comedy | CW Hawes

Indie April Suggestions – Part 9

This is the last day of April and the last day of Indie April for 2021. However, I have 2 more authors I want to leave with you before the month is out. And while they may be last, they are certainly not least. They’ll help us depart April with a bang.

Alexander Pain

I’ll confess up front, I don’t like the zombie apocalypse craze. That said, I do like the writing of Alexander Pain and he writes about the zombie apocalypse. So that should tell you something right there.

Pain has one novel and several short stories in his oeuvre, and they are worthy additions to your entertainment library. What I admire about Pain’s writing is his ability to take a thoroughly impossible idea — the zombie apocalypse — and make it real.

For example, when reading Zombie Complex: The Battle for Chattahoochee Run I was drawn into the story because of the realistic characters he peoples it with. The same can be said for Neither Seen, Nor Heard. He puts real people into an unrealistic setting and by doing so enables me to suspend my sense of disbelief.

Using humor, pathos, and suspense, he makes the reader accept the implausibility of his world, and that is quite a feat. And he draws our attention to the question, How do I survive in such a world? Or any world for that matter.

Good post-apocalyptic fiction is, at base, philosophical in nature. Everything I value has been stripped away from me. Now what? Who am I? What is my purpose? What is of real importance in life? And Pain subtly poses those questions for us to ponder in the backs of our minds.

If you’re looking for action, adventure, and a good survival story, as well as food for thought, head on over to Amazon and check out the books of Alexander Pain. You won’t be sorry.

Ernestine Marsh

I love a good laugh and the older I get the more I value laughter. Because laughter puts everything into perspective and lightens any and all loads. I hope I die laughing.

When reading one of the things I look for is humor. If it’s present, the author gets a plus.

Ernestine Marsh writes humor, and that is a tough job for the best of writes. In Agonising: The Problem Page Letters of Jean Price and Raine Vincent and In Agony Again, Marsh has created two of the most delightful characters I’ve come across.

Price and Vincent are competing agony aunts, or advice columnists for us Americans. The plots of both books chronicle their battle of oneupmanship, and along the way we are treated to the most ridiculous and hilarious advice to the most incredible and incredulous problems.

The humor is often a mask for satirical commentary on our times. And the satire can be bitingly wicked. Satire and humor that is in league with Voltaire, Twain, and Wilde. Marsh doesn’t pull any punches.

So, if you’re looking for a good laugh with a hefty helping of hilarious social satire, head on over to Amazon and pickup Ernestine Marsh’s books. And prepare to be incapacitated by your funny bone.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy reading!

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Agonising

Good Books You Probably Never Heard Of – Part 5

A year or two ago, I never thought of social media as the place where I’d find my next book to read. And I’m not talking Goodreads here.

I don’t particularly like Goodreads. The site is clumsy to use. The reviewers are often unnecessarily vitriolic. And there is a decided bias in favor of corporate publishers and their books.

No, I’m talking about Twitter primarily, although I’ve found some very good reads on some of the closed Facebook groups.

Three of the recent authors I’ve run across who write very enjoyable books are RH Hale, Joe Congel, and Richard Schwindt. In the past, I discovered Crispian Thurlborn, Ben Willoughby, and Steve Bargdill.

One of my recent discoveries was Agonising by Ernestine Marsh, who describes herself as “a woman who has written a book”. And what a book it is!

Agonising is written as a series of alternating advice columns between two rival agony aunts, Jean Price and Raine Vincent. Both of whom are characters in every sense of the word. We are treated to delicious humor, biting satire, and an insightful look at human nature. The advice they give to the answer seekers is usually ridiculous and frequently irreverent. And their acerbic comments about each other will have you falling out of your chair from laughter.

With a deft hand, Ms Marsh has pulled back the curtain on the façade that hides the reality of our times and who we are.

Not to overplay my own hand, but if Voltaire were alive today I think he’d be looking over his shoulder at this very worthy competitor.

There’s not much of a plot, but I don’t think you’ll miss it. You’ll be too busy laughing. And what plot there is, Ms Marsh brings to a very satisfying and hilarious conclusion.

Agonising is very highly recommended! And, as of this writing, a mere 99¢.

Comments are always welcome, and, until next time, happy reading!

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Book Review: Evelyn & Company by Chad Muller

One of my favorite comedy reads is Evelyn & Company by Chad Muller. The humor is wacky, zany, intellectual, and virtual slapstick all rolled into one. I reviewed this book over a year ago and thought I would resurrect the review because I’ve rethought how I want to do book reviews: namely, I’m dumping the star system of rating. I think a better approach is to simply tell you why I like the book and if I think you will like it as well. So without further ado, once again Evelyn & Company!

Comedy, I think, can be exceedingly difficult to pull off well in writing. After all, the key elements of timing and pacing are not present as they are in live performance. And then there is the very real fact not everyone thinks the same thing is humorous. Yet there are authors who’ve made comedy writing their bread and butter. Mark Twain, Robert E Howard, Oscar Wilde, Douglas Adams, and John Logsdon easily come to mind.

Some time ago (December 2014 to be exact), I stumbled upon the zany book Evelyn & Company by Chad Muller (aka CM Muller). I bought a copy and laughed my way through it.

The novel is bizarre, zany, and delightful. A crazy romp through the many facets humor has to offer us. Puns, slapstick, innuendo, juxtaposition, satire, black comedy, it’s all there in Evelyn Portobello’s mad, quixotic quest for revenge when she doesn’t get the product she bought that was advertised on the TV.

Who hasn’t purchased something and had it as often as not, not be what was advertised? The item sounded so good and in the end was so disappointing. A scenario that has happened to all of us. That is the basis for Mr Muller’s comic tale. And so the plump Ms Portobello is stiffed on her order of “Magic Morel Shake Mix” and her phone calls and letters go unanswered. Oh, the earthy deliciousness of it all!

Humor operates on many different levels and has a very individual appeal. What Evelyn & Company offers us is a smorgasbord of humor. There is something here for everyone. Some examples we may not get (there were a few I didn’t), but keep reading — for our morsel is waiting.

The story is simple. The perfect slice of life. It begins in the middle of living and in a sense goes no where — a perfect “plotless” novel — but along the way we encounter injustice, love, devotion, romance, protests, strikes, anger, happiness, crazies, fun, and laughter. Yes, lots of laughter. After all, it’s a slice of life.

Evelyn is wealthy but lives in a trailer, expends tens of thousands of dollars to get back the $19.95 she was cheated out of, and then decides to take matters into her own hands. Situational irony at its finest!

In the tradition of black comedy and social satire, Muller has given us a 21st century Candide — by the name of Evelyn & Company.

I heartily recommend this book! Preview it below!

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