The Muffin Fiend [Paperback]

Daniel Manus Pinkwater (Author)

Book Description

Wolfgang Amadeus Mazart helps Inspector LeChat catch the thief who is stealing all the muffins of Europe.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From Pinkwater we expect the pure wackiness of a mind given to bizarre bolts of imagination. Absurdities and a few gaps in logic aside, we get it in spades. Someone is stealing all the muffins in Europe; French Inspector Le Chat looks to a champion muffin consumer for a detective on the case. Who? Mozart. Yes, that Mozart. With plays on famous pieces (Don Pastrami), E. T., and other assorted phenomena, Pinkwater works on two levels, tickling those sophisticates who know what Gorgonzola is, yet amusing a younger group who will respond to the silly prospect that a muffin fiend is the world's most dangerous criminal. The black-and-white pictures seem to be a cross between linoleum blocks and supermarket bar-code computer creations.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6 Another of Pinkwater's patented off-the-wall situations, again illustrated with his computer graphics. Wolfgang Mozart is a consulting detective pursuing a mysterious criminal who is stealing all of the muffins in Vienna. The composer is assisted by Inspector LeChat of the French police, whose own efforts at deduction would make Dr. Watson look like a genius. Mozart deduces that the muffin fiend is an extraterrestrial and overcomes him in an operatic singing duel using Viennese jujitsu. Don't look for logic here, but, Pinkwater fans, by all means, enjoy! Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, Ill.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Skylark (October 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 055315544X
• ISBN-13: 978-0553155440
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,814,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Daniel Pinkwater lives with his wife, the illustrator and novelist Jill Pinkwater, and several dogs and cats in a very old farmhouse in New York's Hudson River Valley.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars the muffins of Europe are being stolen!, June 7, 2001

By 

W. K. Miller "kenmiller32" (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Muffin Fiend (Hardcover)

A stranger comes to visit Mozart. The stranger asks Mozart to help him solve a mystery. It seems that all the muffins in Vienna are being stolen! Indeed, the stranger reveals himself as Inspector LeChat, from France, and tells us that Paris is now muffinless as well! In fact, the Mozart household is without a single muffin! Oh my.

There is even a Municipal Bakery, where those unable to own ovens of their own (or the means with which to buy muffins) can bake their own, for a pittance. There a group of bakers opens the hot ovens, only to find the muffins gone! The muffin fiend steals from the poor as well!

Inspector LeChat and Mozart solve the mystery. Yes, one individual is stealing the muffins. No, he's not eating them.

Great Pinkwater-ish humor is on display throughout this book. The copy I read was 44 pages, half of which are illustrated. This was about a 20 minute read for me. It's probably perfect for children ages 6-10 who like silly humor.

Then again, i'm 33, and I liked it quite a bit.

ken32

5.0 out of 5 stars WE HAVE TO STOP THIS MONSTER!!!!!, June 13, 2004

By 

ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Muffin Fiend (Hardcover)

"The Muffin Fiend" is a great nonsensical tale in which LeChat, a French policeman, asks Mozart (yes, the composer) to help solve the mystery of Vienna's disappearing muffins. The "Muffin Fiend" must be stopped! Mozart happily accepts the challenge, claiming that "After composing great works of music, solving mysteries is my favorite activity." When he asks Constanze to bring some refreshments she informs him that there is not a muffin to be had in all of Vienna. "Now I see why you are so anxious to stop this monster!" Mozart exclaims. The story continues as the crime fighting duo visit the Municipal Muffin Bakery of Vienna (the "Weinstadtsmunicipalisches Bakerei"), the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), and ultimately the Muffin Fiend himself. Mozart suspects that the fiend is "not of this world", but what happened to all of those muffins? Mozart uses his knowledge of Viennese jiujitsu to help apprehend the fiend (well, why not?), and ultimately to solve Vienna's horrific muffin problem. Illustrations that look right off the screen of an old Mac Classic computer accompany the text. It's anyone's guess what the publisher thought of these. Experimental? Whimsical? Innovative (the book was published in 1986)? Though not technically impressive now (the intention was surely not technical prowess), the drawings add boatloads of character to the story. Pinkwater somehow manages to siphon humor and personality from the scrawled and heavily pixellated lines. The effect succeeds brilliantly. Adults and kids alike will enjoy this bizarre tale of almost pure nonsense.