The Wacky Misadventures of Warble McGorkle (Paperback)

~ Clay Shannon (Author) "Growing nervous due to the late hour, and not having heard any sounds emanating from the room, the secret service agents rap on the door..." (more)
Key Phrases: Miss Mary, Color-Blind Chameleon, Citizen Page (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"the Wacky Misadventures of Warble McGorkle" is a picaresque satire. Warble McGorkle, the protagonist, considers himself a genius. In reality, he is a jumble-headed, paranoid megalomaniac. My novel is the (somewhat darkly) humorous account of his meteoric rise from drifter to President of the United States. Warble and his wife Mary crisscross the U.S.A. at breakneck speed, as Warble endeavors to stay one step ahead of pursuers (most of them imaginary).

Everywhere he and Mary go, Warble concocts a cockamamie scheme to get fabulously rich and to propel himself to the pinnacle of society, where his fame--so he reasons, anyway--will make him safe from the forces supposedly arrayed against him.

Among several other ventures, Warble:
* Forms a polka punk band in St. Augustine, Florida
* Creates a reality-TV show named 'Bad Boyz Behind Barz', which makes use of video cameras in federal penitentiaries
* Markets himself as a super-hero, 'The Color-Blind Chameleon', using his manufactured fame to land lucrative endorsement contracts
* Founds a biotech firm that produces and sells a pill which transforms the pill ingester's personality.

Finally, after serving a term as governor of the state of Wisconsin, Warble, along with his wife Mary as his Vice Presidential running mate, is elected President of the United States. What he does with this new-found power may surprise you.

About the Author

Clay Shannon has lived a varied and wide-ranging life. From cowboying in northern California to working in a printery in Brooklyn, New York; from delivering mail in the rurals of Montana and interoffice correspondence as courier for a bank in Anchorage, Alaska; and from working as a blaster in a northern California gold mine to computer programming in various locations throughout the United States, he has experienced both the blue- and the white-colored worlds from the inside.

Always an artist at heart, though, he has been an avid guitarist, photographer (having had several photographs published), and writer. His earliest writing experience was as the founder, editor, publisher, writer, publicist, salesman, chief cook and bottle-washer of 'The Weirdly News', a comedic newsletter that enjoyed a brief heyday during his elementary school years. TWN depicted the ongoing adventures of such memorable characters as The Flying Frogdog (whose only recorded utterance was the jovial expression 'Boo Dee Doo Dah'--influenced, no doubt, by Uncle Remus).

In the intervening years, he has had two computer programming books published, the most recent being The Tomes of Delphi: Developer's Guide to Delphi Troubleshooting (Wordware 2001, ISBN 1-55622-816-30), as well as numerous technical articles about software development appearing in a variety of magazines. Perhaps more importantly, he has authored four novels:

Twisted Roads © 2001 ISBN 1588985008
The Resurrection of Samuel Clemens © 2001 ISBN 1588985997
The Vavilovian Conspiracy © 2001 (unpublished novella)
The Wacky Misadventures of Warble McGorkle © 2004 ISBN 1588989682

A native of northern California, Clay has resided in seven states* and visited all but one (Hawaii). Ge currently resides in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin with his wife, two sons, and a menagerie of assorted animals.

* Alaska, California, Idaho, Montana, New York, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

Product Details

• Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge (February 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588989682
• ISBN-13: 978-1588989680
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,395,818 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Best to avoid., December 8, 2007

By	David L. Nordin "Earfloppy" (Mississippi) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a character Warble is pretty good. Good enough, in fact, to carry the reader through the first fifty pages - unfortunately, the book last for another three hundred. This book may have been better if Warble had a decent supporting cast (Mary isn't good enough - too much witlessness and not enough foil) but as it is the novel is just a dull and monotonous rant with the occasional get rich quick scheme. Comedy is made in contrast and this book just didn't have it.

Oh, and the narration that crops up at the end of nearly every chapter is terrible - as is Warble was omniscient and narrating his own novel. In short this book is a one trick pony - Warble, who is not funny enough on his own to fuel the whole story.