ONCE UPON A MORE ENLIGHTENED TIME: More Politically Correct Bedtime Stories [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

James Finn Garner (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1995

The hilarious sequel to the #1 phenomenon Politically Correct Bedtime Stories.

"If we can cleanse these stories and put an end to the lies our children are spoon-fed while being spoon-fed...the world may finally become a decent place for persunkind and other, equally important species." -- James Finn Garner

Spurred by the overwhelming success of the million-copy bestseller, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, James Finn Garner continues his quest to liberate "classic" fairy tales from their archaic, sexist, ageist, classist, lookist and environmentally unsound prejudices.

In Once Upon A More Enlightened Time, Garner tackles many demeaning, culturally biased viewpoints through his retelling of such well-known tales as "The Princess and the Pea" and "The Tortoise and the Hare." He has striven to fashion these bedtime stories into literature that is totally free from bias and purged from the influences of a flawed cultural past in hopes of freeing our social consciousness from these blights.

If he succeeds, no longer will tortoises, hares, talking frogs and other citizens of nature bear the burden of our insecurities. No longer will mer-people suffer because of their unique evolutionary niche. And no longer will capable young womyn sleep their lives away waiting for princes to come rescue them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Finn Garner is a writer and performer whose last book, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, is an international bestseller. Called "a master of the tour de force" by The Washington Post and "a smart-alec, mealy-mouthed creep" by The London Daily Telegraph, Garner feels the truth lies somewhere in between. He lives in Chicago with his wife/lifemate and their new pre-adult.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (June 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671534289
• ISBN-13: 978-0671534288
• Product Dimensions: 4.3 x 2.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,197,541 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Finn Garner's best known book is "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories", which spent 64 weeks on the New York Times Best-seller list, including six weeks in the top position. The book was also a best-seller in England and Canada, and has been translated into more than 25 languages. Its sequels, "Once Upon A More Enlightened Time" and "Politically Correct Holiday Stories", were also best sellers sold around the world.

His most recent book is the seminal Clown Noir, "Honk Honk, My Darling: A Rex Koko, Private Clown Mystery." His other books include "Recut Madness: Favorite Films Retold for Your Partisan Pleasure" and "Apocalypse WOW: A Memoir for the End of Time".

A former columnist with Chicago Magazine, Garner has broadcast commentaries on National Public Radio.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightenment the easy way..., July 22, 2003

By 

FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Once Upon a More Enlightened Time: More Politically Correct Bedtime Stories (Hardcover)

Given the success of the first volume, 'Politically Correct Bedtime Stories', James Finn Garner took another journey into fairytale land to find a revisionist's dream of reframed stories, and assembled them into the volume 'Once Upon a More Enlightened Time'. Like the first volume, this one holds nothing sacred, highlighting both the excesses of prejudice in the past while exposing the excesses of the politically correct currents of today.

Once again, the tone is set from the start in the Introduction by Garner: 'At the outset, I would like to apologise sincerely for the success of my last book. The number of trees that voicelessly gave their lives so that my resource-greedy publisher and I could meet retail demand was truly appalling, and quite likely contributed to the global warming that gave those of us in the Northern Hemisphere such an unseasonably warm winter.'

Garner misses the opportunity here to remind us of the disparity of wealth between hemispheres, but beyond that, he doesn't miss much. The titles of the stories will give you insight:

- A Politically Correct Alphabet
- Hansel and Gretel
- The Ant and the Grasshopper
- The Princess and the Pea
- The Little Mer-persun (Mer-maid is a demeaning title)
- The Tortoise and the Hare
- Puss in Boots
- Sleeping Persun of Better-than-Average Attractiveness (to call her a beauty demeans all others)
- The City Mouse and the Suburban Mouse (the countryside having been ravaged and now no longer exists close to cities; the country mouse has become suburban)

The politically correct alphabet I will list below--this gives a flavour of the rest of the text.

A is an Activity itching to fight
B is a Beast with its animal rights
C was a Cripple (now differently abled)
D is a Drunk who is 'liquor-enabled'
and so forth...

Garner hastens to add that, of course, the traditional ordering of the letters does not in any way imply that 'A' is more better or deserving a letter than X, Y, or Z.

Garner's publicity blurb says that he is called 'a master of the tour de force' by The Washington Post and 'a smart-alec, mealy-mouthed creep' by The London Daily Telegraph, yet feels the truth lies somewhere in between.

These stories will be loved by anyone who doesn't take life too seriously. Nothing is sacred here--be prepared to find something in yourself in here.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars That Tortoise used Performing Enhancement Drugs, September 16, 2003

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Once Upon a More Enlightened Time: More Politically Correct Bedtime Stories (Hardcover)

This sequel to Politically Correct Bedtime Stories introduces the reader to more politically correct fairy tales. Hansel and Gretel and the Tortoise and the Hare are my favourites. This is on par with the first book but avoid the next book in the series Politically Correct Holiday Stories as it does not live up to the standards of these two. Also read Apocalypse Wow by the same author.

Other great versions of fairytales can be found in Once Upon a Crime and the book called Whatever happened to...? The Ultimate Sequels.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but just more of the same, July 11, 2006

By 

Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Once Upon a More Enlightened Time: More Politically Correct Bedtime Stories (Hardcover)

Given the popularity and originality of Garner's previous work, "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories," a sequel was all but inevitable. But the brilliance of that first effort was in its freshness and surprise. Now that the feline animal companion is out of the bag, another book on the same topic was bound to be disappointing.

Garner rewrites old fairy tales (Hansel and Gretel, The Little Mermaid) and fables (The Ant and the Grasshopper, the Tortoise and the Hare) to echo the sensitivities of the far, far left. He tongue-in-cheekedly uses spellings that avoid the word "man" ("persun" for "person," "wommon" for "woman,") and has his heroes and heroines (excuse me, she-roes) adopt anti-capitalist, pro-environment and pro-animal rights stances. But (sigh) it has all been done before. What Garner needed to do was to take his lampoon to a new level. He accomplishes this one time, with "Puss in Boots," a satire on the American political system, in which artful consultants spin empty-headed candidates into electoral gold.

Garner is a clever man, a skilled writer and a gifted satirist. This work is OK, but I'm anxious to see him move in new directions.