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The Snarkout Boys #1
The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death
Walter and Winston set out to rescue the inventor of the Alligatron, a computer developed from an avocado which is the world's last defense against the space-realtors.
151 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
36 people are currently reading
448 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Pinkwater
156 books414 followersDaniel 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 task has passed to his wife Jill Pinkwater.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
November 12, 2011
I thought about it, and I decided this is my book that, if you don't like it, you are dead to me.
February 5, 2011
This book was written in the early '80s. The following are among the long list of giveaways:
1) The word "retarded" appears twice on the same page.
2) The narrator's science teacher is casually anti-Semitic.
3) In order to find out what movies are playing, the characters need to use a newspaper.
4) One of the movies they go to see is Song of the South, which as far as Disney is concerned ceased to exist around 1984.
5) The main characters, young high school kids, all smoke.
6) Inside of theaters and restaurants.
7) There are Gypsies with wagons in New Jersey
8) When the word "hipster" is used, the characters are thinking of this:
[image error]
...as opposed to this:
I first read this book in about fourth grade. It's weird because it is definitely written for that age group, but all the characters are high-schoolers. I don't think they do that in kid's books anymore. Anyway, it's very weird, which is no surprise if you have read any Daniel Pinkwater in the past (like this one). Basically, the premise of his books is that almost every single character is clearly absolutely insane. The main characters can be sort of normal, perhaps social outcasts like Winston Bongo and Walter, who "invent" the practice of snarking out, which is sneaking out of your house to see a movie at an all-night double-feature theater (oh yeah, that is another way you can tell this book was written in the early '80s). They are quickly embroiled in a conspiracy involving a kidnapped chimpanzee, a pro-wrestler, a missing scientist, a criminal mastermind, a man with a singing chicken, a looming alien invasion and a sentient computer made out of a giant avocado. At one point, perhaps shortly after a clandestine meeting in a sewer, the narrator has to remind himself that everyone he's met throughout the book is nuts.
Another thing Daniel Pinkwater does really well is describe food in a way that makes you really want to reach inside the book to taste something. This is true of many of his books. For example here he talks about a midnight visit to a hobo bar where Walter has a nickel beer and a buttery baked potato that has stuck in my memory for over a decade. I mean, clearly Daniel Pinkwater is a man who knows how to enjoy a good meal:
I'm still chasing the bowl of green chili he describes in Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars.
(rating is reflective of nostalgia.)
1) The word "retarded" appears twice on the same page.
2) The narrator's science teacher is casually anti-Semitic.
3) In order to find out what movies are playing, the characters need to use a newspaper.
4) One of the movies they go to see is Song of the South, which as far as Disney is concerned ceased to exist around 1984.
5) The main characters, young high school kids, all smoke.
6) Inside of theaters and restaurants.
7) There are Gypsies with wagons in New Jersey
8) When the word "hipster" is used, the characters are thinking of this:
[image error]
...as opposed to this:
I first read this book in about fourth grade. It's weird because it is definitely written for that age group, but all the characters are high-schoolers. I don't think they do that in kid's books anymore. Anyway, it's very weird, which is no surprise if you have read any Daniel Pinkwater in the past (like this one). Basically, the premise of his books is that almost every single character is clearly absolutely insane. The main characters can be sort of normal, perhaps social outcasts like Winston Bongo and Walter, who "invent" the practice of snarking out, which is sneaking out of your house to see a movie at an all-night double-feature theater (oh yeah, that is another way you can tell this book was written in the early '80s). They are quickly embroiled in a conspiracy involving a kidnapped chimpanzee, a pro-wrestler, a missing scientist, a criminal mastermind, a man with a singing chicken, a looming alien invasion and a sentient computer made out of a giant avocado. At one point, perhaps shortly after a clandestine meeting in a sewer, the narrator has to remind himself that everyone he's met throughout the book is nuts.
Another thing Daniel Pinkwater does really well is describe food in a way that makes you really want to reach inside the book to taste something. This is true of many of his books. For example here he talks about a midnight visit to a hobo bar where Walter has a nickel beer and a buttery baked potato that has stuck in my memory for over a decade. I mean, clearly Daniel Pinkwater is a man who knows how to enjoy a good meal:
I'm still chasing the bowl of green chili he describes in Alan Mendelsohn, The Boy From Mars.
(rating is reflective of nostalgia.)
May 13, 2008
This is a children's book in the same way that Rocky & Bullwinkle was a children's TV show, which is to say, not really. But if you're in the mood for a book about biology notebooks, late night movies, speeches in the park, disappearing uncles, Chinese butlers named Heinz, Commonists, rubber doughnuts, singing chickens, space realtors, wrestling orangutans (don't let them get your feet!), evil masterminded criminal who torture people by making them watch German movies, and - above all - avocados, this is the book for you!
August 15, 2024
My favorite book of all time...I read it at least once a year.
(I see no reason to ever change this review even though I read this book at least yearly...the review always stays the same)
As Jenne has stated in her review (best book review I've ever seen by the way)..."I thought about it, and I decided this is my book that, if you don't like it, you are dead to me." and I couldn't agree with Jenne more.
There is no book in the world that has had a greater impact on who I am than this book, no book that has given me greater joy and laughter than this book, no book that I have recommended to more people than this book.
In no uncertain terms - this is THE PERFECT BOOK.
(I see no reason to ever change this review even though I read this book at least yearly...the review always stays the same)
As Jenne has stated in her review (best book review I've ever seen by the way)..."I thought about it, and I decided this is my book that, if you don't like it, you are dead to me." and I couldn't agree with Jenne more.
There is no book in the world that has had a greater impact on who I am than this book, no book that has given me greater joy and laughter than this book, no book that I have recommended to more people than this book.
In no uncertain terms - this is THE PERFECT BOOK.
June 18, 2014
Like many Pinkwater books, it starts off weird and gets weirder as you read on. The story: Walter Galt and Winston Bongo, they're two regular boys (sort of) who sneak out of their homes to watch late night movies. What could go wrong? They soon meet a girl, Bently Saunders Harrison Mathews (nicknamed Rat), who's introduces them to her uncle Flipping Hades Terwilliger, after which things steadily go off course.
From my perspective, the characters are great. Full of surprises, just reading their names are a laugh. But the story draws you in soon enough. It involves a kidnapping, pro-wrestlers, and giant avocados. You get the idea. With the help of the world's greatest detective, the small gang is challenged to find out who's the kidnapper, and what they want with Rat's uncle.
The only negative thing I can comment on is content that "might" be considered politically incorrect by today's uptight standards. Nothing major. Some ethnic jokes and political jibes that may not appeal to everyone. Don't get me wrong, tough. I loved it.
From my perspective, the characters are great. Full of surprises, just reading their names are a laugh. But the story draws you in soon enough. It involves a kidnapping, pro-wrestlers, and giant avocados. You get the idea. With the help of the world's greatest detective, the small gang is challenged to find out who's the kidnapper, and what they want with Rat's uncle.
The only negative thing I can comment on is content that "might" be considered politically incorrect by today's uptight standards. Nothing major. Some ethnic jokes and political jibes that may not appeal to everyone. Don't get me wrong, tough. I loved it.
May 29, 2022
**Note -- Because there are only two goodreads-marked quotes of this book, I decided to flip to a random page and find suitable quotes to include. I think this practice is appreciative of the wonderful weirdness that inhabits this book.**
"The government is ruining our feet!" he shouted.
"Tell 'em! Tell 'em!"
"Right on!"
"They ruined my brother's feet!"
"Eat meat and ruin your feet!"
"Whoopee!"
~ Stats ~
Title: The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death (Snarkout Boys series, #1)
I love this title. It represents the pure insanity that has folded itself into this book.
Author: Daniel Pinkwater
Genre: I'm not entirely sure. The characters are YA-age, but it seems to be written more for middle grade readers. It's quite a conundrum.
Age Recommendation: 10+ (I think readers any younger would simply be confused, not appreciating the glorious weirdness of the novel, and might not understand the twisty and unpredictable plot.)
"We were in some sort of entrance hall. There was a bunch of old-fashioned furniture, a worn-out carpet, and a big statue of what appeared to be a tall, skinny chicken."
~ Characters ~
★★★★ -- 4 stars
As always, Pinkwater brings a crazy cast of characters to the pages of his stories. We have Walter, a pretty average protagonist. He's annoyed with his high school biology class and loves watching movies. But it all changes when he starts to meet a whole bunch of weird folks, like Winston Bongo.
First, can we acknowledge how amazing his name is? Winston Bongo. Winston Bongo. Pinkwater is nothing short of a genius with names. Anyways, Winston Bongo is a social outcast, and he and Walter get along well. They both enjoy Snarking Out, or sneaking out to watch movies in the middle of the night at the Snark, a movie theater. (Yes, this feels a bit dated. No, it doesn't make me enjoy it any less.)
Then the two of them meet Rat, a teen girl with a strangeness of her own, and nothing short of chaos ensues, entangling Rat's weird family, an orangutan, two detectives, and an underground network.
The thing I love about Pinkwater's characters are how delightfully, uniquely odd they are. They're all weird, but they're not all weird in the same way. They each have their own brand of strangeness, and I love it.
More characters involve a man with a singing chicken, who some might recognize from Pinkwater's novel Lizard Music, a criminal mastermind who has a very interesting torture method, aliens, and avocado computers. What's not to love?
"They also wrestle a live gorilla onstage. Then they get run over by a United Parcel Service truck. For a finale, they set fire to an eighteen-foot-tall papier-maché mastodon. It's sort of their trademark."
~ The Plot!~
★★★★★ -- 5 stars
The plot of this book is unlike any other book I've read. It's a madcap adventure surrounding space realtors, kidnappings, and German movies. The story whips from one plot point to the next until the reader is wound up in a mystery they can't put down.
What really gets me about the story of this book is how ridiculously unique and weird it is. The plot is completely and utterly new, created fresh by Pinkwater. It's not a patchwork of other stories, it's not a re-imagining of something else. It's simply amazing.
"Uncle Flipping vanishes fairly often," Rat said. "He disappears in a variety of ways. For example, once we heard a muffled shriek in the night, and he was gone. Another time, there were heavy footsteps in the library, after which he vanished."
"Yes," Saunders Harrison Matthews II added, "and there was the time he vanished, and we found an envelope containing five grapefruit pips under his pillow."
"My favorite was the time we found a stuffed monkey in his place," Aunt Terwilliger said.
~ Setting ~
★★★✫ -- 3.5 stars
Though it most likely wasn't intended so, this book is set very, very clearly in the '80s. I can't even quite explain how. It just is.
As for the place-setting, well, there are so many it's a bit hard to describe. Winston, Walter, and Rat go many places, and they're all different. I admire this greatly. However, it does make it difficult to pinpoint a setting, or to figure out how well the setting is written. And the jumping from setting to setting can feel a bit jagged at times, as though the reader wishes for just a few more pages spent in one place.
"When Uncle Flipping came back from Iceland, his behavior was very strange. He stayed in his room for about a month. He wouldn't talk to anybody. He would only eat mandarin orange slices in cans -- and the cans had to be opened in his presence. He kept hundreds of tennis balls around him at all times, in plastic lawn-and-leaf bags. Worst of all, Uncle Flipping developed an unreasonable fear of moths. The mere sight of a moth was enough to send him into screaming fits."
~ Style/Format ~
★★★★ -- 4 stars
I love Pinkwater's writing. It's comical and concise but descriptive where it needs to be. It pushes the plot along swiftly, never slowing down. It sets a quick pace to push away any possible boredom of the reader. I think it's impossible to be bored reading this book.
And for those who have read the book, my favorite part is the baked potatoes one. Goodness, does Pinkwater know how to describe food. That soft and buttery potato, oh my. I think it's the best food description I've ever heard.
"I also got a baked potato. Ben Beanbender poked a hole in one end with his thumb, slapped in a hunk of butter, salted and peppered the potato, wrapped it in a napkin, and handed it to me. It was great! The potato was almost too hot to hold, and the salty butter dribbled onto my sleeve."
~ Theme ~
★★★★★ -- 5 stars
What I love about this book and theme is that it's not pushing a theme. It has no obvious theme, not that I saw. I'm sure you could find one, if you picked at it. Maybe I'd even read into it more if I give it a nice thorough reread.
But it's so abundantly clear that Pinkwater wasn't writing the book to share a message. He wrote it so people could read it and love it and throw their hearts into it. I love when it's like that. I love when authors don't write a book for the theme, but for the story. It's literature at its best.
"The chicken bowed.
We bowed to the chicken."
~ General Thoughts ~
This book appealed to me the most through its sheer, unapologetic weirdness. I love that. I'm a weird person myself, and reading about characters who don't fit in in any way imaginable ignited my fire of weirdness twice as hard. It's a delight for books to contain people who aren't "the norm."
Overall rating: ★★★★ -- 4 stars
If you liked this book
Pinkwater's unique brand of weirdness shows through in his book Lizard Music
If you're looking for another strange but funny book, try... actually, I don't think I've read anything else like this other than a Pinkwater book.
"As to the other things you wanted me to check on: The coldest temperature in the nation yesterday was in Palmyra, New York, where it was an unseasonable twenty-six degrees Fahrenheit; no cargo planes have been chartered in the past three days; there are no rumors of major scandals in any European governments; the international currency market is normal; none of my underworld informants have seen a Panamanian dwarf with red hair; the films scheduled at the Snark Theater for tomorrow are both science fiction ones, Attack of the Pit People and Guacamole Monster -- they are both directed by the Mexican director Manuel Traneing -- and your shirts will be back from the laundry on Thursday."
"The government is ruining our feet!" he shouted.
"Tell 'em! Tell 'em!"
"Right on!"
"They ruined my brother's feet!"
"Eat meat and ruin your feet!"
"Whoopee!"
~ Stats ~
Title: The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death (Snarkout Boys series, #1)
I love this title. It represents the pure insanity that has folded itself into this book.
Author: Daniel Pinkwater
Genre: I'm not entirely sure. The characters are YA-age, but it seems to be written more for middle grade readers. It's quite a conundrum.
Age Recommendation: 10+ (I think readers any younger would simply be confused, not appreciating the glorious weirdness of the novel, and might not understand the twisty and unpredictable plot.)
"We were in some sort of entrance hall. There was a bunch of old-fashioned furniture, a worn-out carpet, and a big statue of what appeared to be a tall, skinny chicken."
~ Characters ~
★★★★ -- 4 stars
As always, Pinkwater brings a crazy cast of characters to the pages of his stories. We have Walter, a pretty average protagonist. He's annoyed with his high school biology class and loves watching movies. But it all changes when he starts to meet a whole bunch of weird folks, like Winston Bongo.
First, can we acknowledge how amazing his name is? Winston Bongo. Winston Bongo. Pinkwater is nothing short of a genius with names. Anyways, Winston Bongo is a social outcast, and he and Walter get along well. They both enjoy Snarking Out, or sneaking out to watch movies in the middle of the night at the Snark, a movie theater. (Yes, this feels a bit dated. No, it doesn't make me enjoy it any less.)
Then the two of them meet Rat, a teen girl with a strangeness of her own, and nothing short of chaos ensues, entangling Rat's weird family, an orangutan, two detectives, and an underground network.
The thing I love about Pinkwater's characters are how delightfully, uniquely odd they are. They're all weird, but they're not all weird in the same way. They each have their own brand of strangeness, and I love it.
More characters involve a man with a singing chicken, who some might recognize from Pinkwater's novel Lizard Music, a criminal mastermind who has a very interesting torture method, aliens, and avocado computers. What's not to love?
"They also wrestle a live gorilla onstage. Then they get run over by a United Parcel Service truck. For a finale, they set fire to an eighteen-foot-tall papier-maché mastodon. It's sort of their trademark."
~ The Plot!~
★★★★★ -- 5 stars
The plot of this book is unlike any other book I've read. It's a madcap adventure surrounding space realtors, kidnappings, and German movies. The story whips from one plot point to the next until the reader is wound up in a mystery they can't put down.
What really gets me about the story of this book is how ridiculously unique and weird it is. The plot is completely and utterly new, created fresh by Pinkwater. It's not a patchwork of other stories, it's not a re-imagining of something else. It's simply amazing.
"Uncle Flipping vanishes fairly often," Rat said. "He disappears in a variety of ways. For example, once we heard a muffled shriek in the night, and he was gone. Another time, there were heavy footsteps in the library, after which he vanished."
"Yes," Saunders Harrison Matthews II added, "and there was the time he vanished, and we found an envelope containing five grapefruit pips under his pillow."
"My favorite was the time we found a stuffed monkey in his place," Aunt Terwilliger said.
~ Setting ~
★★★✫ -- 3.5 stars
Though it most likely wasn't intended so, this book is set very, very clearly in the '80s. I can't even quite explain how. It just is.
As for the place-setting, well, there are so many it's a bit hard to describe. Winston, Walter, and Rat go many places, and they're all different. I admire this greatly. However, it does make it difficult to pinpoint a setting, or to figure out how well the setting is written. And the jumping from setting to setting can feel a bit jagged at times, as though the reader wishes for just a few more pages spent in one place.
"When Uncle Flipping came back from Iceland, his behavior was very strange. He stayed in his room for about a month. He wouldn't talk to anybody. He would only eat mandarin orange slices in cans -- and the cans had to be opened in his presence. He kept hundreds of tennis balls around him at all times, in plastic lawn-and-leaf bags. Worst of all, Uncle Flipping developed an unreasonable fear of moths. The mere sight of a moth was enough to send him into screaming fits."
~ Style/Format ~
★★★★ -- 4 stars
I love Pinkwater's writing. It's comical and concise but descriptive where it needs to be. It pushes the plot along swiftly, never slowing down. It sets a quick pace to push away any possible boredom of the reader. I think it's impossible to be bored reading this book.
And for those who have read the book, my favorite part is the baked potatoes one. Goodness, does Pinkwater know how to describe food. That soft and buttery potato, oh my. I think it's the best food description I've ever heard.
"I also got a baked potato. Ben Beanbender poked a hole in one end with his thumb, slapped in a hunk of butter, salted and peppered the potato, wrapped it in a napkin, and handed it to me. It was great! The potato was almost too hot to hold, and the salty butter dribbled onto my sleeve."
~ Theme ~
★★★★★ -- 5 stars
What I love about this book and theme is that it's not pushing a theme. It has no obvious theme, not that I saw. I'm sure you could find one, if you picked at it. Maybe I'd even read into it more if I give it a nice thorough reread.
But it's so abundantly clear that Pinkwater wasn't writing the book to share a message. He wrote it so people could read it and love it and throw their hearts into it. I love when it's like that. I love when authors don't write a book for the theme, but for the story. It's literature at its best.
"The chicken bowed.
We bowed to the chicken."
~ General Thoughts ~
This book appealed to me the most through its sheer, unapologetic weirdness. I love that. I'm a weird person myself, and reading about characters who don't fit in in any way imaginable ignited my fire of weirdness twice as hard. It's a delight for books to contain people who aren't "the norm."
Overall rating: ★★★★ -- 4 stars
If you liked this book
Pinkwater's unique brand of weirdness shows through in his book Lizard Music
If you're looking for another strange but funny book, try... actually, I don't think I've read anything else like this other than a Pinkwater book.
"As to the other things you wanted me to check on: The coldest temperature in the nation yesterday was in Palmyra, New York, where it was an unseasonable twenty-six degrees Fahrenheit; no cargo planes have been chartered in the past three days; there are no rumors of major scandals in any European governments; the international currency market is normal; none of my underworld informants have seen a Panamanian dwarf with red hair; the films scheduled at the Snark Theater for tomorrow are both science fiction ones, Attack of the Pit People and Guacamole Monster -- they are both directed by the Mexican director Manuel Traneing -- and your shirts will be back from the laundry on Thursday."
August 25, 2018
i found a bunch of daniel pinkwater novels in a used bookstore a few weeks ago, and have just now gotten around to re-reading them. i adored pinkwater as a kid, but hadn't thought about him for years - not because i stopped loving him, but because his books are these perfectly and transcendently weird marvels that seem to exist in a different realm of existence entirely, emerging suddenly to delight you page by page only to erase itself from the world as soon as the last page has been turned.
SLIGHT DIGRESSION: the other night, i had a dream involving (no joke) me in a spaceship crashing onto a mysterious planet, some selkies (maybe friendly, maybe not), marauding dinosaurs, ian mckellen doing a rehearsal of one of the lord of the rings films, and the japanese pop band KAT-TUN. of course, the dream made perfect sense at the time, unspooling through the surreal logic of the sleeping mind, though what remains in the light of day is only those few strange fragments and absolutely no recollection of the narrative arc that tied them all together.
daniel pinkwater's books are maybe the closest anyone's ever gotten to recreating one of those tremendously fun, tremendously bizarre kinds of dreams in the light of day, i think. the only way i can really tell you the plot is to tell it step by step, word by word even, because otherwise it sounds like gibberish: snarking out, and captain shep nesterman with dharmawati his performing chicken, and the sinister plot surrounding a giant avocado computer (not a giant computer that is avocado-colored, a giant avocado that is also a sentient computer - a.k.a. a vegputer) in a battle against evil alien realtors (not realtors who are strange or foreign, but realtors who are literally from outer space), and adolph the orangutan who is also the conductor for the sri lanka national orchestra (not to be confused with mr. gorilla, the human wrestler/bodyguard) . . . . . .
early on in this novel, pinkwater, that sly devil, slips in a passage about laurel and hardy movies that could easily also be applied to his books:
The thing about Laurel and Hardy movies that you can't get from the chopped-up versions on television is how beautiful they are. Things happen exactly at the moment they have to happen. They don't happen a second too soon or too late. You can even predict what's going to happen - and it does happen - and it surprises you anyway. It doesn't surprise you because it happened, but because it happened so perfectly. I laughed so hard that I cried.
reader, i laughed so hard that i cried. i can't explain to you why; i can only demand that you read the whole thing, too.
SLIGHT DIGRESSION: the other night, i had a dream involving (no joke) me in a spaceship crashing onto a mysterious planet, some selkies (maybe friendly, maybe not), marauding dinosaurs, ian mckellen doing a rehearsal of one of the lord of the rings films, and the japanese pop band KAT-TUN. of course, the dream made perfect sense at the time, unspooling through the surreal logic of the sleeping mind, though what remains in the light of day is only those few strange fragments and absolutely no recollection of the narrative arc that tied them all together.
daniel pinkwater's books are maybe the closest anyone's ever gotten to recreating one of those tremendously fun, tremendously bizarre kinds of dreams in the light of day, i think. the only way i can really tell you the plot is to tell it step by step, word by word even, because otherwise it sounds like gibberish: snarking out, and captain shep nesterman with dharmawati his performing chicken, and the sinister plot surrounding a giant avocado computer (not a giant computer that is avocado-colored, a giant avocado that is also a sentient computer - a.k.a. a vegputer) in a battle against evil alien realtors (not realtors who are strange or foreign, but realtors who are literally from outer space), and adolph the orangutan who is also the conductor for the sri lanka national orchestra (not to be confused with mr. gorilla, the human wrestler/bodyguard) . . . . . .
early on in this novel, pinkwater, that sly devil, slips in a passage about laurel and hardy movies that could easily also be applied to his books:
The thing about Laurel and Hardy movies that you can't get from the chopped-up versions on television is how beautiful they are. Things happen exactly at the moment they have to happen. They don't happen a second too soon or too late. You can even predict what's going to happen - and it does happen - and it surprises you anyway. It doesn't surprise you because it happened, but because it happened so perfectly. I laughed so hard that I cried.
reader, i laughed so hard that i cried. i can't explain to you why; i can only demand that you read the whole thing, too.
March 12, 2021
I think I already reviewed this once, but here goes again. Pinkwater tells such a unique story in such a uniquely quirky way, that no junior high student can resist. This is when I fell in love with this book, back when I was in Junior High and after rediscovering it about 10 years ago still come back to it every few years. This book informed, in part, my sense of humor, my love of the silly, and the appreciation of a dry sense of humor. This book is about two boys who sneak out of their houses to go to the movies, only to meet a girl named Rat and becoming embroiled in an international plot to destroy the world with an avocado. It has the best description of a baked potato I have ever read and when you read it (and I hope you do) you may not be able to stop yourself from having one that very minute...or just going to Beanbender's Beer Garden and having one there.
April 16, 2017
I was in fourth grade when I read this book. I knew it wasn't a masterpiece then, and I know it's not one now, but it's daffy, hip surrealist fun. The best way to describe it would probably be "Murakami, but for kids/young adults." A slightly eccentric tale of a group of like-minded loner teens who sneak out after curfew to see midnight movies becomes something much, much weirder. The almost nonsensical adventure leads to an underground street, a park full of hipsters, an avocado-based computer, and a series of bizarre but enjoyable minor characters. I wonder how much of my adult love of David Lynch, Murakami and other suburban surrealists stems from reading Pinkwater in elementary and middle school.
September 16, 2019
I highly recommend any Pinkwater books, but I listened to this one narrated by Mr. Pinkwater himself, and... well... he's my favourite.
Edit: I listened to this for the second (or possibly third) time, and it still cracks me up. Daniel Pinkwater is hilarious!
Edit: I listened to this for the second (or possibly third) time, and it still cracks me up. Daniel Pinkwater is hilarious!
August 29, 2024
John Prince and I listened to this one on audiobook. It was read by the author, and the author read really fast and took very few pauses, so it was a little hard to listen to, but still enjoyable. John Prince liked it more than me, I think.
Overall 3 stars
Entertaining- yes
Interested Characters- yes
Good storyline- sort of
Makes sense- not really
"easy" to read- meh
-the reader was not that great.
Overall 3 stars
Entertaining- yes
Interested Characters- yes
Good storyline- sort of
Makes sense- not really
"easy" to read- meh
-the reader was not that great.
August 6, 2019
Hurray for short and zany 20th-century summer fiction!
April 22, 2011
I loved Pinkwater as a kid and I reread him from time to time. This is probably my favorite. Pinkwater inevitably creates great characters with great names (not unlike Dickens), and fabulous sounding restaurants that don't exist but you wish they did. The tension is mild at most, the parents are a bit square and out of touch but in a benign way. He does all a great service by making nerds cool.
Of course he is nowhere near Dickens, but he is similar also in that sometimes his endings don't quite satisfy either with the plot or in any kind of realistic way. This one is fine, some others not so much.
Of course he is nowhere near Dickens, but he is similar also in that sometimes his endings don't quite satisfy either with the plot or in any kind of realistic way. This one is fine, some others not so much.
July 15, 2017
Just finished this as a read-aloud with my son, 11 yrs old. It's a strange book, about oddly realistic adventures (including the adventure of seeing a part of town you never heard before, or eating food better than that made in your family) combined with truly outlandish characters and situations and the peculiar habit of repeating every character's full name at every opportunity, no matter how absurd. My first time re-reading it since reading it to kids at the summer camp I worked at in my early 20s.
July 25, 2021
Im not going to lie, I have no idea what I just read. It was full on crazy, the characters were almost all parodies of literary characters, there were animals, aliens, avocados and the weirdest collection of characters outside of the Discworld. The plot was about about finding someones uncle and it just went down a rabbit hold from there. I'm not sure how this came to be on my to read list but I dont think I will be reading more.
February 28, 2023
It’s rare to find a truly funny YA novel that’s also well written, and Daniel Pinkwater’s THE SNARKOUT BOYS AND THE AVOCADO OF DEATH threads that needle both deftly and joyfully. While I admire and honor serious “issue” books for young adults, my own writing skews lighter so it’s a pleasure to read something that’s humorous and smart and pure fun. Simply put, TSBatAoD is laugh-out-loud funny on the first or hundred-and-first reading.
Walter Galt, Winston Bongo, and Bentley Saunders Harrison Matthews (her nickname is Rat, which makes it easier) are three teens whose ordinary lives are made much more interesting when they find themselves hunting for criminal mastermind Wallace Nussbaum, the “Napoleon of Crime.” Nussbaum has kidnapped the inventor of the Alligatron, which is a giant avocado that can produce and project thought waves. Nussbaum’s heinous goal? To locate and destroy the Alligatron before it rids the world of evil space realtors.
The dream team of crimebusters includes Osgood Sigerson, the greatest living detective; his friend and companion Dr. Ormond Sacker; and the Mighty Gorilla, a world-famous and fashion-forward professional wrestler (who also happens to be Winston Bongo’s uncle). Other unforgettable characters are Mr. Flipping Hades Terwilliger, Rat’s uncle and the inventor of the Alligatron; Dharmawati (the greatest performing chicken of the age) and her human companion and accompanist Captain Shep Nesterman; and Adolph, an orangutan who was forced into a life of crime just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yeah, it’s a lot. It’s silly. And it’s hilarious. I re-read this book once a year and its companion piece, THE SNARKOUT BOYS AND THE BACONBURG HORROR, and they always brighten my day, for so many reasons. For one thing, the adult characters don’t talk down to or disrespect their teenage teammates: they treat them as peers and valuable collaborators (or worthy adversaries). For another, Pinkwater is the Nik Wallenda of walking the thin line that separates “goofy” from “stupid.” And it’s clear that he LOVES his characters, both the heroes and the villains. You can tell they delight him and inspire him to keep up the pace from the first page through the big finish.
There are only two books in the Snarkout Boys series and I don’t know if there are additional books forthcoming. But even if we don’t get any new adventures from Walter, Winston, Rat, and their compatriots, the world is a better place for these two “practically perfect in every way” YA novels. Set aside a weekend to read them both—you will thank me (after you’ve stopped laughing).
Walter Galt, Winston Bongo, and Bentley Saunders Harrison Matthews (her nickname is Rat, which makes it easier) are three teens whose ordinary lives are made much more interesting when they find themselves hunting for criminal mastermind Wallace Nussbaum, the “Napoleon of Crime.” Nussbaum has kidnapped the inventor of the Alligatron, which is a giant avocado that can produce and project thought waves. Nussbaum’s heinous goal? To locate and destroy the Alligatron before it rids the world of evil space realtors.
The dream team of crimebusters includes Osgood Sigerson, the greatest living detective; his friend and companion Dr. Ormond Sacker; and the Mighty Gorilla, a world-famous and fashion-forward professional wrestler (who also happens to be Winston Bongo’s uncle). Other unforgettable characters are Mr. Flipping Hades Terwilliger, Rat’s uncle and the inventor of the Alligatron; Dharmawati (the greatest performing chicken of the age) and her human companion and accompanist Captain Shep Nesterman; and Adolph, an orangutan who was forced into a life of crime just by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yeah, it’s a lot. It’s silly. And it’s hilarious. I re-read this book once a year and its companion piece, THE SNARKOUT BOYS AND THE BACONBURG HORROR, and they always brighten my day, for so many reasons. For one thing, the adult characters don’t talk down to or disrespect their teenage teammates: they treat them as peers and valuable collaborators (or worthy adversaries). For another, Pinkwater is the Nik Wallenda of walking the thin line that separates “goofy” from “stupid.” And it’s clear that he LOVES his characters, both the heroes and the villains. You can tell they delight him and inspire him to keep up the pace from the first page through the big finish.
There are only two books in the Snarkout Boys series and I don’t know if there are additional books forthcoming. But even if we don’t get any new adventures from Walter, Winston, Rat, and their compatriots, the world is a better place for these two “practically perfect in every way” YA novels. Set aside a weekend to read them both—you will thank me (after you’ve stopped laughing).
January 9, 2018
I read this aloud to my son, who is four months old, primarily because I needed something that wouldn't be overly emotionally involving (unlike, say, Corduroy the Bear). I noticed that there are some real clanger-type sentences in the beginning, but overall things got better and more smooth by the end of the book. Also, the subject matter (three teens, the world's greatest detective and his sidekick, and a professional wrestler search for one of the teen's uncle, a man named Flipping Hades Terwilliger, who is a mad scientist and inventor of an avocado-based supercomputer that could be used to repel extraterrestrial realtors) was interesting enough that after a while, I didn't care about the bad sentences that much. There are a few stock Pinkwater characters here, like moms who can't cook, the dad with a weird life his kid only sees the edges of, the old Black man with a performing pet chicken, etc. Some parts of the book feel really dated, like an off-the-cuff reference to the Disney movie Song of the South, and everyone smoking inside restaurants all the time.
The kidlet liked it, anyway.
The kidlet liked it, anyway.
April 22, 2018
I LOVE YOU RAT TERWILLIGER !! THIS WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK TO ME COMPLETELY FORMING MY CHILDHOOD AND LEAVING ME AN ECCENTRIC JUVENLE DELINQIT AT 40. This book teached children to sneak arround and sneak o0ut of the house and go exploring at 4am looking for thrills. Thus my own addolecence was spent asspiring to schenanigans at the level of the snark out boys. WAS there not a 2 page story of catching snarks, imaginary birds, sucessfully ?
Those two boys taught me to be a chaso arnarchist in all things and ruined me for any employment outside of the arts or Prospitution or maybe crime ! but they are such dorks, I identified with the knowing weirdo genius punk girl RAT they keep crossing paths with. Her uncle FLIPPING HADES TERWILLIGER made her a 400 pound crystal record player with wall saize speaker in a room made of 2 feet of carpet for her to blast face melt noise punk.
THIS BOOK WAS MY BIBLE AS A TWEEN. i AM ME CUZ oF THIS BOOKS filling my head with everything i wanted to be really real. <3
:::::::Bacon brg horror is ~ O K ~ experimental? poetry ! !
Lizard music 4 the win
fat men also is perfection
Those two boys taught me to be a chaso arnarchist in all things and ruined me for any employment outside of the arts or Prospitution or maybe crime ! but they are such dorks, I identified with the knowing weirdo genius punk girl RAT they keep crossing paths with. Her uncle FLIPPING HADES TERWILLIGER made her a 400 pound crystal record player with wall saize speaker in a room made of 2 feet of carpet for her to blast face melt noise punk.
THIS BOOK WAS MY BIBLE AS A TWEEN. i AM ME CUZ oF THIS BOOKS filling my head with everything i wanted to be really real. <3
:::::::Bacon brg horror is ~ O K ~ experimental? poetry ! !
Lizard music 4 the win
fat men also is perfection
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2018
This book is very silly. The beginning may seem merely middle-of-the-road silly, but then each chapter begins to layer on additional silliness until you hardly know what you're reading any longer, it's so full of orangutans and avocado supercomputers and alien realtors and operatic chickens. I suspect the author put a bunch of nouns and adjectives together into a hat and pulled them out and built a plot around the results. And then added more descriptions of food.
Best scene: The interwoven speeches and audience commentary in the free speech park.
Best minor characters: Mr. and Mrs. Galt, the most effectively-rendered crazy parents I've ever encountered in children's fiction.
Best realistic detail: The Genghis Khan High School (!) notebook system. This brings to mind disturbing flashes of less-than-ideal educational moments from my high school world history class.
Best scene: The interwoven speeches and audience commentary in the free speech park.
Best minor characters: Mr. and Mrs. Galt, the most effectively-rendered crazy parents I've ever encountered in children's fiction.
Best realistic detail: The Genghis Khan High School (!) notebook system. This brings to mind disturbing flashes of less-than-ideal educational moments from my high school world history class.
August 11, 2024
A tour-de-force, a towering and searing depiction of post-war adolescence. A broken education system, spiritless boomer parents, urban malaise. Pinkwater's heroes, instead of choosing the 90s ethos of I Slack Therefore I Am or the phony Holden Caulfield phony authenticity, instead find meaning in absurdism.
Or something. It's just really funny. The speeches in Baconburg Park kill me every time I read it. Finn asked that we revisit them after we finished the book. As I have gotten older, my new favorite part is when Winston and Walter meet Rat's family. From the moment they see Heinz the Chinese butler leading them in calisthenics, it's pure gold. Also, fwiw, Rat's mom was right.
Oh, and the Mighty Gorilla being undone by an orang grabbing his foot despite his numerous warnings is pure poetry.
Or something. It's just really funny. The speeches in Baconburg Park kill me every time I read it. Finn asked that we revisit them after we finished the book. As I have gotten older, my new favorite part is when Winston and Walter meet Rat's family. From the moment they see Heinz the Chinese butler leading them in calisthenics, it's pure gold. Also, fwiw, Rat's mom was right.
Oh, and the Mighty Gorilla being undone by an orang grabbing his foot despite his numerous warnings is pure poetry.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2024
When I was a very lonely kid in 5th grade, the elementary school librarian recommended this book for me. She knew I was an outsider and guessed correctly that I would enjoy a book about people who were even weirder than me.
I really enjoyed the book and I thought it was super creative. I won't be re-reading it because I don't want to spoil the happy feelings I have associated with it. I'm a lot more critical of books now and I imagine I'd find a lot to pick apart, so I'll leave it untainted in my memory.
That was a rough year and a rough time. I'm really grateful for that librarian.
I really enjoyed the book and I thought it was super creative. I won't be re-reading it because I don't want to spoil the happy feelings I have associated with it. I'm a lot more critical of books now and I imagine I'd find a lot to pick apart, so I'll leave it untainted in my memory.
That was a rough year and a rough time. I'm really grateful for that librarian.
March 12, 2018
I discovered this book on my husband's childhood bedroom shelf a few years ago...a delight. If you have a young teen in your life, do yourself a favor and introduce them to Daniel Pinkwater. Wacky, snarky, and one of those delightful writers who has respect for his young readers. Sadly most of these books are out of print and only available in 4 and 5 book compilations which are somewhat daunting, but these hold up really well as stories and should find more readers.
February 20, 2019
I may have been the only girl in the 1980s who had her father's permission to snark out. I never knew the same quirky and eccentric characters as those in this book, but I haven't stopped searching. This book is great for YA or even adult audiences.
October 15, 2019
This might well be the best book by the best kid's book writer ever. The usual hilarity in this one is wrapped up with an edginess that speaks to childhood independence and a flat-out mania.
Hilarious, smart and never EVER pandering.
Remember, if the orangutan gets you by the foot, it's all over.
Hilarious, smart and never EVER pandering.
Remember, if the orangutan gets you by the foot, it's all over.
December 28, 2025
Rated five stars for how much I loved it as a kid. The words "Looky, Walter!" will always have a very specific and special meaning because of it. It didn't have the same impact on Adult Me, but it was still fun. Daniel Pinkwater is a treasure.
November 21, 2017
a librarian friend said she loved it...a 7 yr old boy would, but I didn't
August 7, 2018
Very fast in the talking and some times funny
July 11, 2019
Entertaining.
December 8, 2019
unmemorable
March 17, 2020
nothing could be more comforting
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