Customer Reviews

Slaves of Spiegel: A Magic Moscow story

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I think my only real issue with the content of "Slaves of Spiegel" is that Pinkwater seems to be trying to be Douglass Adams, but doesn't quite make it.
The other thing that surprised me about the cassette was how lack-luster Pinkwater's performance is. Usually one would expect the author to do an exceptional job of reading, seeing as he knows what he was thinking when he wrote it and can imbue the characters with just the right inflections, emotions, and etc. But Pinkwater just doesn't pull it off. The book is read at high speed in a near monotone. He doesn't attempt to provide different voices, inflections, or rhythms for different characters, and he never leaves time for you to laugh at the sheerly ludicrous situations into which the characters are inserted. In other words, he's entirely lacking in comic timing.
Anyway, after hearing an absolutely hilarious performance (not reading) of "The Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death," I was dissapointed in "Slaves."

Ever since my grade-school days, I've been a follower of Daniel Pinkwater's 'Magic Moscow' books. `Slaves of Spiegel', the third and (so far) last book in the saga of Hoboken's most unusual fast-food joint, contains more than its fair share of that trademark droll weirdness and strange culinary combinations that I've come to expect from the 'Magic Moscow' series as well as most of Pinkwater's other books geared towards grade-school children and adults who enjoy a nice, whimsical light read. Fair warning, though: some may find the book's somewhat un-PC portrayal of fat people less than savory. Personally, I think it really adds some good fun to the story.

Before you decide to dive into this particular adventure, however, I recommend you bone up on some of the backstory behind this book first, including `The Magic Moscow', `Attila the Pun', and `Fat men From Space'. Happy reading!

`Late

Norman, Steve, and their Hoboken-based greasy spoon/health food wannabe restauraunt The Magic Moscow are kidnapped by fat men from space in polyester leisure suits and forced to participate in a Universal contest to determine the greatest junk food cook of all time. Aliens, savage ducks, white vinyl shoes, trash compactors filled with ice cream and bean sprouts, 200 tons of bright blue garlic, inept local authorities, and potato pancakes, what more of a recommendation do you need? Let's hear it for Pinkwater, weirdest of the weird!