Customer Reviews

Pardon Me, You're Stepping On My Eyeball

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball!" was the third book I read by Paul Zindel. The story revolves around fifteen year-old Louis "Marsh" Mellow and Edna Shinglebox. Both have weird parents and have trouble fitting in at school. Marsh's mother, whom he nicknames Schizo Suzy, is a drunk who stays at home in her polka-dot nightgown drinking diet beer and eating cashew nuts while watching T.V. Edna's mother is a hysterical woman who shadowed her daughter for years and is upset that Edna has not dated yet and has no friends. Marsh and Edna meet in group-therapy, set up by the the school's pushy, three-hundred pound psychologist, Mr. Meizner. There Marsh asks Edna to help rescue his father, Paranoid Pete, from a nuthouse. While "My Darling, My Hamburger" and "The Girl Who Wanted a Boy" left me feeling depressed at the end, this book has a healthy dose of humour to lighten the mood. The story is basically about reaching out, overcoming fear and loneliness and finding someone to love, share and trust.

I admit that I am getting a little old for young adult novels. I found this book at a rummage sale, because the title caught my eye... I started to read and and couldn't put it down. Zindel's words flow beautifully, and are spiced with all sorts of quirks. the ending was perfect, wrapping up everything but still believable and not cheesey. I highly recommend this book, and I don't say that often

This book kept me laughing, yet it also explores the human mind. An awesome book, which I'd reccomend to anybody who didn't have a fear of strange titles. =)

This was a great book. It dealt with two people that needed help and they got that help from each other. Very touching

Paul Zindel strikes again with another literary marvel. This book is plain fun, and it's very easy to relate to the character of Edna Shinglebox (although, thank God, my parents are nothing like hers). Marsh is a very interesting character, and the book is typical Zindel fare. It's a lot of fun, and very, very interesting. It's a very good character study.

In this book, Paul Zindel seems to have read M.E. Kerr's "Dinky Hocker" and decided to get a little bit little wacky. Two misfit teens with crazy names, "Marsh" Mellow and Edna Shinglebox, find solace in each other while escaping their respective weird parents. While the parents in other Zindel books like "My Darling, My Hamburger" and "The Pigman" were just absent or darkly dysfunctional, here the parents's characters are more like crazy caricatures. One part of the book even has the teens teaming up to rescue Marsh's dad from a mental institution. Because of the funny names and other humorous elements, this book is both lighter and a little less true-to-life than "Pigman" and "Hamburger", as well as being less dated.

I must say I was disappointed that Zindel reused a concept from "The Pigman" - the teenage houseparty gone way bad, with disastrous results - as a climax of this book as well. That seemed a bit lazy to me.

I have read this book every year since 1984. I love this book. The characters are quirky, flawed, and deep. There is so much comedy and humanity in this little novel. Best young adult/teen novel ever written!

Paul Zindel is wonderful at making people not be able to put his books down. This is the first Paul Zindel book I've read but I'm sure it won't be the last. The way he interacts the people with eachother is amazing!

This was a pretty touching book. I liked the dialogue better than the story, but I suppose plots are seen as necessary.

A wonderful story of a girl who never gives up on her friend no matter how crazy he seems. The stuff from which true friendship is made...
I read this book as a teenager, and have recently re-added it to my collection for my son to read when he is old enough.