The Midnight Examiner

by William Kotzwinkle

Fantasist William Kotzwinkle takes readers on a wild ride in this thriller set in the sleazy world of the tabloids. Howard Halliday, the editor of the Midnight Examiner and the unlikely protagonist in William Kotzwinkle's latest novel, becomes embroiled with several shady characters, including a bloodthirsty crime lord and a porn queen in danger, who lead him into a bizarre escapade that rivals only the freakish headlines in the Midnight Examiner.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Mystery, Comedy, Satire, Novels, 20th Century

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

William Kotzwinkle is a two-time recipient of the National Magazine Award for Fiction, a winner of the World Fantasy Award, the Prix Litteraire des Bouquinistes des Quais de Paris, the PETA Award for Children's Books, and a Book Critics Circle award nominee. His work has been translated into dozens of languages.

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this book for 1,001 books list. It was not my favorite by any stretch. The satire was too dated for me and the situations were not nuanced enough. I wanted to be moved by what this book was saying about gentrification and society but meh....I just didn't feel it.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't really know what to think about this apart from the fact that I found it devastatingly funny. When a porn actress called Mitzi Mouse is interrupted while writing poetry on a filming break and acccidentally shoots mob boss Tony Baloney in the leg, he sends his goombahs after her and the staff of Chameleon publications have to come to her aid. With no more than hot sauce tipped blow pipe darts, a fishing rod, some homespun style advice and a bit of mail order Voodoo powder to help them, the publishers and writers of such titles as Knockers, Bottoms and Real-Life Brides ride to the rescue, helped by Fernando, the art director who cannot see a bare wall without painting his "Big Womans" on it.
They all think in headlines - every encounter is a prompt to a fresh lurid story. It seems to be a plea for the underclass, for the millions for whom tabloid nonsense is a clarion call to experience real life in all its sensational detail. Even the character who has true journalisitc pretensions gives up his dream after their adventure, because working for the New York Times would not get him into scrapes like that.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Midnight Examiner is about the editor of a magazine -- something similar to The National Enquirer, I believe. It is trashy. Set in NYC, the protagonist, Howard Halliday works in Times Square. He carries a blowgun and uses it. The dialogue is often funny. The antics outrageous and ridiculous. This book often felt more like a comedy than a mystery or thriller.

There were some very minor characters with wonderfully funny quips.

However, I didn't really appreciate the story. It was a bit too slow at points, and the dark humor isn't my favorite. I think this book has reviews that are all over the spectrum and that is because this is a book that will only work for you if you like this genre/type of book. I don't.

[Kristel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for March BOTM (Reading 1001) and my first Kotzwinkle. I did not realize that this author also wrote the farting dog novels and The Bear Went Over the Mountain and E.T. This is my first Kotzwinkle. In this humorous book we have a bit of fantasy, a bit of thriller, a bit of satire. The setting is a publishing company in NYC of various sleazy tabloids; Midnight Examiner, Real Detective, Macho Man, etc. Publishing is all about the headlines, those wild ones that catch your eye when your checking out of the grocery store. The setting is also late 1980s culture. The various employers of the publishing company take up arms to rescue a porn queen from the mafia with various comic weapons; blow gun, boomerang, fishing rod, and voodoo. The characters are too numerous; Howard Halliday is our main man, but there is Nathan, Hattie, Amber, Yvonne, Celia, Fernando, Crumpacker, and many more. The quest to rescue the porn queen takes the reader on a mad cap trip through NYC with a Middle Eastern driver through the various apartments of the characters of the book giving the reader a picture of NYC life in the late 80s. I enjoyed this quote which I think represents the talent of this author who gets lost in the madcap and excess details; "The tortuous paths through Manhattan are trod by millions of pilgrims, raving, praying, hallucinating, dreaming of deliverance; had we all the glowing abdomen of fireflies and could we be photographed from above, what exquisite weaves would be seen.".

I fault this novel with "excess"; too many characters, too much of trying to cover every stereotype imaginable. On the other hand, the author managed to capture a picture of NYC and culture in the moment. The twin towers which no longer exist have their line in the book. Not sure who the Big Womans is but if it is a cow in women's clothes then is it Elsie the Borden Milk Cow logo?

I have a signed edition, I picked it up probably at Goodwill or used bookstore.

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy to read, entertaining, humorous, zanny, farce of a novel about Howard Halliday, magazine editor in chief of the Midnight Examiner, located in Manhattan. The stories he writes each day are insanely unreal. For example, ‘UFO Found in Girl’s Uterus’. He has a staff of unique characters. Things go pear shaped when Mitzi, a porn Queen Halliday knows, comes into his office. Mitzi has accidentally shot Tony Baloney, a crime gang boss.

This book was first published in 1990.

[Diane Zwang · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Midnight Examiner is a trashy magazine, the kind that make-up stories to publish. Our fearless leader is Howard Halliday the editor. We meet Howard at work in his Times Square office. The host of characters at the office are strange to say the least. The publisher, Nathan, carries a blowgun at work and isn't afraid to use. “I saw a man in the hallway with a blowgun in his hands.” “Our publisher. Have you any writing experience?” Fernando works in the art department and his story of “my big womans” made me laugh more than once.

The story eventually moves out of the office and mayhem ensues. There are equally entertaining characters out of the office as in. My favorite was Mussa, the Egyptian driver, his thoughts on life and driving made me laugh. “He pointed toward a sign: FINE FOR BLOWING HORN. “You blow horn, you feel fine, help relieve tension.”

My interest in this book waxed and waned. It was slow to start for me and I had trouble getting into the story but half-way in I started appreciating the insanity of it all. There is a confrontation in the story and action takes place but the sequence of events seem to drag for me so I lost interest again. Reviews for this book are all over the place. I think if you like quirky dark humor then you will like this one.

[Tim Hickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wild ride through 1980s New York City on the coattails of a tabloid editor. Kotzwinkle's book reminds me of how much grimier NYC was in the 80s: porn theaters and winos populated Times Square and middle class people lived on Manhattan. Howard Halliday is our guide to this airbrushed-voodoo-taxicab-thrill ride. Buckle your seatbelts, Uqal Mussa is at the wheel!

[Jrobertus · Rating 2 out of 5]

the examiner of the title is a tabloid and we are immersed with its eccentric staff. the dialogue is fast and funny but this is a very silly book. you need to treat it like a textual 3-stooges.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A conglomeration of tabloids goes on a quest to save a... poet. Wha' the??? When Kotzwinkle turns his wacky gaze on the world of tabloid journalism, random, hilarious adventure ensues.

[Arukiyomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kotwinkle is probably more famous for writing E.T., not this, and it’s hard to see why this needs to be read by anyone before they die. This is a shame because he did not in fact actually create E.T., he simply wrote the novel after the screenplay was written by Melissa Mathison. Anyway, I digress …

Not as talented as either Wallace (Infinite Jest) or Vonnegut (Slaughterhouse Five, Breakfast of Champions), Kotzwinkle seems to be trying to match both in this tale of a group of correspondents for a mediocre tabloid in New York. We can at least be thankful that he mirrors Vonnegut and not Wallace in terms of length, and that he’s easy to read. He isn’t a patch on either of them as a satirist, though.

The staff of The Midnight Examiner get involved with a local gangster and their lives start to resemble the fake headlines they generate in their day jobs. It’s picaresque and satirical but it’s not going to be anyone’s fave read, and it’s not really going to ever provide much to the world for posterity.

Kotzwinkle has a sense of humour, but it’s definitely not my sense of humour. Judging by reviews online, his humour seems to appeal to a fairly narrow band of humanity. If you’ve got nothing better to do, you might want to see if you fit in this narrow band. Otherwise, you can leave this one by the wayside.

[Pip · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled to finish this inane satire about trashy magazines, 1980's housing anomalies in New York city and some of the characters who may have lived and worked there. These characters are caricatures, whose initial description is mildly amusing, but there is insufficient development for this reader to be interested in the plot development, such as it is. One line caught my attention:"When they read a bogus story in two places, it becomes a fact. It's the secret of journalism". Aha, I thought. This book is actually relevant to our present predicament. But that was the only line that resonated. I suspect that my opinion is widespread, if my difficulty in finding a copy was an indication.

[Maryann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The staff of a company of tabloid publications runs afoul of the mob (by accident) and hijinks ensue, with the aid of a fishing pole and a voodoo priestess. There's also a large painting of a naked woman.

This was a fun read, easy, nothing heavy. I enjoyed a respite from the more strenuous topics of some of the other 1001 books. This book clearly doesn't take itself very seriously, either, and that was enjoyable.

Food: Reese's Pieces. You can eat a whole bag before you even realize you're halfway in.

[Mindbait]

Read about this one in the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" book.

The book started out almost a bit too 'madcap' for my tastes, it was worth sticking with though. It's one of those ones where there is only the vaguest of plotlines, more like a series of random events that eventually congeals in a surprisingly cohesive (but still wacky) storyline.

[Deeanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very fun, and so absurd. I didn't know at all what this book was about, I just trusted my friends recommendation (shout out to Liz!). I didn't see any of that coming at all and it definitely got some belly laughs out me. I will definitely check out more by the author.

[Becky Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny!!!

[Brian O'Leary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whimsical, fluff, some humor that grows old quickly, don't expect any character development only a few chuckles.

[Manicus · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am so tired of novels that try to be hilarious....

[M. 1001 livres à lire · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 L'humour a mal vieilli mais les personnages, ces journalistes ratés, étaient sympathiques.

[Susan Katz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. A bit dated and somewhat outlandish. A bit hard to keep track of the characters as most of them aren't very clearly defined.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sometimes you come across a book so stupid you don’t know what to say about it. For me, The Midnight Examiner is one of those books. It’s a madcap zany adventure that feels like one of those terrible comedies that crop up on cable tv on a sunday evening.

Howard is the editor of a publishing company (all lurid magazines) and all his staff are a bunch of crackpots – From the blow dart loving publisher to the mail order priest/head of religious publications. One day while in a porn movie one staff member accidentally shoots a mafia boos and the whole team are under a situation which is crazier than the stuff they publish. Yes everything works out in the end and Howard finds a decent job in the long run too. Oh yes there’s a Voodoo Queen involved in thwarting the gangsters.

The Midnight Examiner is just ridiculous, from the beginning to the very end. The dialogue is irritating and the characters are so stupid you can’t identify with them. Maybe this is supposed to be a satire on seedy mags but I was plain pissed off while readings this in order to let the humour sink in.

Some books remain out of print for a reason.

Avoid.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Midnight Examiner is a completely bonkers romp through the seedy underbelly of the modern New York underworld, where voodoo princesses knock out mafia men and catatonic schizophrenic artists paint Big Womans on any wall left unprotected. It's a funny bit of fluff which is not quite hilarious, but a very welcome change of pace from the majority of super serious list books. The staff at the Midnight Examiner flock to the aid of a damsel in distress, a poetry writing porn star, and find themselves in sillier and sillier situations until the wonderfully mundane ending - the only fitting ending, I might add. In the background you can already sense the ongoing march of gentrification, and a fight for an old way of life that may be best not being preserved. A lot of fun!

[Zack · Rating 3 out of 5]

You know how sometimes certain books or movies are called "lighthearted romps"? This one's a lighthearted romp through the world of tabloid journalism. My favorite Kotzwinkle book is called "The Fan Man." His writing style reminds me of Philip K. Dick's (grammatically impeccable) but without PKD's habitual psycho-philosophical overtone. Whoever compared it to Napoleon Dynamite seems to have had a different experience.

[Berlindelight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein etwas anstrengendes Buch mit einer Menge an absurd, humoresken Ideen.
Es geht um einen Reporter im Schlachtfeld des investigativen Boulevardjournalismus und der Tatsache das wenn man nichts brauchbar bezahlbares an Reportagen zu bieten hat, schreibt man es halt aus der eigenen Fantasie heraus.

[Abilouise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how much I would like this book if I read it now. I have vague wafting memories of it having more than its share of homophobia and sexism (the writing, not just the characters or plot), but I also remember it being a really fun ride that I couldn't put down and was disappointed when it was over.

[Jono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, i laughed out loud numerous times. If you can make yourself accept a few oddball givens, you're in for a real treat.

[Debra West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply the funniest book I ever read.

[MrRoyMustang · Rating 3 out of 5]

boring ...

[Jami · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you liked Napoleon Dynamite, you might like this quirky, offbeat, funny novel.

[Ann Dank]

2.5 stars