Once Upon a More Enlightened Time: More Politically Correct Bedtime Stories (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Following in the footsteps of Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, this book retells classic bedtime stories, stripped of any elements that might be offensive to women, gays, short people, minorities, giants, or wolves, as well as any details that might encourage aggression, cruelty, sexism, prejudice, littering, and so on.

At the same time he pokes fun at our politically correct sensitivity, the author points out biases in our traditional stories that we may not have been aware of.

About the Author

James Finn Garner is a writer and performer whose last book, Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, is an international bestseller. Called "a master of the tour de force" by The Washington Post and "a smart-alec, mealy-mouthed creep" by The London Daily Telegraph, Garner feels the truth lies somewhere in between. He lives in Chicago with his wife/lifemate and their new pre-adult. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 84 pages
• Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company; First Edition; First Printing edition (May 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028604199
• ISBN-13: 978-0028604190
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #547,481 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightenment the easy way..., July 22, 2003

By	FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Given the success of the first volume, 'Politically Correct Bedtime Stories', James Finn Garner took another journey into fairytale land to find a revisionist's dream of reframed stories, and assembled them into the volume 'Once Upon a More Enlightened Time'. Like the first volume, this one holds nothing sacred, highlighting both the excesses of prejudice in the past while exposing the excesses of the politically correct currents of today.

Once again, the tone is set from the start in the Introduction by Garner: 'At the outset, I would like to apologise sincerely for the success of my last book. The number of trees that voicelessly gave their lives so that my resource-greedy publisher and I could meet retail demand was truly appalling, and quite likely contributed to the global warming that gave those of us in the Northern Hemisphere such an unseasonably warm winter.'

Garner misses the opportunity here to remind us of the disparity of wealth between hemispheres, but beyond that, he doesn't miss much. The titles of the stories will give you insight:

- A Politically Correct Alphabet
- Hansel and Gretel
- The Ant and the Grasshopper
- The Princess and the Pea
- The Little Mer-persun (Mer-maid is a demeaning title)
- The Tortoise and the Hare
- Puss in Boots
- Sleeping Persun of Better-than-Average Attractiveness (to call her a beauty demeans all others)
- The City Mouse and the Suburban Mouse (the countryside having been ravaged and now no longer exists close to cities; the country mouse has become suburban)

The politically correct alphabet I will list below--this gives a flavour of the rest of the text.

A is an Activity itching to fight
B is a Beast with its animal rights
C was a Cripple (now differently abled)
D is a Drunk who is 'liquor-enabled'
and so forth...

Garner hastens to add that, of course, the traditional ordering of the letters does not in any way imply that 'A' is more better or deserving a letter than X, Y, or Z.

Garner's publicity blurb says that he is called 'a master of the tour de force' by The Washington Post and 'a smart-alec, mealy-mouthed creep' by The London Daily Telegraph, yet feels the truth lies somewhere in between.

These stories will be loved by anyone who doesn't take life too seriously. Nothing is sacred here--be prepared to find something in yourself in here.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars That Tortoise used Performing Enhancement Drugs, September 16, 2003

By	James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This sequel to Politically Correct Bedtime Stories introduces the reader to more politically correct fairy tales. Hansel and Gretel and the Tortoise and the Hare are my favourites. This is on par with the first book but avoid the next book in the series Politically Correct Holiday Stories as it does not live up to the standards of these two. Also read Apocalypse Wow by the same author.

Other great versions of fairytales can be found in Once Upon a Crime and the book called Whatever happened to...? The Ultimate Sequels.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fun, but just more of the same, July 11, 2006

By	Jean E. Pouliot (Newburyport, MA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Given the popularity and originality of Garner's previous work, "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories," a sequel was all but inevitable. But the brilliance of that first effort was in its freshness and surprise. Now that the feline animal companion is out of the bag, another book on the same topic was bound to be disappointing.

Garner rewrites old fairy tales (Hansel and Gretel, The Little Mermaid) and fables (The Ant and the Grasshopper, the Tortoise and the Hare) to echo the sensitivities of the far, far left. He tongue-in-cheekedly uses spellings that avoid the word "man" ("persun" for "person," "wommon" for "woman,") and has his heroes and heroines (excuse me, she-roes) adopt anti-capitalist, pro-environment and pro-animal rights stances. But (sigh) it has all been done before. What Garner needed to do was to take his lampoon to a new level. He accomplishes this one time, with "Puss in Boots," a satire on the American political system, in which artful consultants spin empty-headed candidates into electoral gold.

Garner is a clever man, a skilled writer and a gifted satirist. This work is OK, but I'm anxious to see him move in new directions.