|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
I'm frankly somewhat tone-deaf when it comes to satire and irony in fiction; I'm not happy admitting this, since I like to think I'm very savvy and intelligent, but I find too often that I either miss the point, or don't find something funny. Oh, well. One sign, even to a dense reader like me, that you're reading a not-totally-serious mystery is that there is almost no character in the book that has a, well, a normal name (okay, there's Nick Hoffman, but he's our hero, after all). Populating this mystery are Juno Droomgoole, Cash Jurevicius, Merry Glinka (and merry glinka to you too), Jasmine Fennebresque (yeah, really) Byron Summerscale, and the university's president is named Littleterry. No wonder Nick has hesitations about whether he belongs at the State University of Michigan. Nick still does not have tenure, is not convinced he really wants it, and with partner Stefan facing financial stability, all sorts of questions about the future are coming up. One thing that has Nick confused in this story is his attraction to colleague Juno Droomgoole. This has me confused since she is obnoxious. She is given to wearing tacky clothing and claiming it is chic (leopard print everything? give me a break) and she never actually talks when ranting will do. I don't get it, or her. I mean maybe Nick and Stefan have been together for a long time, and Nick, who has been gay all his life is questioning some issues of gender and attraction, but with this harridan? She is sort of funny, granted, and keeps department meetings lively but she's also annoying and tasteless and way too pushy. And this is coming from a reviewer who's been called pushy a time or two. An issue that comes up in Burning Down The House is "white studies", that obnoxious knee-jerk reaction to universities opening up to issues of diversity. It's handled pretty well, of course with the edge of satire that you'll find in this series, and it's still pretty obnoxious. The questions remain: Is Juno really being targeted or does she just imagine harassment because she's loud and pushy? Is Nick over-reacting to the new millennium on campus by getting a gun, or is his life in danger? And who really pushed the "Diversity Tree" (insert gagging noises here, on my part) out the window? I'd like to thank that person.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, October 2001
This book has more than one review. Click here to show all.
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
|
