Glittering with mischief and perversity, Pushcart Prize-winner Jack Pendarvis s latest collection introduces readers to a world of dreamers poised on the brink of all sorts of disaster a world only a wink and a nod away from our own. In the title novella a fundamentalist teenager must single-handedly confront the challenges of a spiritual quest involving secular humanists, an apocalyptic folk artist, and his own misguided hormones. The other stories deal poignantly with among other things a young millionaire pretending to be a detective, the good folks who invented the diarrhea-inducing chewing gum, and a tollbooth operator who becomes an impromptu drug mule. Underlying each comedic gem and neurotic twist is an intelligence and empathy rarely found in modern satire. Your Body Is Changing will invite you in with its zany humor and indict you with its moving truths.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Pendarvis's second book (after The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure) sends up the mundane and extraordinary circumstances inflicted upon and by his misfit Southern eccentrics. His characters are quirky and grotesque, infuriating and hilarious, and his stories' unexpected twists are both impressive and thought provoking. In the title story, pubescent Henry lives with his mother and her uncle, attends a religious high school and is enmeshed in a brutal adolescence, marked by a visit from Jesus, a family medical emergency and a bizarre mission to New York with a former football coach. In "Lumber Land," the sole reporter of a small Alabama newspaper gets sucked into helping a private detective (also the scion of the publisher's family) follow a suspect deep into the woods. The slapstick use of the Heimlich maneuver sends Morton Fielding, the 72-year-old protagonist of "Outsiders," to the hospital. (Alabama residents and an errant nut are involved.) Though most stories are fantastically funny, "Courageous Blast," an oral history about the inventor of a chewing gum that has the unfortunate side effect of eating away stomach lining, is a stinker. Pendarvis hits the heart as often as the funny bone. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Hit[s] the nail on the head for what America ends up having been all about... unexpected Carl Sandburgian transcendence." -- The Brooklyn Rail, May, 2007
"riotous... [Pendarvis] often surprises a giggling reader by nailing the emptiness of his characters' self-absorption." -- Entertainment Weekly, May 29, 2007
Pendarvis has impeccable control over his characters' nuances, and his jokes never become easy or cynical. --The Washington City Paper, June 14, 2007
"riotous... [Pendarvis] often surprises a giggling reader by nailing the emptiness of his characters' self-absorption." -- Entertainment Weekly, May 29, 2007
Pendarvis has impeccable control over his characters' nuances, and his jokes never become easy or cynical. --The Washington City Paper, June 14, 2007
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Saunders meets Hannah meets Ignatius J. Reilly,
By Mississippi J (Wyoming) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Your Body Is Changing (Paperback)
Pendarvis has a great satirical eye and ear. The title story is a blast with three of four laugh out loud lines per page. Only two of the stories ( the one about gum and then Final Remarks) dissapointed me somewhat, although as riffs on our culture they work ok. The other stories though are great.
2.0 out of 5 stars
I've Laughed Harder,
By
This review is from: Your Body Is Changing (Paperback)
I saw myself spotting the numerous occasions where I knew someone out there would be laughing, but it didn't trigger my ha ha response. That aside, the seven shorter pieces beside the title story were thin and flabby, offering little more than the witty shortcomings. The title piece I found to be totally decent, a fun twisted satirical Huck Finn where the commentary didn't depend on humor.
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the funniest writers in America,
This review is from: Your Body Is Changing (Paperback)
Jack Pendarvis is one of those writers who can make me put the book down, I'm laughing so hard. Both this and his other book of short stories are wonderful. I'm looking forward to reading his novel. I highly recommend him to anyone who likes deadpan humor and oddball characters.
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