The Impulsive Imp [Paperback]

Howard O'Brien (Author)

Book Description

A lot happens to the Impulsive Imp on his way from the living room to the kitchen; he steals from the cookie jar and jousts with the cat. However, Roddy and Alice teach the Imp that there are missions in life more important than mischief.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A tiny troublemaker wreaks havoc on a mystified household in this charming children's fable. He's as tall as a pencil, with a doorknob-shaped nose, a long tail with a barbed tip that makes a fine grappling hook, and a voice "as loud as the ticking of a grandfather clock." When he springs into existence in a chimney knothole, the titular Imp has a personality that's finely balanced between self-pity and egotism--he considers himself the "loneliest" and "the smartest imp in the whole world"--and a paranoid conviction that the world is full of enemies that's reinforced when he singes his tail in the fireplace. In his nocturnal wanderings through the house, he's motivated only by curiosity, hunger and a need to protect himself against the looming threats he perceives everywhere. But to the rest of the household, especially the hard-hearted housekeeper Septuagesima, the aftermath--pilfered cookie jars, spilled cereal boxes, oversalted soup--seem like works of malicious pranksters. The family's young children, Alan and Alice, take the blame and begin to develop "complexes" from their undeserved punishment, but as the impishness escalates to missing shoes, sprung mousetraps and a flooded kitchen Septuagesima starts to suspect their father of madness. Meanwhile, as the Imp and a loquacious mouse confront the danger posed by the housecat Drip and the totalitarian menace of brown rats bent on world domination, the mischief shades toward destruction with serious consequences. In this superbly crafted children's story, the Imp is a charismatic protagonist, neurotic but appealing in his diminutive grandiosity. His hilarious misadventures, nicely episodic to facilitate bedtime storytelling, are cunningly choreographed and flow organically from the predicaments imposed on small, uncomprehending figures by a big, oblivious world. The result--an imaginative, beautifully written fantasy with overtones of Dr. Seuss, Lemony Snicket and George Orwell--is a comic gem. --Kirkus Discoveries October 14, 2009

About the Author

A native New Orleanian, Howard O'Brien loved red beans and rice. He was a purist about the dish. He added no meat, no secret ingredients. He soaked the beans, simmered them with a couple of dried bay leaves, served them over freshly steamed rice, and shook lots of pepper on top. --Tamara Tinker

Product Details

• Paperback: 156 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (February 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419661167
• ISBN-13: 978-1419661167
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #225,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #70 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Daughter's Review, November 9, 2009

By 

Anne Rice "Anne Rice" (Little Paradise, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Impulsive Imp (Paperback)

My father, Howard O'Brien, wrote this novel when I was a small child living on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. And I remember my father reading chapters of the book, as he wrote it, to my sister, Alice Borchardt, and me. Both of us grew up to be novelists, and when I pick up the Impulsive Imp today, I can see its undoubted influence on my own fictional style. It is a richly imagined and unforgettable story. Thanks to the efforts of Tamara Tinker, the Imp is now available to a wide readership, and I think it will delight children of all ages, just as it delighted the author's daughters so many years ago. An enchanting read. Highly recommended.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Impulsive Read, May 12, 2007

By 

T. Tinker (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Impulsive Imp (Paperback)

THE IMPULSIVE IMP is anything except impulsively written. It is nuanced fiction possessed of some of the darkness of J.K. Rowling's stories and some of the bright inanity of Dr. Seuss. It is, above all, an episodic work that can be read chapter by chapter, picked up and put down, without losing the thread of the narrative. I recommend it without hesitation as a fun and fascinating walkabout for nine to twelve year olds.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are you sure you're alone?, December 11, 2009

By 

Georgie Pendragon "G.Pendragon" (Amherst, MA, Earth.) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Impulsive Imp (Paperback)

God help me, but I have impossibly fallen head over madness for the fairy story known as The Impulsive Imp. I am reminded of some of my favourite tales by George MacDonald, a pioneer in the realm of the child-based fantasy novel. There lingers a special appeal and honour of an innocence discovering it's place in the world and yet not forgetting itself. There is definitely an audience that needs to be awoken to this particular charm and styling.

This meticulously preserved and finitely edited tale is a sure fire medicine for the whimsical palate of the modern reader. Author Howard O'brien, shows his sincere moxie for story-telling and fans of his daughters..none other than the world renowned Anne Rice and Alice Borchardt...mistresses of the supernatural themselves, will be delighted to find the concentrated seeds of their inherited and parentally-promoted literary talent, and recognize the familial gift with a nifty immediacy.

Once immersed in the tale of the Imp, it is close to watching a Disney-Pixar film. Such a fine method for description is employed that the words define a magical visual essence. Definite food for a busy mind as we are led from the birthplace of The Imp, an animated wooden splinter come to life in a chimney crevice whose every movement and fancy elevate us to giddiness...through his adventures through a huge world comepletely oblivious to his wily existence.

Don't we all feel that way sometimes? We can learn a lot from this little Imp. From his technique for dealing with a monstrosity of a landscape and certainly from his exquisitely wrought character.

Do yourself a favour and fall in love with the Imp, and let the intrigue and charm carry you anon.

I would also advise encountering the amazing literary talents of his daughters Anne Rice and Alice Borchardt (who were actually entertained by their father's Imp tale as children), also his son-in-law, the poet/painter Stan Rice and grandson Christopher Rice. This is a family of writers, poets and painters to be reckoned with.