Customer Reviews

The Defenestration of Bob T. Hash III: A Novel

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

 

 

I don't read a lot of fiction any more, but this one is definitely worth it. Mr Deans tells a hilarious story of a parrot on the make. And once you get the point of the book you have to stop, go back and read it again. And probably again. Kind of like watching the "big lebowski," if you know what I mean. So get this book and read it, you won't be sorry by golly.

All self-righteous, anti-intellectual ESL teachers should be forced to read this book, which hilariously takes the piss out of the dreary, formulaic textbooks so beloved of the brain-dead TESOL crowd. David Deans loves language and has constructed an engaging, ingenious plot. Wonder if he jotted his initial ideas whilst attending a meeting chaired by a power-mad Head Teacher who droned about "teaching bilabial affricates by using a communicative approach"?

This is a smart, funny, crazy novel that is thoroughly entertaining, intelligent, original and obviously written by a guy bordering on genius. It has irony, black humor and twists worthy of the great satirists, and an innovative use of the language that is stimulating and memorable. A great book, one I will read over and over.

Total chaos! The main story about Bobby T. III and his twin self, Comenius, an African Gray Parrot who turns into Bobby T. #2, versus the real Bobby T. III, not to confuse you, was a terrific premise. I thought this story was similar to J.F. Englert's series about Randolph, a poetry loving Lab, that assists his master in solving crimes.
While, Randolph was using Alpha-Bits to communicate with his owner, Comenius, a/k/a Bobby T #2, acting as Bobby T. III, was impersonating his master while trying to figure out what Bobby T. III was up to. That in itself got me interested to read this story when, BANG, I hit a wall of dribble about the correct use of English, a take off on Bobby T. III's occupation as the CEO of a Language Institute, which began to appear among the pages of the main story.
I became so irritated at these interruptions that I eventually passed over them, occasionally casting an eye to see if I was missing anything worthwhile to the main theme of the story.
If I had been warned to do this from the beginning, the book would have taken me but a few hours to read and I would have been less irritated. I just loved Comenius, a/k/a Bobby T. #2, who did became my hero.
If the author wants to get clever and Kafka-ish, Monty Pyhon-ish, then please do so and keep your stories separate. Sometimes being clever or funny isn't clever or funny especially at $22.00 a book.