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Has Anyone Seen My Toes?
From the bestselling author of Thank You for Smoking and Make Russia Great Again comes a comic tour de force, the story of one man’s spiraling journey through lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, an aging screenwriter is holed up in a coastal South Carolina town with his beloved second wife, Peaches. He’s been binge-eating for a year and developed a notable rapport with the local fast-food chain Hippo King. He struggles to work—on a ludicrous screenplay about a Nazi attempt to kidnap FDR and, naturally, an article for Etymology Today on English words of Carthaginian origin. He’s told Peaches so often about the origins of the world mayonnaise that she’s developed an aversion to using the condiment. He thinks he has Covid. His wife thinks he is losing his mind. In short, your typical pandemic worries. Things were going from bad to worse even before his doctor suggested a battery of brain tests. He knows what that means: dementia!
But even in these scary times, there are plenty of things to distract him. His iPhone is fat-shaming him. He’s been trying to read Proust and thinks the French novelist missed his true calling as a parfumier. And he’s discovered nefarious Russian influence on the local coroner’s race. Why is Putin so keen to control who decides who died peacefully and who by foul play in Pimento County? Could it be the local military base?
Has Anyone Seen My Toes? is a hilarious romp through a time that has been anything but funny.
During the pandemic, an aging screenwriter is holed up in a coastal South Carolina town with his beloved second wife, Peaches. He’s been binge-eating for a year and developed a notable rapport with the local fast-food chain Hippo King. He struggles to work—on a ludicrous screenplay about a Nazi attempt to kidnap FDR and, naturally, an article for Etymology Today on English words of Carthaginian origin. He’s told Peaches so often about the origins of the world mayonnaise that she’s developed an aversion to using the condiment. He thinks he has Covid. His wife thinks he is losing his mind. In short, your typical pandemic worries. Things were going from bad to worse even before his doctor suggested a battery of brain tests. He knows what that means: dementia!
But even in these scary times, there are plenty of things to distract him. His iPhone is fat-shaming him. He’s been trying to read Proust and thinks the French novelist missed his true calling as a parfumier. And he’s discovered nefarious Russian influence on the local coroner’s race. Why is Putin so keen to control who decides who died peacefully and who by foul play in Pimento County? Could it be the local military base?
Has Anyone Seen My Toes? is a hilarious romp through a time that has been anything but funny.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2022
122 people are currently reading
7890 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Buckley
102 books954 followersChristopher Buckley graduated cum laude from Yale University in 1976. He shipped out in the Merchant Marine and at age 24 became managing editor of Esquire magazine. At age 29, he became chief speechwriter to the Vice President of the United States, George H.W. Bush. Since 1989 he has been founder and editor-in-chief of Forbes Life magazine.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He is the author of twelve books, most of them national bestsellers. They include: The White House Mess, Wet Work, Thank You For Smoking, God Is My Broker, Little Green Men, No Way To Treat a First Lady, Florence of Arabia, Boomsday and Supreme Courtship.
Mr. Buckley has contributed over 60 comic essays to The New Yorker magazine. His journalism, satire and criticism has been widely published—in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New Republic, Washington Monthly, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Esquire, and other publications. He is the recipient of the 2002 Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence. In 2004 he was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
He is the author of twelve books, most of them national bestsellers. They include: The White House Mess, Wet Work, Thank You For Smoking, God Is My Broker, Little Green Men, No Way To Treat a First Lady, Florence of Arabia, Boomsday and Supreme Courtship.
Mr. Buckley has contributed over 60 comic essays to The New Yorker magazine. His journalism, satire and criticism has been widely published—in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, New Republic, Washington Monthly, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Esquire, and other publications. He is the recipient of the 2002 Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence. In 2004 he was awarded the Thurber Prize for American Humor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 156 reviews
July 22, 2022
I have read 3 previous books by Christopher Buckley and enjoyed them all. However, this one did not work for me. The narrator is a somewhat successful screenwriter isolating in South Carolina during Covid. He has gained so much weight that he can no longer see his toes. He wallows in self pity and thinks about huge sandwiches at the local fast food restaurant all the time. He also is trying to think about writing a new screenplay. His idea is to have German commandos kidnap FDR in 1944 and get FDR to abandon D Day and surrender to Germany.
But the humor fell flat and I started skimming halfway through the book, skipping chapters. I can't honestly recommend this book. I rate it 2 stars.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
But the humor fell flat and I started skimming halfway through the book, skipping chapters. I can't honestly recommend this book. I rate it 2 stars.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for sending me this eARC through NetGalley.
November 22, 2022
Wanted yuks, got history and lit
Oh how I loved this title. It’s the COVID pandemic and the main character, a screenwriter, has been hitting Hippo King, the local fast-food drive-through. He steps on the scale and has the horrible realization that he has gained so much weight, he can’t see his pinkies. Sounds like a cool beginning, right? Unfortunately, the fun ends there. Well, okay, I’ll give you that the book has a comic tone, and a few funny bits, but you won’t see me yukking it up. The humor was overshadowed by the hero’s personality, which was annoyingly pompous and ridiculous, and there were a thousand and one boring side trips. It’s hard to get a gigglin’ when you’re being lectured to. That said, the language is lively and sophisticated—so there, there’s a little joy in the jar.
Complaint Board:
-This character must have been jonesin’ for a podium. Here’s a novel that’s supposed to crack you up, yet the book drones on and on about World War II, FDR, Lafayette, etymology, Proust, Homer, Melville, Picasso, and actors who offed themselves (really?). Yep, it goes all over the place! I don’t want to think about history or snooty literature when I want to laugh, I really don’t. You think Moby Dick is going to warm my cockles? Not a chance. And dead actors may have caught my eye in an essay, but in this world of make-believe, I’m looking for pretend fat toes, not real suicides by the rich and famous. All this meandering had an ADD feel to it, and the plot got lost (and I got bored). The author did try to put a comic spin on it all, but the nonfiction feel could not be masked.
-And equally boring is the main character’s screenplay, which is about a Nazi trying to kidnap FDR. I know, it sounds intriguing, but I didn’t think so; it tried too hard to be clever plus it detracted from the plot. Parts of the screenplay are interspersed throughout the book, speed bumps that would appear just when I’d be settling in. Sally the Skimmer attempted to speed read through these sections, refusing to allow these bumps to slow her down (because she was itching to run to a Moby-Dick-free book). Ha, you know I’m not happy when I start talking in second person!
-A few sentences like this says it all (the entire sentence is even worse, but I refuse to give it space):
“…while hermeneutic arguments break out over whether his suicide note misappropriated Melvillian ontology."
Remember, this is supposed to be a comic novel! What??
-Too many words that no one has ever heard of!
-The voice is weird. The story is told in third person, but sometimes you wouldn’t know it. Often the author makes it sound like the story is in first person, then immediately switches to “he.” Like in these two sentences:
“It is good to be home, surrounded by familiar things. He disappears into his study.”
“What time is it now? Four fifteen. Criminy. No time for preening. He hits print and goes about his preparations.”
Plus, the “he” gets confusing if there is more than one “he” in the scene.
-Bait and switch. COVID years are the bait, but the story switches to character angst, silliness, rambling, history, and the damn screenplay in no time. Virus days and problems are mentioned only occasionally. One chapter opens with two short paragraphs about toilet paper (a worthy topic in a book set in COVID days—and yes, I’m serious, lol), but then switches to FDR. Huh? Can we please stick with COVID? I mean you could have upgraded from TP to, say, hand sanitizer, but let’s stick with the COVID theme, I beg of you. Don’t send me to World War II, please!
-The author accidentally uses his own name (Buckley) once! At least I think it’s accidental…Must have been an error that the editor didn’t catch. It happens toward the end of the book, so maybe the editor got tired.
-The main character is annoying. Hard to like a book if you don’t like the guy.
Bottom line: There were a few chuckles, but between the laughs were wide areas of boring and annoying. Toward the end, the plot was able to peek its head out (still surrounded by ADD ramblings, unfortunately), and it grabbed my attention a little more, but the book had put me in too bad of a mood by then, and I couldn’t recover.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the advance copy.
Oh how I loved this title. It’s the COVID pandemic and the main character, a screenwriter, has been hitting Hippo King, the local fast-food drive-through. He steps on the scale and has the horrible realization that he has gained so much weight, he can’t see his pinkies. Sounds like a cool beginning, right? Unfortunately, the fun ends there. Well, okay, I’ll give you that the book has a comic tone, and a few funny bits, but you won’t see me yukking it up. The humor was overshadowed by the hero’s personality, which was annoyingly pompous and ridiculous, and there were a thousand and one boring side trips. It’s hard to get a gigglin’ when you’re being lectured to. That said, the language is lively and sophisticated—so there, there’s a little joy in the jar.
Complaint Board:
-This character must have been jonesin’ for a podium. Here’s a novel that’s supposed to crack you up, yet the book drones on and on about World War II, FDR, Lafayette, etymology, Proust, Homer, Melville, Picasso, and actors who offed themselves (really?). Yep, it goes all over the place! I don’t want to think about history or snooty literature when I want to laugh, I really don’t. You think Moby Dick is going to warm my cockles? Not a chance. And dead actors may have caught my eye in an essay, but in this world of make-believe, I’m looking for pretend fat toes, not real suicides by the rich and famous. All this meandering had an ADD feel to it, and the plot got lost (and I got bored). The author did try to put a comic spin on it all, but the nonfiction feel could not be masked.
-And equally boring is the main character’s screenplay, which is about a Nazi trying to kidnap FDR. I know, it sounds intriguing, but I didn’t think so; it tried too hard to be clever plus it detracted from the plot. Parts of the screenplay are interspersed throughout the book, speed bumps that would appear just when I’d be settling in. Sally the Skimmer attempted to speed read through these sections, refusing to allow these bumps to slow her down (because she was itching to run to a Moby-Dick-free book). Ha, you know I’m not happy when I start talking in second person!
-A few sentences like this says it all (the entire sentence is even worse, but I refuse to give it space):
“…while hermeneutic arguments break out over whether his suicide note misappropriated Melvillian ontology."
Remember, this is supposed to be a comic novel! What??
-Too many words that no one has ever heard of!
-The voice is weird. The story is told in third person, but sometimes you wouldn’t know it. Often the author makes it sound like the story is in first person, then immediately switches to “he.” Like in these two sentences:
“It is good to be home, surrounded by familiar things. He disappears into his study.”
“What time is it now? Four fifteen. Criminy. No time for preening. He hits print and goes about his preparations.”
Plus, the “he” gets confusing if there is more than one “he” in the scene.
-Bait and switch. COVID years are the bait, but the story switches to character angst, silliness, rambling, history, and the damn screenplay in no time. Virus days and problems are mentioned only occasionally. One chapter opens with two short paragraphs about toilet paper (a worthy topic in a book set in COVID days—and yes, I’m serious, lol), but then switches to FDR. Huh? Can we please stick with COVID? I mean you could have upgraded from TP to, say, hand sanitizer, but let’s stick with the COVID theme, I beg of you. Don’t send me to World War II, please!
-The author accidentally uses his own name (Buckley) once! At least I think it’s accidental…Must have been an error that the editor didn’t catch. It happens toward the end of the book, so maybe the editor got tired.
-The main character is annoying. Hard to like a book if you don’t like the guy.
Bottom line: There were a few chuckles, but between the laughs were wide areas of boring and annoying. Toward the end, the plot was able to peek its head out (still surrounded by ADD ramblings, unfortunately), and it grabbed my attention a little more, but the book had put me in too bad of a mood by then, and I couldn’t recover.
Thanks to Edelweiss for the advance copy.
August 5, 2022
Leave it to Christopher Buckley to pull it off. I don't know of many authors that could write a funny pandemic story.
"Has Anyone Seen My Toes?" How many of us can relate to packing on a few pounds during lockdown? That's a lot of hands in the air.
So our satire writer has written a clever, entertaining, and funny story about a screenwriter struggling to finish his farce of a story about the Nazi's planning to kidnap FDR on American soil. It's ridiculously crazy and totally entertaining.
So, this whole Covid thing is putting a strain on our narrator's already fragile mental state. He is anxious and coping by stuffing his face with Hippo Burgers. He is also a bit of a hypochondriac but thank goodness for the great doctor ( translation quack) he "sees" online. She is more than willing to prescribe whatever he needs. And is he the only one that sees what's going on in the local coroner's race? The Ruskies are interfering in our elections again. Is he the only one willing to do something about it? Hilarity ensues.
It takes a special kind of talent to write smart, grown up satire. It also takes talent to write a decent review of good satire. I liked "Has Anyone Seen My Toes?" a lot. It tickled my funny bone. I'll shut up now.
"Has Anyone Seen My Toes?" How many of us can relate to packing on a few pounds during lockdown? That's a lot of hands in the air.
So our satire writer has written a clever, entertaining, and funny story about a screenwriter struggling to finish his farce of a story about the Nazi's planning to kidnap FDR on American soil. It's ridiculously crazy and totally entertaining.
So, this whole Covid thing is putting a strain on our narrator's already fragile mental state. He is anxious and coping by stuffing his face with Hippo Burgers. He is also a bit of a hypochondriac but thank goodness for the great doctor ( translation quack) he "sees" online. She is more than willing to prescribe whatever he needs. And is he the only one that sees what's going on in the local coroner's race? The Ruskies are interfering in our elections again. Is he the only one willing to do something about it? Hilarity ensues.
It takes a special kind of talent to write smart, grown up satire. It also takes talent to write a decent review of good satire. I liked "Has Anyone Seen My Toes?" a lot. It tickled my funny bone. I'll shut up now.
March 30, 2024
3.5, but could have gone higher except…
A few years ago, an ethicist named Michael Bujeca wrote that, as a genre, satire “explores the truths that few admit but all know… Without truth, attempts at satire lapse into sarcasm or comedy, generating insults or laughs at the expense of another person, thing or group.”
Christopher Buckley is a satirist. A damned good one, in my estimation: he’s funny, smart, insightful, and non-partisan in choosing his targets (or at least as non-partisan as one can be these days.) In his novels he’s taken on UFOs, tobacco companies, the Supreme Court, the Clintons, boomers, Donald Trump, and numerous other artifacts of our proud species. He’s always made me laugh, or at least smile. His newest book, “Has Anyone Seen My Toes,” is no different. Except that it is. Or maybe it’s me that’s different. Bear with me.
The novel is set during the pandemic. Our protagonist is a screenwriter from the north who has moved to Hobcaw, South Carolina, with his wife, Peaches. Limited in what he can do and where he can go, he binge-eats and gains weight. A lot of weight -- hence the missing toes. He’s also losing touch with reality, or so he believes: Incipient madness? Covid-related delirium? Dementia?
He’s uncertain about what’s happening to him (though all will be revealed), but he soldiers on, working on a new screenplay. It’s based on a real event (more or less): the time in 1944 when FDR vacationed at Hobcaw Barony, property of his close advisor, Bernard Baruch. The visit was real; the events recounted in the screenplay, not so much. The basic idea for the movie is: “German intelligence learns Roosevelt will be staying at the house of “’the rich Jew Baruch’ right on the Atlantic Ocean... They devise a plan to parachute in a team of elite commandos who will seize Roosevelt and put him aboard a U-boat and take him to Germany. Hitler will use his prize hostage to get the Allies to call off the invasion and sue for peace.” The film is to be called “The Heimlich Maneuver,” Heimlich being the name of the gruff but basically good German officer who leads the operation. The screenplay will “write itself,” our protagonist believes.
And one might say that he should know: he was author of another screenplay, also set in South Carolina, called “Swamp Foxes.” It was about “a patriotic group of prostitutes who set up shop during the [American] Revolution in order to raise money for Francis Marion and his patriotic guerrilla fighters. He pitched the idea as The Patriot meets The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Others referred to it as” the pulchritudinous patriotic prostitutes of Parnassus Plantation.”
“Has Anyone Seen My Toes” relates the screenwriter’s experiences – his fear he is going mad, his spreading delusions (Putin is trying to influence the election of the local coroner!), his obsessive need to research the most obscure words and facts (Kakistocracy. Snollygoster. Chirocracy. Cunctation. Mayonnaise.) Along the way, Buckley takes aim at our current foibles: In the wake of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis, HBO Max announces that it is pulling Gone with the Wind from its streaming menu. Within twenty-four hours, Gone with the Wind is the number-one best seller on Amazon. HBO Max then announces that Gone with the Wind will soon no longer be gone. It will be back, with an introduction by a “prominent African American studies scholar,” who presumably will explain why you shouldn’t be watching the movie in the first place. And then there are the local
men who call themselves “the Oaf Keepers,” because they made a mistake on the t-shirts and didn’t want to pay to make it right.
Funny stuff. Topical. Acerbic. But then I read this exchange between the screenwriter and a friend. It’s her voice we hear first.
” I saw someone on the television say that smoking kills the coronavirus.” Game on. “Dr. Fauci, was it?” “I couldn’t tell you, but he was beautifully tailored, and I always take that as a sign that the person knows what he is talking about.” She exhales languorously. She’s a beautiful smoker, Angina. He loves watching her smoke. At a distance. “Of course,” she goes on, “they don’t want us to know that smoking neutralizes the virus.” “Oh? Why is that?” “Because then people would throw away their masks and start smoking. Wouldn’t they? And then where would the 3M company be?”
Outrageous, right? Obviously satiric. Except, only two days before reading this I had a conversation with one of my neighbors. Lovely lady, articulate, friendly. She told me, in all seriousness, the same thing about Covid and smoking. And how more than a hundred employees at Disney World have been arrested for child pornography but Disney and the Mainstream Media are keeping it a secret. And other such “facts” I would know if I “did my research.” I won’t say that it ruined the book for me – it didn’t, not at all – but it did sour the experience. There’s something unsettling about a satiric trope jumping off the page and into one’s life.
It's a good book. Not Buckley's finest, perhaps, but right for our times. You'll enjoy it. Just be careful who you talk to. (I have spoken with her many times since -- as I said, she really is very nice -- but I don't engage in political matters. Not at all.
My sincere thanks to Simon & Schuster and Edelweis+ for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A few years ago, an ethicist named Michael Bujeca wrote that, as a genre, satire “explores the truths that few admit but all know… Without truth, attempts at satire lapse into sarcasm or comedy, generating insults or laughs at the expense of another person, thing or group.”
Christopher Buckley is a satirist. A damned good one, in my estimation: he’s funny, smart, insightful, and non-partisan in choosing his targets (or at least as non-partisan as one can be these days.) In his novels he’s taken on UFOs, tobacco companies, the Supreme Court, the Clintons, boomers, Donald Trump, and numerous other artifacts of our proud species. He’s always made me laugh, or at least smile. His newest book, “Has Anyone Seen My Toes,” is no different. Except that it is. Or maybe it’s me that’s different. Bear with me.
The novel is set during the pandemic. Our protagonist is a screenwriter from the north who has moved to Hobcaw, South Carolina, with his wife, Peaches. Limited in what he can do and where he can go, he binge-eats and gains weight. A lot of weight -- hence the missing toes. He’s also losing touch with reality, or so he believes: Incipient madness? Covid-related delirium? Dementia?
He’s uncertain about what’s happening to him (though all will be revealed), but he soldiers on, working on a new screenplay. It’s based on a real event (more or less): the time in 1944 when FDR vacationed at Hobcaw Barony, property of his close advisor, Bernard Baruch. The visit was real; the events recounted in the screenplay, not so much. The basic idea for the movie is: “German intelligence learns Roosevelt will be staying at the house of “’the rich Jew Baruch’ right on the Atlantic Ocean... They devise a plan to parachute in a team of elite commandos who will seize Roosevelt and put him aboard a U-boat and take him to Germany. Hitler will use his prize hostage to get the Allies to call off the invasion and sue for peace.” The film is to be called “The Heimlich Maneuver,” Heimlich being the name of the gruff but basically good German officer who leads the operation. The screenplay will “write itself,” our protagonist believes.
And one might say that he should know: he was author of another screenplay, also set in South Carolina, called “Swamp Foxes.” It was about “a patriotic group of prostitutes who set up shop during the [American] Revolution in order to raise money for Francis Marion and his patriotic guerrilla fighters. He pitched the idea as The Patriot meets The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” Others referred to it as” the pulchritudinous patriotic prostitutes of Parnassus Plantation.”
“Has Anyone Seen My Toes” relates the screenwriter’s experiences – his fear he is going mad, his spreading delusions (Putin is trying to influence the election of the local coroner!), his obsessive need to research the most obscure words and facts (Kakistocracy. Snollygoster. Chirocracy. Cunctation. Mayonnaise.) Along the way, Buckley takes aim at our current foibles: In the wake of the George Floyd murder in Minneapolis, HBO Max announces that it is pulling Gone with the Wind from its streaming menu. Within twenty-four hours, Gone with the Wind is the number-one best seller on Amazon. HBO Max then announces that Gone with the Wind will soon no longer be gone. It will be back, with an introduction by a “prominent African American studies scholar,” who presumably will explain why you shouldn’t be watching the movie in the first place. And then there are the local
men who call themselves “the Oaf Keepers,” because they made a mistake on the t-shirts and didn’t want to pay to make it right.
Funny stuff. Topical. Acerbic. But then I read this exchange between the screenwriter and a friend. It’s her voice we hear first.
” I saw someone on the television say that smoking kills the coronavirus.” Game on. “Dr. Fauci, was it?” “I couldn’t tell you, but he was beautifully tailored, and I always take that as a sign that the person knows what he is talking about.” She exhales languorously. She’s a beautiful smoker, Angina. He loves watching her smoke. At a distance. “Of course,” she goes on, “they don’t want us to know that smoking neutralizes the virus.” “Oh? Why is that?” “Because then people would throw away their masks and start smoking. Wouldn’t they? And then where would the 3M company be?”
Outrageous, right? Obviously satiric. Except, only two days before reading this I had a conversation with one of my neighbors. Lovely lady, articulate, friendly. She told me, in all seriousness, the same thing about Covid and smoking. And how more than a hundred employees at Disney World have been arrested for child pornography but Disney and the Mainstream Media are keeping it a secret. And other such “facts” I would know if I “did my research.” I won’t say that it ruined the book for me – it didn’t, not at all – but it did sour the experience. There’s something unsettling about a satiric trope jumping off the page and into one’s life.
It's a good book. Not Buckley's finest, perhaps, but right for our times. You'll enjoy it. Just be careful who you talk to. (I have spoken with her many times since -- as I said, she really is very nice -- but I don't engage in political matters. Not at all.
My sincere thanks to Simon & Schuster and Edelweis+ for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 7, 2022
Leave it to Christopher Buckley to pull it off. I don't know of many authors that could write a funny pandemic story.
"Has Anyone Seen My Toes?"
How many of us can relate to packing on a few pounds during lockdown? That's a lot of hands in the air. So our writer has written a clever, entertaining, and funny story about a screenwriter struggling to finish his farce of a story about the Nazi's planning to kidnap FDR on American soil. It's ridiculously crazy and totally entertaining.
So, this whole Covid thing is putting a strain on our narrator's already fragile mental state. He is anxious and coping by stuffing his face with Hippo Burgers. He is also a bit of a hypochondriac but thank goodness for the great doctor ( translation quack) he "sees" online. She is more than willing to prescribe whatever he needs. (It reminds me of the old joke, What do they call the medical student who graduated last in their class? Answer:
Doctor.)
And is he the only one that sees what's going on in the local coroner's race? The Ruskies are interfering in our elections again. Is he the only one willing to do something about it? Damn right he is. Hilarity ensues.
It takes a special kind of talent to write smart, grown up satire. It also takes talent to write a decent review of good satire. I liked "Has Anyone Seen My Toes?" a lot. It tickled my funny bone. I'll shut up now.
"Has Anyone Seen My Toes?"
How many of us can relate to packing on a few pounds during lockdown? That's a lot of hands in the air. So our writer has written a clever, entertaining, and funny story about a screenwriter struggling to finish his farce of a story about the Nazi's planning to kidnap FDR on American soil. It's ridiculously crazy and totally entertaining.
So, this whole Covid thing is putting a strain on our narrator's already fragile mental state. He is anxious and coping by stuffing his face with Hippo Burgers. He is also a bit of a hypochondriac but thank goodness for the great doctor ( translation quack) he "sees" online. She is more than willing to prescribe whatever he needs. (It reminds me of the old joke, What do they call the medical student who graduated last in their class? Answer:
Doctor.)
And is he the only one that sees what's going on in the local coroner's race? The Ruskies are interfering in our elections again. Is he the only one willing to do something about it? Damn right he is. Hilarity ensues.
It takes a special kind of talent to write smart, grown up satire. It also takes talent to write a decent review of good satire. I liked "Has Anyone Seen My Toes?" a lot. It tickled my funny bone. I'll shut up now.
October 16, 2022
Well, I’d describe a plot, but for a while there, I wasn’t sure. Funny how he should mention Proust at one point…
I’ll give it a whirl: An unnamed (?) narrator, a scriptwriter with a grudge against the industry, finds himself losing his marbles amidst the pandemic, and worse still, it’s in a mask-loathing state. He seems to be spiraling toward his doom, packing on the pounds, writing a nonsensical script, getting involved in an election for coroner. Once he pulls an all-night vigil to assassinate the moles cratering his lawn, his wife sends him to a psychologist. But the descent shows no signs of abating.
Is there a genre for this? Internal ramblings of a blue-state, middle-aged dude, stranger-in-a-strange-land, with no real plot? Interesting for a few pages, but you really have to be on your game if you want to attract a larger market.
And I suppose he was. Mostly.
Really, up until 50-60%, I was thinking, “Oh, boy. Ramble on, we’re in for a roller coaster of nonsense, of feelings and thoughts and obsessions and random facts that my editor told me to extract from my own work like a rotten molar…” It’s shortish, though, so I figured I’d just hang on and chuckle once in a while, and I earnestly did.
It does emerge from the fog and give us a tiny structure, a little map to follow. It’s easy to find, too. Somehow this feels like first person when it’s really not, and though it makes some annoying cultural references, Buckley seems to share them because he thinks they’re annoying, too. He also doesn’t turn the red-staters into cartoonish supervillains. There’s some texture there, some color that makes them both funny and real. I liked Peaches and Dr. Bhong; they reminded me of people I know. Pretty satisfying, if quick, ending.
Wacky and wild, ride out the insanity and you’ll find a fun and quirky story. Worth it.
I’ll give it a whirl: An unnamed (?) narrator, a scriptwriter with a grudge against the industry, finds himself losing his marbles amidst the pandemic, and worse still, it’s in a mask-loathing state. He seems to be spiraling toward his doom, packing on the pounds, writing a nonsensical script, getting involved in an election for coroner. Once he pulls an all-night vigil to assassinate the moles cratering his lawn, his wife sends him to a psychologist. But the descent shows no signs of abating.
Is there a genre for this? Internal ramblings of a blue-state, middle-aged dude, stranger-in-a-strange-land, with no real plot? Interesting for a few pages, but you really have to be on your game if you want to attract a larger market.
And I suppose he was. Mostly.
Really, up until 50-60%, I was thinking, “Oh, boy. Ramble on, we’re in for a roller coaster of nonsense, of feelings and thoughts and obsessions and random facts that my editor told me to extract from my own work like a rotten molar…” It’s shortish, though, so I figured I’d just hang on and chuckle once in a while, and I earnestly did.
It does emerge from the fog and give us a tiny structure, a little map to follow. It’s easy to find, too. Somehow this feels like first person when it’s really not, and though it makes some annoying cultural references, Buckley seems to share them because he thinks they’re annoying, too. He also doesn’t turn the red-staters into cartoonish supervillains. There’s some texture there, some color that makes them both funny and real. I liked Peaches and Dr. Bhong; they reminded me of people I know. Pretty satisfying, if quick, ending.
Wacky and wild, ride out the insanity and you’ll find a fun and quirky story. Worth it.
May 5, 2022
Christopher Buckley presents his take on the pandemic, and much of it will ring familiar, which is comforting in a hilarious way. Suffering writer's block, a scriptwriter is living out his lockdown at home in South Carolina in relative luxury, and is struggling with his new screenplay, which defies description. In performing "research," he finds himself falling down Google rabbit holes, which many can relate to, and the text sallies off into diverse subjects that had me laughing out loud. Warning -- Anything further will take away the fun of reading this for yourself -- just don't read it in public.
May 31, 2022
I love intelligent humor. Let's face it, anyone can succeed with a well-timed fart joke as it speaks to our inner 10 year old child. But intelligent humor is where it's at, and it's hard to successfully pull off. I was laughing out loud so many times while reading this, that my husband kept asking if I was okay. There is so much humor in life and the situations, but it takes talent to find it and successfully point it out. This was bawdy and irreverant and genuine and just plain wacky and ridiculous (in an extremely good way) at times, and I loved every word of it. Who would have thought Nazis were so darn funny.
July 17, 2022
Irreverent, clever, and hilarious, this was the pandemic satire that's been missing from my life. A chuckle for the soul I didn't realize I needed. I've always been a proponent of the "laughter is the best medicine" philosophy. In fact, I often seek out humor during dark or challenging times, so this book fell into that niche nicely. Filled a void that has been vacant in literature for me since Covid first hit back in 2020.
Buckley did a good job of lightening the mood, sillying things up, and sometimes we all need that. It helps balm up those existential wounds after something awful happens in the world.
As a result of that, this book was comforting in all its absurdity, warm as well as uproarious in its portrayal of the ways in which quarantine can frazzle the human mind and slowly but surely increase a person's waistline, causing the disappearance of toes, and intelligent in its placement or portrayal of various cultural references. (The "Oaf" Keepers--what a name change! The "very stable genius" allusions had me cackling, too.) It was also surprisingly relatable. Didn't matter if that meant being sucked into Google rabbit hole after Google rabbit hole, wanting to disinfect in a Clorox pool after somebody sneezed nearby, deciding to finally conquer Proust, or buying overpriced toilet paper (because it's sold out everywhere) on Amazon. Many of us have been there, done that. It was nice to be reminded that the past couple years have made us all a little mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. Might as well laugh about it now if we can, right?
Suffice it to say I did just that. LOUDLY. And do you know what? It felt damn good.
Special thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for my review.
BOOK BLOG
Buckley did a good job of lightening the mood, sillying things up, and sometimes we all need that. It helps balm up those existential wounds after something awful happens in the world.
As a result of that, this book was comforting in all its absurdity, warm as well as uproarious in its portrayal of the ways in which quarantine can frazzle the human mind and slowly but surely increase a person's waistline, causing the disappearance of toes, and intelligent in its placement or portrayal of various cultural references. (The "Oaf" Keepers--what a name change! The "very stable genius" allusions had me cackling, too.) It was also surprisingly relatable. Didn't matter if that meant being sucked into Google rabbit hole after Google rabbit hole, wanting to disinfect in a Clorox pool after somebody sneezed nearby, deciding to finally conquer Proust, or buying overpriced toilet paper (because it's sold out everywhere) on Amazon. Many of us have been there, done that. It was nice to be reminded that the past couple years have made us all a little mad, mad, mad, mad, mad. Might as well laugh about it now if we can, right?
Suffice it to say I did just that. LOUDLY. And do you know what? It felt damn good.
Special thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for my review.
BOOK BLOG
June 27, 2022
3+4- rounded up because of the laughs!
It has been quite a while since I laughed over a book as much as I did Christopher Buckley’s latest satirical look at today’s society through the eyes of a middle-aged screenwriter growing fat but not happy during the COVID pandemic. The pressures of life during COVID stimulate our protagonist’s creative juices to write a new screenplay about a German attempt to kidnap FDR during WW II with a plot that involves, among other things, setting pigs on fire and letting them loose on Bernard Baruch’s estate while FDR was visiting. It also stimulates his interest in a local contested election for coroner, and he thinks Putin may be interfering with the coroner election. Gradually, he begins to fear he is losing touch with reality, and he does not know whether to blame it on COVID or dementia or something unknown.
The humor runs the gamut from erudite to tasteless and although I confess to enjoying the vast majority of it, my favorites were the smiles that grew out of the protagonist’s love of etymology and great literature. There were marvelous quotes from sources like Mark Twain saying about a book by Henry James, “Once you put it down, you can’t pick it up.” There were also clever unbelievable bits of history, but when I looked several of them up they all turned out to be true, like the fact that Marcel Proust’s brother was a well-known urologist who performed the first successful prostatectomy in France, leading his colleagues to nickname it a “Proust-ectomy” or the origin of the term “Nazi”, which was originally rather derogatory. I learned the odd origin of the word “mayonnaise” and also added some nice words to my vocabulary, like “hypocorism”, which means pet name.
Satire by its nature, though, generally involves a serious subject, and where you draw the line at poking fun at serious subjects can be difficult. Readers have varying levels of tolerance for laughing at sensitive subjects, and as the book progressed I found myself disturbed by the inclusion of one topic in particular that I will not name because it would be a spoiler.
My disagreement with some of the objects of Buckley’s barbed humor was not great enough to keep me from enjoying the book, though, or to keep me from recommending it to readers who need some laughs and can tolerate humor about serious matters.
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.
It has been quite a while since I laughed over a book as much as I did Christopher Buckley’s latest satirical look at today’s society through the eyes of a middle-aged screenwriter growing fat but not happy during the COVID pandemic. The pressures of life during COVID stimulate our protagonist’s creative juices to write a new screenplay about a German attempt to kidnap FDR during WW II with a plot that involves, among other things, setting pigs on fire and letting them loose on Bernard Baruch’s estate while FDR was visiting. It also stimulates his interest in a local contested election for coroner, and he thinks Putin may be interfering with the coroner election. Gradually, he begins to fear he is losing touch with reality, and he does not know whether to blame it on COVID or dementia or something unknown.
The humor runs the gamut from erudite to tasteless and although I confess to enjoying the vast majority of it, my favorites were the smiles that grew out of the protagonist’s love of etymology and great literature. There were marvelous quotes from sources like Mark Twain saying about a book by Henry James, “Once you put it down, you can’t pick it up.” There were also clever unbelievable bits of history, but when I looked several of them up they all turned out to be true, like the fact that Marcel Proust’s brother was a well-known urologist who performed the first successful prostatectomy in France, leading his colleagues to nickname it a “Proust-ectomy” or the origin of the term “Nazi”, which was originally rather derogatory. I learned the odd origin of the word “mayonnaise” and also added some nice words to my vocabulary, like “hypocorism”, which means pet name.
Satire by its nature, though, generally involves a serious subject, and where you draw the line at poking fun at serious subjects can be difficult. Readers have varying levels of tolerance for laughing at sensitive subjects, and as the book progressed I found myself disturbed by the inclusion of one topic in particular that I will not name because it would be a spoiler.
My disagreement with some of the objects of Buckley’s barbed humor was not great enough to keep me from enjoying the book, though, or to keep me from recommending it to readers who need some laughs and can tolerate humor about serious matters.
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.
March 14, 2022
Pretty Random, But Good Random
This doesn't feel much like a novel with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Rather, reading this book is sort of like watching a standup comedian work out the bugs in his new material. Some of it is sharp, tight, and right on. Some is a little too long and unfocused and needs to be tightened up. Some of the bits just don't work, and some are killer. That was fine by me because when Buckley is on he's really on and there are loads of laugh out loud moments here.
In a way this book reads more like a loosely linked anthology of short humor pieces. Bits like the Proust takedown are brutally funny, and most of the funniest rants are just popped into the novel out of nowhere and for no reason related to the plot. This is probably for the best since the plot itself is inane and not especially engaging.
So, since humor is currently in short supply and topical humor is virtually nonexistent, I was happy to watch Buckley riff and improvise and fool around and fine tune his stuff. Sometimes plot is just a thin excuse for numbering the pages.
(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
This doesn't feel much like a novel with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Rather, reading this book is sort of like watching a standup comedian work out the bugs in his new material. Some of it is sharp, tight, and right on. Some is a little too long and unfocused and needs to be tightened up. Some of the bits just don't work, and some are killer. That was fine by me because when Buckley is on he's really on and there are loads of laugh out loud moments here.
In a way this book reads more like a loosely linked anthology of short humor pieces. Bits like the Proust takedown are brutally funny, and most of the funniest rants are just popped into the novel out of nowhere and for no reason related to the plot. This is probably for the best since the plot itself is inane and not especially engaging.
So, since humor is currently in short supply and topical humor is virtually nonexistent, I was happy to watch Buckley riff and improvise and fool around and fine tune his stuff. Sometimes plot is just a thin excuse for numbering the pages.
(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
September 20, 2022
Yes this book was laugh-out-loud funny in the early chapters, but on the whole it was just ridiculously stupid. In the early chapters I seriously gave thought to putting it aside and marking it as DNF, but the obsessive in me refused to give up, even when urged to by my daughter. I swear Buckley's books got me through the pandemic, but these last two were a waste of my time. I move on.
August 30, 2022
Has Anyone Seen My Toes? is a humor book about the South. I was expecting a more erudite and classier (but still funny) Dave Barry. What I got was feeling trapped in a brain so weird it made me feel normal—and I have ADHD.
The author is what we used to call a worrywart. He is obsessed about details constantly. Do you want to spend a few hours in his head? I sure don’t. I admit this is the first book in years that I had to skim the last 80% just to finish it. Just yuck all around. 2 optimistic stars that the author will seek some therapy . Wow!
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.
The author is what we used to call a worrywart. He is obsessed about details constantly. Do you want to spend a few hours in his head? I sure don’t. I admit this is the first book in years that I had to skim the last 80% just to finish it. Just yuck all around. 2 optimistic stars that the author will seek some therapy . Wow!
Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.
July 14, 2022
I got about 30% of the way into this book, and it just was a struggle to continue. It was so random, that it couldn't hold my attention. I'm hoping I can pick it up another time and make it through, but this was a DNF for me for now.
May 17, 2024
Like 3.5, really. This was pretty funny, and one of the first books I've read set during 2020/The Pandemic that tells a story that isn't about the pandemic. And it's wonderful. Most of us just kept on living life and not freaking out and being fairly peeved at what we all knew were pointless acts of safety theatre. Anyway!
The novel itself is three-quarters novel, one-quarter screenplay about Germans capturing FDR while he vacations in South Carolina during World War II. It is, in fact, as dumb as it sounds. Dumber, actually. And I skipped a ton of it. The rest is about the screenplay's author, a Connecticut Yankee of all things, living in semi-rural SC, pandemic-binging, and apparently slowly going nuts. But in the best, mildest, funniest possible way. I wanted to like it more, but by the time the screenplay had taken over, then ending was unsatisfying and oh well. It's Christopher Buckley. Good enough.
The novel itself is three-quarters novel, one-quarter screenplay about Germans capturing FDR while he vacations in South Carolina during World War II. It is, in fact, as dumb as it sounds. Dumber, actually. And I skipped a ton of it. The rest is about the screenplay's author, a Connecticut Yankee of all things, living in semi-rural SC, pandemic-binging, and apparently slowly going nuts. But in the best, mildest, funniest possible way. I wanted to like it more, but by the time the screenplay had taken over, then ending was unsatisfying and oh well. It's Christopher Buckley. Good enough.
September 20, 2022
“Has Anyone Seen My Toes” is the book you never knew you needed. I had never heard of Christopher Buckley, the first chapter in I loved his work so much that I added all his books to my must read list. During the age of Covid, the world has gone mad and Christopher Buckley writes a beautifully comedic fiction about just how crazy a person can get stuck inside.
October 8, 2022
A washed up Hollywood screenwriter wallows in overindulgence, overthinking, and Wikipedia during the pandemic. The novel is a sandcastle with a foundation of slowly accreting factoids that founder in the remnants of Southern nationalism. Its many satirical victims include FDR, concierge medicine, and fast food. Plus, Hitler! And burning pigs! Buckley is nearly always on fire in this book which also doubles as a meta-analysis of the creative process. If you have residual guilt that you didn't "produce something creative" during the Covid 19 pandemic, "Has Anyone Seen My Toes" is your ticket.
August 10, 2023
This book was very similar to “Catch 22” for me.
At the beginning, I was laughing along to the post-modern, political satire. All the absurd things that the main character thought and situations he got himself into were hilarious and endearing…
…at the beginning. I think the book is a little too long and meandering and didn’t know how to end itself.
I’ll still give it 3 stars and it was still an enjoyable read.
At the beginning, I was laughing along to the post-modern, political satire. All the absurd things that the main character thought and situations he got himself into were hilarious and endearing…
…at the beginning. I think the book is a little too long and meandering and didn’t know how to end itself.
I’ll still give it 3 stars and it was still an enjoyable read.
October 11, 2022
Very funny look at the pandemic and the lead's battle not only to lose weight, but somehow manage not to lose his mind in the process. Laugh out loud funny at parts.
July 28, 2024
Humorous with a touch of conspiracy theory. Throw in a wild rewriting of WW II history and you have an enjoyable read. I'm sure there are many of us who lost sight of our toes while hunkered down in our houses during Covid. Thankfully most of us didn't have access to Hippo king.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2022
Hilarious satirical literary farce! Almost every line is full of brilliant sardonic wit, pithy historic references, etymological gems and undisguised social/political commentary. I laughed out loud often! The author is unrelenting- I could see how his style could easily be overwhelming and off-putting. He gets a bit carried away…
May 5, 2023
Crazy and delightful
Hard to describe this book beyond saying that it’s an entertaining way to spend a pandemic if you’re a writer. It also will give you a chance to expand your vocabulary and literary allusions. Be prepared to put your sanity aside and get ready to Google and fact-check to your heart’s content.
Hard to describe this book beyond saying that it’s an entertaining way to spend a pandemic if you’re a writer. It also will give you a chance to expand your vocabulary and literary allusions. Be prepared to put your sanity aside and get ready to Google and fact-check to your heart’s content.
January 29, 2023
If you’re ready to laugh at the not-so funny COVID pandemic absurdities, pick up Buckley’s new satire, HAS ANYONE SEEN MY TOES. This does not have the structured plot of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, one of the funniest books I’ve ever read, but rather it is a riff on our preoccupation with Google search, language, diet, political divisiveness, the politics in a small town and the absurdities of celebrity. Get passed the stream of consciousness distractions and it’s a solidly funny read.
December 8, 2022
If I could give 0 stars , I would.
Coudnt finished it!
Coudnt finished it!
October 15, 2022
I preface my comments by reflecting that Christopher Buckley is among my very favorite authors. His work has made me laugh hysterically and inappropriately when I’ve chosen to read a book in a public place. This one doesn’t cut it. Yes, there is the expected parade of interesting characters but they simply don’t mesh. The plot plods which, I guess, is reflective of its setting in the midst of a pandemic. Hoping the next one is better……I will be among the first to purchase a copy when it is announced. This one is not of the same caliber of Mr. Buckley’s previous offerings. Sad to report that.
April 1, 2022
I don't know about you, but I do not possess much interest in a dramatic film or novel about the pandemic. But I am definitely ready to indulge in a comedy. Thankfully, Christopher Buckley is here to take a shot at it. Buckley is a legend of political satire, one of the few greats of the quickly dying genre. I was very excited to receive this book, dove in, and read it in one sitting. It is fantastic and hilarious. At 69 years of age, Buckley has not lost a step in the slightest, and I think this is his wittiest book in years. Here, like many of his other books. Buckley's humor is reminiscent of the Marx Brothers, Wilde, Mencken, Dennis Miller, and Woody Allen all combined into one unique voice. The other amazing thing about Buckley is, despite the uproarious, and sometimes slapstick/screwball comedy, he is as erudite and well-read as any living author at the highest level of literature. The pages are littered with fascinating, adept references to history, etymology, mythology, philosophy, literature, film and more, such that you are just as likely to learn an interesting fact as you are to laugh. And the word play, diction and wit are all incredible here. I also love that, unlike so many other writers who avoid comedy/satire now like it is Covid itself, Buckley hasn't shied away from his penchant for political incorrectness. Sure, the plot, such as it is, isn't particularly compelling. But I am not reading Buckley for the plot, this isn't a Michael Connelly crime procedural. This is a satirist and comic writer in top form and Buckley gives us the laugh we could all use after so much sanctimony and fear the last couple years.
August 1, 2022
Did Christopher Buckley have a bet with someone about how many “big words” he could cram into his 288 page novel? I think I have a pretty large vocabulary, but I was thankful for the Kindle dictionary function as I read this. So here’s a big word for Buckley - sesquipedalian, meaning long winded. Here’s another - pleonasm, meaning using more words than necessary.
I’ve enjoyed his previous novels, but this one came across as bloated, tired and stupid. There are glimpses of humor and they made me long for the snarky, dark humor of Thank You For Smoking or Make Russia Great Again.
The story takes place during the pandemic, when the narrator, an aging nameless screenwriter, decides to write a screenplay about a Nazi attempt to kidnap FDR. The same screenwriter who decides the pandemic is the perfect time to finally read Proust. He’s also worming his way into the contest of the two men running as county coroner. In rare moments of sanity, he worries he’s developing Alzheimer’s. But the reason is much more plebeian.
In yoga, there’s a phrase called monkey brain. It’s when your brain refuses to be quieted and veers in multiple directions. The main character has a definite case of monkey brain. One thought leads to another, he’s often found googling into deeper and deeper rabbit holes. All of these interesting tidbits find their way into the story, BTW. It’s like a rabid case of stream of consciousness.
By the end, my only thought was how Buckley would bring this to a conclusion. The humor was not enough to make up for the meandering plot.
My thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book.
I’ve enjoyed his previous novels, but this one came across as bloated, tired and stupid. There are glimpses of humor and they made me long for the snarky, dark humor of Thank You For Smoking or Make Russia Great Again.
The story takes place during the pandemic, when the narrator, an aging nameless screenwriter, decides to write a screenplay about a Nazi attempt to kidnap FDR. The same screenwriter who decides the pandemic is the perfect time to finally read Proust. He’s also worming his way into the contest of the two men running as county coroner. In rare moments of sanity, he worries he’s developing Alzheimer’s. But the reason is much more plebeian.
In yoga, there’s a phrase called monkey brain. It’s when your brain refuses to be quieted and veers in multiple directions. The main character has a definite case of monkey brain. One thought leads to another, he’s often found googling into deeper and deeper rabbit holes. All of these interesting tidbits find their way into the story, BTW. It’s like a rabid case of stream of consciousness.
By the end, my only thought was how Buckley would bring this to a conclusion. The humor was not enough to make up for the meandering plot.
My thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this book.
October 29, 2024
Disclaimer: Received this as an advance reader copy via Netgalley and Simon & Schuster (Thank you!!!)
Clever snarkiness abounds with this newest Christopher Buckley novel. I waited a bit to write this review because this is one of those books that you'll find yourself giggling over long after you've finished it.
Many books provide immediate satisfaction once you're done reading them, then they flitter away like leaves in the wind. This book will stick with you. I find myself smiling just thinking about all the ridiculousness this book had to offer, be it the MAGA loving concierge doctor who prescribes Lysolaquine to the Hippoburger loving protagonist, the writing of the kooky 'Heimlich's Maneuver' screenplay or the hysterical take on a local coroner's race. And truth be told, I let out a little squeal of glee when Squid Lee Biscuit was briefly mentioned (if you haven't read Make Russia Great Again, make a note to do so!).
Clever snarkiness abounds with this newest Christopher Buckley novel. I waited a bit to write this review because this is one of those books that you'll find yourself giggling over long after you've finished it.
Many books provide immediate satisfaction once you're done reading them, then they flitter away like leaves in the wind. This book will stick with you. I find myself smiling just thinking about all the ridiculousness this book had to offer, be it the MAGA loving concierge doctor who prescribes Lysolaquine to the Hippoburger loving protagonist, the writing of the kooky 'Heimlich's Maneuver' screenplay or the hysterical take on a local coroner's race. And truth be told, I let out a little squeal of glee when Squid Lee Biscuit was briefly mentioned (if you haven't read Make Russia Great Again, make a note to do so!).
July 19, 2022
Having been reading some heavier material of late, so I decided that some satire from Christo Buckley would be a nice break. The question is whether Has Anyone Seen My Toes? Is absurd or it simply reflects the absurdity of our times? Sadly, I think it is mostly the later.
If you are looking for a comedic send-up of the hard to satirize world of politics in the age of Trump during a pandemic, you will enjoy this novel. The funniest parts to me were the way the main character just suddenly shifts from seeming normal person into bizarre conspiracy theories and beliefs, this captures the feel of life today, and his obsessive need to learn and relate etymological factoids was also quite funny. I enjoyed the absurd screenplay dialog aspects less. It sort of took me out of the story and it wasn't my kind of humor. If you are interested in screenwriting and entertainment I think you will enjoy it more.
All in all a silly romp with not much of a plot but lots of humor. You have to laugh or you will cry, right?
If you are looking for a comedic send-up of the hard to satirize world of politics in the age of Trump during a pandemic, you will enjoy this novel. The funniest parts to me were the way the main character just suddenly shifts from seeming normal person into bizarre conspiracy theories and beliefs, this captures the feel of life today, and his obsessive need to learn and relate etymological factoids was also quite funny. I enjoyed the absurd screenplay dialog aspects less. It sort of took me out of the story and it wasn't my kind of humor. If you are interested in screenwriting and entertainment I think you will enjoy it more.
All in all a silly romp with not much of a plot but lots of humor. You have to laugh or you will cry, right?
September 6, 2022
Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for gifting me a digital ARC of the latest novel by Christopher Buckley - 3 stars!
During the COVID pandemic, a screenwriter is living in a coastal SC town with his second wife, Peaches. He's overweight because he can't stop driving through the fast-food chain, Hippo King. His concierge doctor gives him speed to help with his appetite, although it doesn't work. He's writing a new screenplay about a Nazi plot to kidnap FDR. He becomes obsessed with a local election for coroner and begins imagining both candidates have nefarious activities. Then a psychiatrist thinks he may have dementia. It's all too much for him.
It was all a bit too much for me as well. I really liked some of the humorous/satirical portions but I lost interest in the screenplay he was trying to write and found myself skimming those portions. The humor got overshadowed by the rambling stream of consciousness thoughts.
During the COVID pandemic, a screenwriter is living in a coastal SC town with his second wife, Peaches. He's overweight because he can't stop driving through the fast-food chain, Hippo King. His concierge doctor gives him speed to help with his appetite, although it doesn't work. He's writing a new screenplay about a Nazi plot to kidnap FDR. He becomes obsessed with a local election for coroner and begins imagining both candidates have nefarious activities. Then a psychiatrist thinks he may have dementia. It's all too much for him.
It was all a bit too much for me as well. I really liked some of the humorous/satirical portions but I lost interest in the screenplay he was trying to write and found myself skimming those portions. The humor got overshadowed by the rambling stream of consciousness thoughts.
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