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The Locklear Letters Paperback – Bargain Price, June 3, 2005
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Thirteen years after the publication of his well-received first novel, A Thousand Benjamins, Kun returns with a cheeky take on celebrity worship, tracing the downward spiral of an annoying salesman through an ongoing, obsessive series of letters he writes to his famous college classmate, Heather Locklear. Sid Straw, the marketing director for a Baltimore software company, claims to have known Locklear when they were both at UCLA. His fixation with the actress gets him into trouble when a series of badgering letters sent to Locklear's agent to secure a personalized photo results in a cross-country restraining order. On the home front, the 40ish Straw loses his new girlfriend when she learns of his obsession with Locklear, and is fired from his job after a series of Locklear-related misunderstandings. Straw sets out in search of a new job, fending off depression and despair with ludicrously chummy letters to Locklear as well as bumbling missives to family, erstwhile friends, legal counsel and assorted service people. Kun overcomes the limitations of his epistolary format with some inventive maneuvering that fills in the gaps in the story line and keeps the letters from becoming monotonous. The highlight is a tongue-in-cheek climax in which Straw gets back at his various correspondents-cum-tormenters by hiring a litigation-savvy lawyer, then entices his object of worship to put in an unlikely appearance at their college reunion (or has Straw simply gone off the deep end and imagined it all?). Kun's lighthearted humor pokes clever fun at our ongoing obsession with fame and celebrity.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
A laugh-out-loud novel... Kun's book is an amusing look at how our society looks at and reacts to celebrities... -- Crosswinds (New Mexico)
A quick and enjoyable tour of the lighter, funnier side of dementia. -- Kirkus Reviews
An imaginatively written, cleverly constructed book...A job well done. -- Baltimore Magazine
Perfect for those sweltering days when tackling anything more substantial would bring up a sweat. -- The Village Voice --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
A quick and enjoyable tour of the lighter, funnier side of dementia. -- Kirkus Reviews
An imaginatively written, cleverly constructed book...A job well done. -- Baltimore Magazine
Perfect for those sweltering days when tackling anything more substantial would bring up a sweat. -- The Village Voice --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
Tom
on August 15, 2003
Format: Hardcover
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Is there any precedent for this: a writer puts out a phenomenal first novel, disappears for ten years, then returns with a new novel that is so completely different than -- yet every bit as good as -- that first novel? The Locklear Letters is the funniest, most wonderful book I've read in a long, long time. There's not another book quite like it because Kun has put together a book that you literally cannot put down. It is impossible to just read one of Sid Straw's letters without needing to read the next one, then the one after that, and so on, and so on. But that's only part of the magic of this book. You think you're reading a comedy about a character you don't care about, and before you know it you realize that Kun has tricked you not only into caring about the main character, but into dealing with some very weighty issues like love, loneliness, work, celebrity, sex, sports and lawyers. It's a funny, yet poignant commentary on EVERYTHING. This is the book everyone will be reading on the beach this summer. Or it should be.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By
A Customer
on January 22, 2004
Format: Hardcover
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On a whim last summer, I attended a book signing and reading for The Locklear Letters at my local bookstore. The author read letters from the book and took questions. He was witty, charming, very unassuming and thoroughly entertained the audience. The letters were hilarious and, of course, I, as everyone else there, purchased a copy of the book on the spot. I then proceeded to read the book in one sitting, laughing out loud repeatedly. Since then, I have purchased many copies for friends and family....it really does make the perfect gift. I look forward to seeing more of Michael Kun's great wit and talented work in the future and was happy to learn from amazon.com that he has a new book coming out this summer.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By
Robert Gonzalez
on June 20, 2003
Format: Hardcover
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I picked this book up on a whim, and I sure am glad that I did. The author has put together an absolute comic masterpiece. Sid Straw is a character you will never forget. I can honestly say that I have never laughed out loud so many times while reading a book before. The book is such a quick read that it's easy to miss how carefully and perfectly constructed it is. Somehow, the author is able to get laughs from words that aren't even on the page, or from the act of turning the pages themselves -- which won't make sense until you read the book. As for the writing, it's hard to say what the funniest letters are: the florist who keeps screwing up Sid's notes to his girlfriend("still stinking of you" had me rolling on the floor laughing), the government agents who tell Sid's mother that Sid hates her cooking, Sid pretending to be "Mrs. Sad Striw", or the porno mags that get sent to the American Cancer Society. I'm laughing just thinking about them and looking forward to rereading the book this weekend.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By
Richard Rabicoff
on June 20, 2003
Format: Hardcover
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Michael Kun has easily surpassed his promising first novel, A Thousand Benjamins, with this continuously hilarious epistolary venture. The novel's sole epistolator, Sid Straw, combines the timidity of early Woody Allen with the fecklessness of Albert Brooks (a natural for the movie version) and the social satire of the letters of Don Novello. He is an accident that doesn't wait long to happen--about 100 of them in the first 100 pages. Kun is an expert comedian who knows how to build through repetition with variation; and just when the momentum peaks, he shifts into a totally satisfying vindictive gear. There is a letter a page and at least two laughs per letter--you do the math. And don't worry if you've never heard of Heather Locklear. You can substitute any celebrity. I read this book in 1.5 sittings and I am a painfully slow reader. You can take this to the beach without fear of getting sand between the pages: you will finish it before you can turn over. Buy this book!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By
E. Feinstein
on June 21, 2003
Format: Hardcover
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With all the recent attempts to make celebrities seem approachable and just like ordinary folk (if the Osbornes could ever be considered ordinary) Kun's book goes one step further and let's us see what happens when one man attempts to re-connect with someone he knew before she was famous.
The results of Sid Straw's attempts, and the resulting misunderstandings, take us for an extremely funny ride, providing biting commentary on lawyers, parents, relationships, work and even more lawyers.
The creative way in which the story is presented, as a "simple" series of letters, notes and memos, carries you along with great ease and expertly conveys the story of this hapless but lovable individual.
With a keen ear for language and a wry sense of humor, Kun has created a must-read book, not just another piece of "summer reading". More importantly, it's a book that you will want to recomend to your friends and read again and again.
The results of Sid Straw's attempts, and the resulting misunderstandings, take us for an extremely funny ride, providing biting commentary on lawyers, parents, relationships, work and even more lawyers.
The creative way in which the story is presented, as a "simple" series of letters, notes and memos, carries you along with great ease and expertly conveys the story of this hapless but lovable individual.
With a keen ear for language and a wry sense of humor, Kun has created a must-read book, not just another piece of "summer reading". More importantly, it's a book that you will want to recomend to your friends and read again and again.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By
A Customer
on July 2, 2003
Format: Hardcover
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A rare book comes along that makes you laugh out loud. An even rarer book comes along that makes you laugh out loud and provides a creative, quality literary read, with an inspired plot to boot! The Locklear Letters is all of this! Indeed, Michael Kun has ingeniously created a sub-genre, using one man's quotidien correspondence as the vehicle to expose his unraveling life and his deepest internal struggles. It is a blast of a read, and an inventive book that you will want to re-read immediately to enjoy all of its different layers and to spend more time with its endearing protagonist, Sid Straw. I encourage all lovers of creative new fiction to read The Locklear Letters.
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