Customer Reviews

What The Shadow Told Me

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I've been reading bits of this novel for months, passed around like samizdat on the Internet & through email -- it's funny as hell. Great to see it's found a home -- buy it!

Decidedly unusual and refreshing. The development of characters is fascinating; it's full of things to make you smile and things to make you think. You may think you have figured out what the ending will be, but this is also full of surprises. I thoroughly enjoyed it ... enough to order two more copies to send to friends. Bravo to the authors -- and encore!

This is an excerpt from the review that appeared in Greensboro News & Record:

This is a novel that relies on action and dialogue, and races forward because of it. Team KD has packed the pages with colorful characters, satire that could slash a set of SUV tires, and heaps of absurdity that I gobbled down with nary a question.

The centerpiece of this novel is Rufus Walter Eddison, fictional writer of his own novel, "Darkness Visible," in 1951, which quickly gathered worldwide critical acclaim. It lodged itself into the literary canon and became a fixture in academia. Gradually, Eddison's debut work was given the unofficial honor of the best novel of the century. And then he never wrote another word. Or, at the least, never let anyone see another word.

When he dies early in the story, a cannonball run of sorts explodes in an effort to find the mysterious manuscript Eddison's been promising for decades. Solving the question of its existence and to whom it belongs is a kooky but tightly written ride.

Team KD exhibits the wild creativity of Thomas Pynchon (I thought of "Vineland" quite often) in the made-up song lyrics, plays on pop culture, and intricate plot connections of every character-but with less head scratching. Instead of post-modern dilemmas, the satire in this novel is self-directed. Writers, literary agents, creative writing teachers, university administrators, and editors are spared no mercy in the attack.

As Kurtis Davidson, Kurt Ayau and David Rachels share a skilled sense of story and a willingness to go for broke, to have fun. "What the Shadow Told Me is as much a thriller as it is a farce. It could make great cinema but at this time makes for an excellent read.

The two-headed authorial monster, Kurtis Davidson, offers a lucidly loony tale of a mad captain who hunts down the White Whale and hurls flaming yams at him. Wait, I seem a bit confused--but this novel is indeed a profound quest, with all the wacky humor that Melville would have injected if only he'd been funny and peculiar enough. The White Whale, the Holy Grail, the parking space at the mall--everything elusive and allusive that so bedevils us frail immoral mortals pales in comparison to the search for the Great American Novel, allegedly left somewhere by the late Rufus Walter Eddison. Intricately plotted and thus certain to appeal to conspiracy theorists everywhere, "What the Shadow Told Me" takes you through a maze of amazement, in which you meet minotaurs, or in any case memorable characters--such as Rufus's widow, Maisy May, who, in her warm decency and depth, would have made even Faulkner proud. You will learn about publishing, writing, linguistics, race relations, humor, whaling, ancient Egyptian mythology, and peak oil. Well, you will learn about some of those things; consult other books for the rest. (Don't expect Kurtis Davidson to do everything for you.) Most important, you will discover how to do "translations" of the sort that landed Enoch in heaven and me in the rest home for tired minds. The lovable Biminim will teach you the Way of the Word so that henceforth even automatic Internet "Babel Fish" translations will seem like sweetly singing sanity. So stick a Babel Fish in your ear and begin a cosmic trip.

I read this book three years ago in manuscript form and I have been waiting to see it in print ever since. It is the funniest, cleverest, most outlandishly entertaining book you will find by googling "tagalog" and "ralph ellison."

Who would think that in a city of 8 million people (and those living in Monrovia) there would be a tight knit group that would all be touched in a big way by the hunt for a phantom manuscript? Learn of the secret (and not so secret) lives of all involved. With a celebrity list a mile long, penned in cameos include; Olga Korbut, Susan Dey, John Lennon, Tammy Faye Bakker, David Hasselhoff, Satchel Paige and Adolph Hitler. Follow Justina on her mad search while she is "on vacation" for the jewel of a famous black writer's career. After reading this I felt I was back at the magic kingdom riding my favorite ride mesmerized by all the children singing, "it's a small world after all". I haven't read that much in one sitting since I read to my son Melville's "Moby Dick" and he wouldn't let me stop until the exciting part was over. Thanks guy's! It sure was wild,

Blake

Hello, American readers, it is I, Biminim Strimpoonanamam, one of those who resides within the beatific WHAT THE SHADOW TOLD ME by Kurtis Davidson of the double brain.

Many people who read this book, because it tells of the fictional world, do not believe that I am veracity, so let me be clearest: I AM VERACITY AND THIS BOOK IS SPECTACULARITY!

Am I worthy of blurbs? Yes, I am worthy of blurbs!

You will weep with me, you will laugh with me (oh! the reams that you will laugh with me!), and you will birth the desire to buy copious copies of this book to every person on every holiday that you meet! Yes! WHAT THE SHADOW TOLD ME is funnier than humor! Imagine Mr. David Chappelle WITH THREE FUNNY BONES!

You must have the faith in me! Believe in Biminim!

I cannot say anything bad about this book! WHAT THE SHADOW TOLD ME is clever and irreverent. Engaging characters take you on a wonderful ride while at the same time poking the publishing industry in the eye.

With the embedded screenplay it is also a two-fer the price of one, an excellent value. Cameo's by such notable icons as Satchel Paige and David Hasselhoff too!

Buy it, borrow it, beg for or steal it-this is a must read!

I couldn't put it down. Very funny. My favorites things in the book were (don't worry, this will give nothing away!): the Baby Bomber; all the names; the Biminim re-translations; Rufus' letter at the funeral; the character of Timm Clifton; the haikus; the clocks; the old propaganda film; Henry David Monroe; and Christians Against Kwanzaa. Sign me up.

I *loved* this book. Couldn't put it down, even though I had deadlines. I laughed my ass off the whole way through, and I found myself caring about the characters. I hope KD will consider writing a Biminim Strimpoonanamam spin-off novel. You'd be crazy not to read this.-Torin Alter