The Odd Puppet Odyssey: An Adult Epic on a Small Stage [Hardcover]

Richard Gold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2003

The Odd Puppet Odyssey is an illustrated (six four-color illustrations) series of narrative poems. Reading as parables, they are poems for adults about the voyage of two puppet characters, Pongo and Rico. In the course of their journey, they explore identity, sexuality, adulthood, relationships and some of the social forces that affect them and their world. Recalling Homer's Odyssey as well as The Epic of Gilgamesh, Collodi's The Adventures of Pinoccio, and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Pongo and Rico travel down a rabbit hole to meet Death in Wonderland, are chased by the Hairy Monster of Manhood, and climb through the interior of a giant model of themselves. Leavened with humor and irony, this book is a picaresque story of self-acceptance and growth. Celeste Ericsson, the illustrator, worked in tandem with the author, so that poems and illustrations evolved together. The artist has been influenced by Renaissance and Baroque art, the commedia dell'arte and the satirical etchings of James Gillray.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Gold founded and runs the Pongo Teen Writing Project, based in Seattle. Through Pongo, the author goes into jails, homeless shelters, and psychiatric hospitals to help adolescents write about their lives. This experience has clearly informed The Odd Puppet Odyssey.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 82 pages
• Publisher: Black Heron Press (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0930773683
• ISBN-13: 978-0930773687
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 7.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,059,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Adults-Only Children's Book, November 1, 2003

By 

Jack Litewka (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Odd Puppet Odyssey: An Adult Epic on a Small Stage (Hardcover)

Every once in a while a gem of a book comes along, and THE ODD PUPPET ODYSSEY is one of them. It is poetry, and it is art -- separately and together. The writing is sharp-edged, accessible, and disturbing. The illustrations are evocative, nuanced, and disturbing. The book is of whole cloth and wholly original, creating a world that you enter, that you have not been in before, and which you cannot easily escape. The poetry provides a rich offering -- of craft, careful observation, imaginatively transformed experiences, and hard-won conclusions. The art is heavenly -- sure-lined, light, and heavy with feeling. A rare achievement.

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique, thought-provoking, and unforgettable, August 12, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Odd Puppet Odyssey: An Adult Epic on a Small Stage (Hardcover)

Enhanced with six full-color illustration by Celeste Ericsson, The Odd Puppet Odyssey is a series of fifteen narrative poems by Richard Gold telling the story of Pongo and Rico, two memorable puppet characters. The satirical pieces are meant for adult readers, as they explore such images as the malevolent presence of Geppetto, sexuality, relationships, identity, and the powerful social forces that shape views of themselves and the world. Sometimes dark or crude, often with keen psychological insights, and bearing a penetrating message about the quest for understanding, The Odd Puppet Odyssey is unique, thought-provoking, and unforgettable. "And as the search goes on / Peeko's doing not bad / except for the fact he despises / for all the love he rejects along the way / and all the little things he's hurt, / which may be the same thing."

5.0 out of 5 stars Pinocchio on Dr. Freud's Couch, October 25, 2003

By 

David Paul (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Odd Puppet Odyssey: An Adult Epic on a Small Stage (Hardcover)

THE ODD PUPPET ODYSSEY is a rare thing, a collaborative book of poetry and art presenting an ambitious and fanciful puppet adventure. Don't be misled, though -- this is not for children. It's for those of us who survived our adolescence with memories of the pain and confusion -- and with our sense of humor sharpened by the experience. THE ODD PUPPET ODYSSEY is Pinocchio on Dr. Freud's couch, Kafka at lunch with Lewis Carroll, and Odysseus in Oz. Read it and weep, read it and giggle, read it and marvel that such a wonderful book could be possible amid the mountains of dreck that make up most of what is published today.