13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Schmidt's Joycean Comedy, December 26, 2001
This review is from: School for Atheists (Green Integer: EL-E-PHANT 53) (Paperback)
This is one of Schmidt's "superbooks," a large format novel with unusual page layouts, illustrations, and puns a'plenty. Nowhere near as difficult as Zettel's Traum or Evening Edged in Gold, it's a rollicking tale of culture-clash set in the near future (with an extended flashback to 1969), and features a typical Schmidt protagonist (a walking encyclopedia of an old codger), two delightful 17-year-old girls, a visiting American Secretary of State nicknamed Isis, and many more. If you've read & like Schmidt, you'll love this (once again heroically translated by the amazing John E. Woods). And if you don't know Schmidt, you don't know one of the greatest writers of the 20th century--which means you have some catching up to do, and may as well start here.
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