (Nonsexual), I was touched"; and an instruction manual for a paper shredder: "Remember, the Whisper Shred 1600 is not a toy, it just looks like one." Sandwiched between each of the pieces are "Publisher's Notes," the kind of encomium-like letters that sometimes are tacked to the front of galleys: "You can certainly understand why we'd pay $50,000 for that one. Or why the Bloobedy-Bloodbedy Society would award Michael the Blah-Blah-Blabbedy-Blah Prize for it."
The Corrections this certainly isn't, and many pieces aren't really stories, either. But there are chuckles to be had as Kun hits huge targets with a birdshot-spraying air rifle.
(Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Praise for Michael Kun:
“…the delightful absurdity of the experience, along with Kun’s bellyache-inducing wit, makes it a rewarding pursuit.”
—
Seattle Times
“…captivating, annoying, fascinating, frustrating, messy, laugh-out-loud tragedy…[Kun] serves up a character we can sink our literary teeth into. A fine, fun read.”
—
Baltimore Sun
“While comedy sits on the surface of the narrative, a poignancy that borders on tragedy lies beneath in a novel that ‘tells the truth and lies in the same voice.’”
—
Publishers Weekly
