Customer Reviews

Fat Men From Space

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

 

 

Shortly after discovering such classics as Alan Mendelsohn: Boy From Mars and Lizard Music, I read Fat Men From Space. When I first picked it up, I was a bit disappointed, it seeming to be a book aimed toward children younger than me (I was twelve at the time). But I LOVED it! At several times I was laughing out loud! A short summary: a young boy, William, somehow gets radio transmissions in his tooth filling! He hears about space men coming, and no one is prepared when it actually happens....

Pinkwater's humor is out of this world! I have read this to my younger sister, my mom, and the kids I baby-sit for, and they all LOVE it! This is recommended to ANYONE who needs a good laugh!

I've been a reader of Daniel Pinkwater's books since grade school, and even enjoy reading them today. Along with `The Magic Moscow', this particular tale is one of the most memorable for me. Like just about all of the author's kiddie tomes, `Fat Men From Space' has no shortage of strange & bizarre yet lighthearted and gently humorous characters & situations.

What makes this particular story interesting is that there's no actual hero or heroes who save the day in the end. The main character, a boy whose new tooth filling picks up the aliens' radio transmissions, is merely a helpless witness to all of the unfortunate (yet strangely silly) goings-on. Fortunately, outside events play a part in the rotund ETs prematurely concluding their invasion, and the story ends on an upbeat & slightly sappy note.

Unfortunately, some folks might nowadays see this book's titular antagonists as being somewhat un-PC. You know, that whole `FAT Men..." thing and such. Well, all I can say about it is this: if you've ever seen a picture of the author, you might be a little less squeamish about his use of the word "fat", `cause he's a fairly hefty guy himself. The way I see it: if he can deal with it, so can the reader.

One more thing: `Fat Men From Space' is followed up by `Slaves of Spiegel', which I also recommend you take a look at. It too has plenty of the Pinkwater trademarks of silly situations and lighthearted & whimsical humor.

`Late

A classic, Fat Men From Space introduced me to the world of Pinkwater over 15 years ago. Everything has been a little bit better since. Read this book, and there will be no turning back. The Snarkout Boys, Hobokenites from the Old Country...Lizard Music will beckon..

When William went to the dentist for a filling, he had no idea that it would be able to pick up radio broadcasts!! Wow! A radio tooth! You can imagine the fun tricks William could play on his family, friends and teacher with a radio in his tooth (sorry, you’ll have to read the book to find out what those tricks ARE!)

However, one day, when William tries to use a chain link fence as an antenna, he gets a shock which “changes the channel” on his radio tooth, and he discovers that he can tune in radio transmissions from space!! Soon, he’s abducted by large men in bad suits and terrible ties who plan to invade earth!! What’s a boy to do??

Mr. Pinkwater has been a very popular children’s author with many of his books from the 1970’s still in print today. One of my childhood favorites was “The Big Orange Splot”. While other authors from that time period have had their books slowly fade away, Mr. Pinkwater’s are still around and attracting new readers. Perhaps one of the main reasons is because his books are genuinely funny and witty. There’s plenty of silly humor for the young, beginning reader, and also plenty of subtle plays on words that will amuse the more advanced reader (or the parent reading with their child!!).

Generally I love Mr. Pinkwater’s stories, but “Fat Men from Space” isn’t one of his best. It starts off fine and laugh-out-loud funny, but about halfway through the book the plot goes into high gear and the reader starts to feel a bit gypped: events that you would assume would take a few days to happen are over and done with in about 3 or 4 paragraphs. Descriptions loose their tangy zingers of absurdity and it feels like Mr. Pinkwater was in a rush to finish the book before a deadline or something. The ending is also a bit weak, making the book feel like it was left open-ended for a sequel that never came.

If you’re a diehard Pinkwater fan, then read the book by all means!! If you have a beginning-to-intermediate reader who is looking for an easy-to-read book that will keep ‘em laughing, this is a good choice. The language is easy to read and the pace is fast enough that even a beginning reader can probably finish it in one or two sittings. This will encourage them to read more and show that reading doesn’t have to be dry and booooring.

However, for the more intermediate to advanced reader, “Fat Men…” may be disappointing *because* of it’s fast pace. For them, I would recommend “Lizard Music” by Mr. Pinkwater.

Not bad, still a lot of fun, but I would have expected just a bit more from Mr. P.

Let me put this simply. This is the best kid's book evar! I read it over and over and over as a child. It probably influenced me more than I can imagine. It's a must read for everyone. And truthfully, I still read it.

Not high art, but SOOOOO funny! I loved it as a kid, my son loves it now...and I still find it laugh out loud hilarious.

I rememeber reading this book when I attended Elementary School back in the 80's. I got this for my 8-year old and he enjoyed it.

Mr. Pinkwater's book "Fat Men from Outer Space", is written too well for a young reader to understand but too short and childish for older readers, but this book is perfect for someone right in the middle who wants a light read.

The author plays with science fiction where the main character, William, receives radio programs through a on-in-a-million tooth. He pulls tricks on his parents, friends and teachers. His parents want his tooth to be removed until they hear what the tooth can do! One day William tries to use a metal fence as an antenna and the channel changes and he begins to receive bulletins from outer space!

In a bulletin they find out that fat spacemen in plaid sport jackets and funny looking shoes are coming toward Earth and they are going to find and take all the junk food they possibly can and eat it all!

Earthlings panic but only William knows what is going to happen but he's held prisoner on a spaceburger!

This novel is real weird and does not have too much depth. The other characters like William's parents seem to be stupid too. But, like I said before if you like something real light and easy, this book is for you.

Andrew G.

This book is great. I loved it. It's about a boy who gets a radio in his teeth and he recives radio tranmisions from space!!!! Read this book to find out what happends to the boy. I recomend this book to anyone who likes children books.

This book was really boring and childish. It was a real disappontment to me because I know Mr.Pinkwater can do a much much better job writing than he did in this book. I wouldn't really recommend this to readers, unless they are younng and really love corny books like this one.