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Devil in the Drain
by
A boy discovers the devil in a kitchen drain and fearlessly deals with him.
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Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
March 26th 1984
by Dutton Books for Young Readers
(first published 1984)
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...the hell did I just read?
I'm not completely sure what the point of this is other than that a kid goes back on his promise because he gets annoyed by a tiny bully. Is it a devil? Is it the Devil? Pinkwater uses "a" and "the" interchangeably (but never capitalizes "devil") so I'm not sure whether he was just talking about a gremlin-esque creature or had anything religious in the back of his mind or what. The illustrations don't help because they give the devil character reddish skin and horns ( ...more
I'm not completely sure what the point of this is other than that a kid goes back on his promise because he gets annoyed by a tiny bully. Is it a devil? Is it the Devil? Pinkwater uses "a" and "the" interchangeably (but never capitalizes "devil") so I'm not sure whether he was just talking about a gremlin-esque creature or had anything religious in the back of his mind or what. The illustrations don't help because they give the devil character reddish skin and horns ( ...more

I first learned of this title while listening to episode 43 First Contact of This American Life where the author read it. Being banned in several schools piqued my curiosity. This is a difficult book to get a used copy of but I was able to get it as an ILL from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA (of all places). I found it interesting that it hadn't been checked out since Dec, 2000. The story itself isn't very engaging and I don't see much to make it "ban worthy" other than it's a child t
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I loved this book as a child. The pictures and the story stayed with me forever. I remember constantly checking out the "devil in the toilet" book (as I would call it) from my grade school library. :) While searching to buy the book on line I found information that it was banned in several school across the country. I was suprised and that made me hunt down a copy with much more enthusiasim.
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Brilliant and comical - I don't think my daughter (who I read this to) found it as funny as I did which is interesting and another conversation.
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Daniel Manus Pinkwater is an author of mostly children's books and is an occasional commentator on National Public Radio. He attended Bard College. Well-known books include Lizard Music, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, Fat Men from Space, Borgel, and the picture book The Big Orange Splot. Pinkwater has also illustrated many of his books in the past, although for more recent works that
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