Fire Sale

by Robert Klane

Book by Klane, Robert

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[🐴 🍖]

hm in the wake of this i'm refreshing myself on aristotle and per wiki my dude held that whatever goes wrong in comedy, it "does not cause pain or disaster," which, aristotle-wise, this sucker is not a comedy whatsoever. by the time all's said and done, the ruin wrought on the family by paterfamilias jacob's insurance fraud scheme is about as painful and disastrous as one can imagine. in the meantime tho you've got, e.g., a salami picnic served off a cadaver and a trip down the nj turnpike on an electric wheelchair, which is to say those of us who aren't aristotle will find the whole thing pretty darn comedic. track down the horse is dead if you like this, you won't be sorry

[Glyven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fire Sale is perhaps better known as a film adaptation, which itself is notoriously hard to come by. Based on what I know about the film, director Alan Arkin made certain compromises to achieve a PG rating, whereas Klane's novel is by no means PG-rated. But I've also heard the film described as hysterically funny, with a rare comic momentum, and Klane's book definitely fits this description. It's nothing fancy--just good old lowbrow satirical humor, of a far less politically correct stripe than you're apt to find these days.

The basic premise, that of a man named Jacob whose plans to burn down his own department store are thwarted by his oblivious adult progeny, gives way to a series of ridiculous subplots involving the store owner's kids. The most entertaining one concerns Ezra, a high school basketball coach who gives his failing team a boost by recruiting, and subsequently adopting, a street-court player named Captain Fuck.

Yes, that's the intellectual wavelength we're on here, but it's funny, very funny. If you've read Klane's other novels (which I haven't), or seen the film adaptation of his book Where's Poppa? (a cult classic I've watched and enjoyed many times), you're likely to have some idea of what's in store with Fire Sale.

[Francis Washington · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like early Mel Brooks, Alan Arkin or Donald Westlake, you should track down a copy of this book.

In a better world it would be ranked with The Producers, Take The Money And Run, The In Laws, or any of the Dortmunder stories. I dont know why it slipped through the cracks but it did.

It has the same wacky hijinks, madcap interconnecting plots, and Jewish NYC milieu as any of the above. But since we're living in very PC times, it may anger and/or confuse those who are easily offended.

[Kristi Drake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This family is different. The mother is crazy. The father is a nut. The kids are selfish. I'm glad I'm not in that family.