Bobbo Druff, a coca leaf-chewing street commissioner "on the cusp of just-past-it, " transforms his mid-life crisis into a paranoid web of mysterious events in a plot reminiscent of Hitchcock.
The MacGuffin
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this exuberant, offbeat novel, the wildly inventive Elkin ( George Mills ) unleashes a Hitchcockian MacGuffin (the narrative spirit) which takes over the ebbing life of Bobbo Druff, 58, the fairly honest but bribable street commissioner of a mid-size American city. Kafka-esque unseen enemies and their supposed spies, perhaps including Bobbo's newly acquired mistress, Meg Glorioso, may be trying to nail him for an unspecified crime linked somehow to the hit-and-run death of the Lebanese Moslem Shiite girlfriend of his son Mikey, a 30-year-old ninny. Bobbo winds up talking to the MacGuffin and eventually locks him out of his house. Elkin's imagination flags toward the end, but he has rewarded us with many comic turns, including the courtship of Bobbo and his future nagging wife under Hays Office rules: Bobbo has had to keep one foot on the floor at all times. First serial to Playboy.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Elkin here presents Commissioner of Streets Bobbo Druff, who, believing he is losing his power, orchestrates a series of useless and paranoid gestures to show that he is still top dog even though no one actually is challenging his authority. Though weird, the book was praised by LJ's reviewer for its "inspired, Joycean wordplay based on clich?s, shoptalk, and technical jargon" (LJ 2/1/91).
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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More About the Author
Stanley Elkin (1930-1995) was an award-winning author of novels, short stories, and essays. Born in the Bronx, Elkin received his BA and PhD from the University of Illinois and in 1960 became a professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis where he taught until his death. His critically acclaimed works include the National Book Critics Circle Award-winners George Mills (1982) and Mrs. Ted Bliss (1995), as well as the National Book Award finalists The Dick Gibson Show (1972), Searches & Seizures (1974), and The MacGuffin (1991). His book of novellas, Van Gogh's Room at Arles, was a finalist for the PEN Faulkner Award.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended reading.,
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The MacGuffin (Paperback)
Aging City Commissioner of Streets Bobbo Druff, in an effort to hang on to his persona of authority and power, constructs a "MacGuffin", a paranoid plot where everyone is out to get him. Druff starts an illicit affair, instigates fights with his employees, invents lies for his family, and does anything he can think of to create a world in which he is placed at the center of influential, self-advertising scandal. A memorable comedy figure, Druff's self-conscious madness is hilariously inventive. Author Stanley Elkin writes his novel with the lyrical intensity of poetry and creates within his character universal qualities (including self-delusions and hopeless machinations) that resonate in us all. Highly recommended.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
enjoyable, comic read,
This review is from: The MacGuffin (Paperback)
Disappointing ending, but enjoyable, comic read. 24 hours in the life of an aging, insecure, politician. Interesting dialogues between a male and his member.
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Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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passion pit Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Rose Helen, City Commissioner of Streets, Margaret Glorio, Jerry Rector, Hamilton Edgar, City Hall, Chi Phi Kappa, Miss Glorio, Bob Druff, Fourteen Points, Marvin Macklin, Meg Glorio, Sadie Hawkins Day, B'nai Beth Emeth, Bobbo Druff, Brooks Brothers, Commissioner Druff, Jesus Christ, New York, Edouvard Mrentzharev, Gamma Beta Sigma, Kersh Boulevard, Shiite Muslim, Cary Grant, Irwin Scouffas New!
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passion pit Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Rose Helen, City Commissioner of Streets, Margaret Glorio, Jerry Rector, Hamilton Edgar, City Hall, Chi Phi Kappa, Miss Glorio, Bob Druff, Fourteen Points, Marvin Macklin, Meg Glorio, Sadie Hawkins Day, B'nai Beth Emeth, Bobbo Druff, Brooks Brothers, Commissioner Druff, Jesus Christ, New York, Edouvard Mrentzharev, Gamma Beta Sigma, Kersh Boulevard, Shiite Muslim, Cary Grant, Irwin Scouffas New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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