MASH Goes to Morocco

M*A*S*H #6

by Richard Hooker, William E. Butterworth III, Sandy Kossin (Illustrator)

Infidels Abroad

Hawkeye, Trapper, and Hot Lips--with the misguided connivance of the US State Department--descended on Merry Morocco. Abetted by a royal prince, a drunken sheikh, a ravishing blonde diplomat, and a wacked-out cast of international misfits, the fun-loving medics unleash their own zany brand of chaos on the unsuspecting Arabs.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Comedy

237 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Richard Hooker is the pseudonym of Hiester Richard Hornberger Jr. who was born February 1, 1924 and died November 4, 1997. He was an American writer and surgeon. His most famous work was his novel MASH (1968). The novel was based on his own personal experiences during the Korean War at the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. It was written in collaboration with W. C. Heinz. The novel took 11 years to write. In 1970, and then again from 1972-1983 it was used as the basis for a critically and commercially successful movie and television series of the same name.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.
Richard^Hooker

Reviews

[Benn Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

On the front cover of this book are the words, "The TV Smash Hit Series". On the back, "The laugh-riot TV series", followed by a listing of the stars of the TV series in question, "M*A*S*H*". The list includes Mike Farrell (BJ Hunnicutt), Harry Morgan (Colonel Potter) and Jamie Farr (Maxwell Q. Klinger). None of those three characters ever appeared in a "M*A*S*H" novel. The cover blurbs are misleading. None of the "M*A*S*H" novels have anything to do with the classic TV show. The series was its own universe, its own canon. But then, "M*A*S*H" can be divided into four universes/canons. There's the series, of course, the most famous of all. It consists of all eleven seasons of "M*A*S*H" as well as both seasons of "AfterM*A*S*H" and the failed pilot, "W*A*L*T*E*R". Then there's the movie's canon, which includes, of course, the titular film and (for legal reasons) "Trapper John, M.D." Then there's the novels, which have two sets of canon: Richard Hooker's original novel, "M*A*S*H", which started it all. In its canon are "M*A*S*H Goes to Maine" and "M*A*S*H Mania". Finally, there's the "M*A*S*H Goes to..." series, starting with "M*A*S*H Goes to New Orleans" and ending with "M*A*S*H Goes to Montreal". The latter are ostensibly co-written by Richard Hooker and one William E. Butterworth, but in reality, Butterworth was the primary author of these novels.

I mention this, because, as I noted at the start of this review, the cover blurbs for "M*A*S*H Goes to Morocco" tries to ride the coattails of the groundbreaking (and extremely funny) TV series by trying to create the false impression there is a connection between the two things. There isn't. "M*A*S*H" the TV series was intelligent, groundbreaking, had interesting and well-developed characters. "M*A*S*H Goes to Morocco" is at best mildly amusing with cardboard, boring characters entangled in a plot that, with all the "wacky" misunderstandings and pratfalls, would have been at home on just about any 1950s, 1960s sitcom. Except, the 50s/60s TV shows did it better.

If you've read "M*A*S*H Goes to New Orleans" or "M*A*S*H Goes to Paris" or "M*A*S*H Goes to London", you've already read this book, because the story is largely the same as in the previous novels of this series. It's bad enough Butterworth pretty much borrowed the story from his previous "M*A*S*H" tomes, but he still continued to write them in the same faux-snooty, wordy, psuedo-intellectual style of the other "Goes to..." novels. I suppose it's done to be ironic, but like the humor in the book, it falls flat.

Even worse is how Butterworth highlights and focuses on the group of characters he created for his set of "Goes to..." books. Somehow, Butterworth thinks Sheik Hassan, Horsey de Chevaux, Don Rhotten and Boris Alexandrovich Korsky-Rimsakov, et al, are intersting, fascinating characters the readers and fans of the TV series will love and enjoy reading their little escapades. This ignores the fact the *only* reason anybody ever buys a "M*A*S*H" novel is because of the TV show. It's Hawkeye, Trapper (or BJ), Henry (or Colonel Potter), Major Houlihan, Father Mulcahy, Frank Burns (or Charles Winchester) we love and want more of, not these one-dimensional caricatures Butterworth invented and foists upon us. Even more insulting is that for a book that coattails so much on TV's "M*A*S*H", only four of the staff of the 4077th make it into "Goes to Morocco". (Hawkeye, Trapper John, Hot Lips and Mulcahy.) Worse, their appearances amount to little more than extended cameos where whatever effect (little as it is) they have on the plot could have been done by yet another new character and no one would know the difference.

"M*A*S*H Goes to Morocco" is an inferior work trying to trade on the success of a superior work. It's cheap, disposable; mere product. That might be forgiven if it was at least half as funny as "M*A*S*H". Instead, it's too busy cynically cashing on the fame and popularity of its better.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just as funny as prior installments but a bit rushed - half a dozen storylines are wrapped up in a dozen pages - and the only three actually MASH members are sidelined rom the plot for the middle 150 pages, quite a bit when the book is less than 240 pages long.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 2.5

As you progress through the series the drop off in quality of storytelling is noticeable. This is only the 6th in the series and it just about passes muster as an average read.
There were a few scenes which I did find humorous and tbh the ridiculousness piled onto more ridiculousness kept me entertained overall….just about.
I will continue with this series throughout 2024 as it is a small challenge I set myself .

Not sure it is a recommendation though tbh

[Jeff Mayo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is among the contenders for worst MASH novel. Hawkeye, Trapper, Hot Lips, and Mulcahy appear. They make minor contributions and are there to set up the new characters to be the main characters. This is no different than the novels that came before it. Contrived situations and new characters nobody cares about.

[Michael Pilgaard · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book both boring and unfunny. Not really MASH imo, but if it had been entertaining I could have lived with that. Hawkeye, Trapper and Hotlips were in there, but only with minor roles and not particularly relevant to the bit of story in the book.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hawkeye, Trapper John and Hot Lips don't have a lot of scenes, which is a big shame. I don't like Miss Penelope Quattlebaum in this installment either. Least favourite novel of the series so far.

[Christopher Rush · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has the least amount of Hawkeye and Trapper (and Margaret) of the series to this point, so it might disappoint from that perspective, but it is enjoyable in its way - though it has its silliness, it doesn't seem to have as much as London. It seems this entry is intended more for the fans of the created supporting cast than for fans of the MASH characters. Perhaps that is why the following book, Las Vegas, brings back Radar and Father Mulcahy more (though Mulcahy is most in New Orleans) - the series is supposed to be about the 4077th characters, after all. The stand-by sub-plot of ultra-feminist, buxom young lass falling for a semi-misogynistic leading man is in full swing, though underdeveloped and somewhat forced. The twist of making the leading man an oil empire inheritor is somewhat amusing, however. Hassan and Boris are in their old form, joined by Abdullah ben Abzug, who, along with the romantic sub-plot, dominate the book more than the MASH gang.

2021 update: yeah, a bit disappointed again by the dearth of Hawk, Trap, and the gang in this one. The book seems to forget why they are all going to Morocco in the first place, and some supporting characters really get abandoned by the end, all of which is made more perplexing because the book is noticeably longer than the rest of the series so far. Even though this one is definitely in the bottom half of the series (if one were to rank them in a pyramid-like structure of some sort), I still have a small soft spot for it, as it was the first one I ever saw and the first that showed me this series existed.

[Mark Woodland · Rating 1 out of 5]

This will be my representative review for all the "M*A*S*H Goes to...." books except "M*A*S*H Goes to Maine", which is a reasonably acceptable sequel to the original. I read most if not all of these others in high school, where we M*A*S*H fans traded them around and competed to see who could read them all first. Other than adding a funny character or two in each book, they're not worth the time. They're formulaic and poorly written, and literally scream "out to make a buck", since they were released while the series was still running. The TV series managed to keep the characters interesting and find new depths to them as it went on; these books do exactly the opposite, and even the familiar original characters (most of them show up eventually) become one-note recurring gag lines. Hawkeye and Trapper John become particularly cardboard. There's nothing much to recommend about any of the whole series. You can read one of them very quickly, since there's little substance to slow you down. I think they're probably all out of print now; maybe some avid M*A*S*H memorabilia collector would snap them up on eBay. That's the only reason I wish I still had one of them.

[J.M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love the TV show but can't stand the movie or the books. WTF?

[Lewis Alderton · Rating 1 out of 5]

It tried too hard to be funny - and failed