book data
132 ratings, 3.37 average rating, 27 reviews
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published
2004
by St. Martin's Griffin
binding
Paperback, 208 pages
isbn
0312328052
(isbn13: 9780312328054)
description
When a woman is found dead in the waters off New York City, the police diver-known as Little Fool-who finds her body turns out to be an old lover of h...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 174)
Read in January, 2007
This book has the most interesting narrator I have ever read: a sock monkey called Dickie. All throughout the book, readers will see things from Dickie's point of view.
You see, Dickie belongs to a grown-up NYPD diver, whom Dickie calls Little Fool. One day Little Fool discovered a body belonging to his former lover Nell, obviously dead, in a river. Together with his friend Tommy and Dickie, Little Fool tries to find the killer. Which is a bit challenging, since Little Fool is a diver, not d...more
You see, Dickie belongs to a grown-up NYPD diver, whom Dickie calls Little Fool. One day Little Fool discovered a body belonging to his former lover Nell, obviously dead, in a river. Together with his friend Tommy and Dickie, Little Fool tries to find the killer. Which is a bit challenging, since Little Fool is a diver, not d...more
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recommended to Glenn by:
Mellinger
Okay, another weird book from Mellinger, one which I'm not quite finished with yet. One of the blurbs on the cover mentions the orginal new voice of the narrator, a sock-monkey named Dickie. Anybody familiar with Penn Jillette will note that there's nothing original about the narrative voice- it's a direct feed from Penn himself. It even features his fascination with monkeys (Monkey Tuesday!)- and it seems unedited. There's a song quotation at the end of nearly every paragraph, and often the...more
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A few chapters in and I am very taken with the flow. "Dickie", the sock monkey, is not only a fast talking foul mouthed narrator, he is also hyper literate in rock and roll conceits.
A lot of fun in good short chapters.
[EDIT: Just got to the dark part. It's gonna be a long ride into hell, I just know it.]
Shelve next to "Cruddy" by Lynda Barry and Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible" under "Books about sock monkeys." Give me 1 more, and I coul...more
A lot of fun in good short chapters.
[EDIT: Just got to the dark part. It's gonna be a long ride into hell, I just know it.]
Shelve next to "Cruddy" by Lynda Barry and Barbara Kingsolver's "Poisonwood Bible" under "Books about sock monkeys." Give me 1 more, and I coul...more
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Read in March, 2008
the voice of this novel is a sock monkey named Dickie. he is owned by the Little Fool, a police diver who scubas a reserve of water in new york for bodies.
the story starts to pick up steam when the Little Fool drags a familiar body out of the water. an old lover of his that he has now determined was his true love.
i enjoyed the book as a whole. it is full of pop culture references, all of which the author has said help give the paragraphs a theme. i felt that there was a chapter towards...more
the story starts to pick up steam when the Little Fool drags a familiar body out of the water. an old lover of his that he has now determined was his true love.
i enjoyed the book as a whole. it is full of pop culture references, all of which the author has said help give the paragraphs a theme. i felt that there was a chapter towards...more
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Read in June, 2008
A clever conceit that could have failed miserably, but, perhaps surprisingly, didn't. The whole story is told from the perspective of the protagonist's sock monkey, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture, especially popular songs.
Yeah, I know, I know, but it somehow worked, and yes, the author is one-half of the Penn and Teller duo (I think he's the one who named his daughter Moxie Crimefighter Jillette, so go figure). It's not great literature, but it was fun (marred only by a r...more
Yeah, I know, I know, but it somehow worked, and yes, the author is one-half of the Penn and Teller duo (I think he's the one who named his daughter Moxie Crimefighter Jillette, so go figure). It's not great literature, but it was fun (marred only by a r...more
Read in February, 2008
Told through the point of view of a NYC police diver's sock monkey, the book follows a jumpy, fragmented stream-of-consciousness style of writing...which worked great for me b/c I already think inside my head like that. In fact, this was one of the few books I didn't have to fight my brain to follow. It was great to let the reigns go and let the ole thinker run away with this story about a plucky sock monkey's best friend :)
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Written by Penn Jillette (the larger half of Penn & Teller), who I worship for his ideology, this book really fell flat as his first attempt at a novel. He ends every paragraph with a pop culture reference (usually a line from a song), which began to annoy me after about Chapter Two. The best parts of this book were the lead character's rants on atheism. I didn't care about the lead character himself at all.
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This is weird; and I have a high threshold for what I consider weird. It's not bad.. though so far the narration kind of confuses me. But it's a style. So I'll give it a chance. And, even if it's not good.. I will still bang Penn Jillette. Because he's fucking awesome. Maybe a threesome with him and Marilyn Manson... hmm..yes. That'd be awesome.
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Read in September, 2007
recommends it for:
Sophie!
It's a murder mystery, told from the vantage point of a sock monkey.
And this is Penn Gillette, so of course there's plenty of social libertarianism and rampant atheism. This is actually a pretty good book, once you get into the odd, jerky, pop-culture-reference-filled writing style.
Did I mention it's told by a sock monkey?
And this is Penn Gillette, so of course there's plenty of social libertarianism and rampant atheism. This is actually a pretty good book, once you get into the odd, jerky, pop-culture-reference-filled writing style.
Did I mention it's told by a sock monkey?
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Read in November, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone who wants to feel like they've had a long, cozy conversation with Penn Jillette
The first chapter is five-star material, but the book loosened from there, and I missed Dickie's crazy-eyed Beat rhythm. Still, a sock monkey is a great vehicle for some id-powered stream-of-consciousness storytelling. A quick, addictive, fast-paced, pop culture-dotted, kind-hearted read.
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3 comments
Upon my brother's recommendation, I read the first chapter out loud. Which was great for giving the rest of the book a flow and meter. As the book is written from the perspective of a sock monkey, it helps to read it appropriately. Fun in the way you'd expect Penn Juliet to be fun.
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Once you get over the fact that the main narrator of this book is the old toy sock monkey of the main character, it's actually a pretty read. It's by Penn of Penn & Teller, so there is some risque humor in there too.
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Maybe the most profane book I've ever read. Hard to recommend except to people I know won't be offended. Great rhythms, ideas that are funny and shocking at the same time.
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Read in July, 2006
recommends it for:
Jen
a very strange book. A narrative told by a sock monkey called Dickie which belongs to an NYC police diver on the case of the murder of an old lover.
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I know a lot of people aren't fans, but I love Penn Jillette. And I hope he keeps writing, because this was an excellent first novel.
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Ruzz by:
Brad
Loved this book so intensely the first time around (2004). The sock monkey is not such a bad wammerjammer on a second reading.
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Read in March, 2008
The story was interesting, but a bit preachy. The writing style wasn't for me, and ended up taking away my focus.
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Good book. I liked the way he wrote the book. Interesting point of view and good story to boot.
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Read in December, 2004
what a sad sack of hammers this dude is. for fucks sake.....more magic, less wriring.
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Read in January, 2005
Comedians/magicians can be authors too. Loved all the cultural references.
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