Terre Bluff Under Attack

by Sandy Knauer Morgan

If Emil’s father didn’t own most everything and everyone in Terre Bluff, Emil would probably be delivering pizzas or stocking shelves instead of holding the title of mayor. Only a well-funded, unethical campaign could put a man with Emil’s level of incompetence in office, but neither funding nor mimicking his father's lack of ethics won him the respect or independence he wanted from his father. When his nephews take his father’s Jaguar for a joyride and it ends up crashing through the front of a grocery store, Emil is determined to find a fall guy for the calamity, hoping to finally win daddy’s heart. If only he were better at it . . .

Political parody loaded with symbolism.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 24, 2015

Reviews

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a friend or know of a young person trying to grasp some of the recent history of the U.S. and Middle East, "Terre Bluff Under Attack" might help. Bringing world events down to the macrocosmic setting of a small rural town, the residents and setting may make the political events more understandable and digestible to the more politically disengaged. Certainly a good read for any parents who want to educate their teens about the problems with judging people by their ethnicity or culture, the limits of controlled media, and the dangers of family dynasties in a democratic society.

The only criticism I have is the use of male pronouns used in reference to an outwardly transgendered character. Though it is established that Josephina is a man by birth, she would not use male pronouns in reference to herself, and I believe readers are sophisticated enough not to be confused in literature. I'd also ask readers to forgive the few typos that are scattered throughout the book, though it is believable these days that a teen would be able to buy a gun in a small grocery.

[Joseph Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second installment of this allegorical send-up of the Bush Administration picks up where the first left off. Emil Lampost, the ne'er-do-well son of Terre Bluff's chief power broker, is now (thanks to dad) mayor of Terre Bluff. Brainless and bumbling, with a near terminal Oedipus complex, Emil's attempts at governing and pleasing his powerful father, include prayer and declaring a "war on scarers."

His efforts wreak hilarious havoc on the unsuspecting (and unquestioning) denizens of Terre Bluff. The author deftly casts the resulting series of outrageous events as perfect reflections of Bush-era policies seen in a fun-house mirror. She then sets her cast of normal to completely deranged characters, scrambling into the mayhem like Keystone Kops in a literary slap stick. Whether you follow all the political allusions or not, Terre Bluff Under Attack will attack your funny bone.