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Winkie
In Cliff Chase's scathingly funny and surprisingly humane debut novel, the zeitgeist assumes the form of a one-foot-tall ursine Everyman — a mild-mannered teddy bear named Winkie who finds himself on the wrong side of America's war on terror. After suffering decades of neglect from the children who've forgotten him, Winkie summons the courage to take charge of his fate, so he hops off the shelf, jumps out the window, and takes to the forest. But just as he is discovering the joys and wonders of mobility, Winkie gets trapped in the jaws of a society gone rabid with fear and paranoia. Having come upon the cabin of the mad professor who stole his beloved, Winkie is suddenly surrounded by the FBI, who instantly conclude that he is the evil mastermind behind dozens of terrorist attacks that have been traced to the forest. Terrified and confused, Winkie is brought to trial, where the prosecution attempts to seal the little bear's fate by interviewing witnesses from the trials of Galileo, Socrates, John Scopes, and Oscar Wilde.
Emotionally gripping and intellectually compelling, Winkie exposes the absurdities of our age and explores what it means to be human in an increasingly barbaric world.
Emotionally gripping and intellectually compelling, Winkie exposes the absurdities of our age and explores what it means to be human in an increasingly barbaric world.
236 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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763 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 340 reviews
June 16, 2010
It sounded so interesting, but I just couldn't bear to finish it. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
...
Sigh.
...
Sigh.
July 24, 2007
I dunno, dude.
Bear comes alive, gets mistaken for terrorist. Sounds vaguely interesting. Unfortunately, the writing is so dry, it really isn't.
Besides, the entire thing reads like an inside joke you're not allowed in on -- allusions to Foucault, Lacan, Whitman, famous trials like Scopes and Salem, etc. Plus the bear learns to poop and gives birth to a child that later disappears by sheer self-determinism. Author makes a cameo appearance as a kid who shits in his pants until he stops playing with the bear.
I liked the gender-bending stuff. American society gets a scathing treatment, which I found funny... when I had the patience to read it.
I have a feeling I would've liked this book if I'd understood it as a satire-slash-vehicle-for-theory-slash-philosophical-treatise. But no, I thought it was supposed to be a novel. I guess structurally-wise, it was a novel. But it left me sadly unsatisfied. I gave up around 200 pages, and I absolutely hate that.
Either I really needed SparkNotes for this book, or it just... wasn't for me. Seems like the author had fun writing, though.
Bear comes alive, gets mistaken for terrorist. Sounds vaguely interesting. Unfortunately, the writing is so dry, it really isn't.
Besides, the entire thing reads like an inside joke you're not allowed in on -- allusions to Foucault, Lacan, Whitman, famous trials like Scopes and Salem, etc. Plus the bear learns to poop and gives birth to a child that later disappears by sheer self-determinism. Author makes a cameo appearance as a kid who shits in his pants until he stops playing with the bear.
I liked the gender-bending stuff. American society gets a scathing treatment, which I found funny... when I had the patience to read it.
I have a feeling I would've liked this book if I'd understood it as a satire-slash-vehicle-for-theory-slash-philosophical-treatise. But no, I thought it was supposed to be a novel. I guess structurally-wise, it was a novel. But it left me sadly unsatisfied. I gave up around 200 pages, and I absolutely hate that.
Either I really needed SparkNotes for this book, or it just... wasn't for me. Seems like the author had fun writing, though.
March 17, 2008
I adore this book. A unique anthropomorphic tale of a teddy bear who decided to take his life in his own paws. He is loved and neglected and the neglect drives him to jump on the lonely shelf he was placed on for several years. He wishes for freedom, food and to learn how to poo-poo.
There is some philosophy but the book is not heavily laden with philosophical ramblings as some of the previous reviewers have spoke about. It makes you think just a teeny tiny bit and if that's too much from a book it's best not to read this. It's fictional story. Keep that in mind.
The forensic photography and sketches add a humorous touch to the book. It is a satire of the time we live in and the talk of terrorists. I won't get too into the politics of the Winkie trial but it proves that even in a fictional book about a stuffed animal we (society and even humanity) love witch hunts. We love that kind of stuff. Think of it, Osama Bin Laden and stuffed teddy bears trying to destroy our way of life.
I enjoyed baby Winkie's writing and the memories that flooded back from childhood about my stuffed animal friends having feelings and souls.
There is some philosophy but the book is not heavily laden with philosophical ramblings as some of the previous reviewers have spoke about. It makes you think just a teeny tiny bit and if that's too much from a book it's best not to read this. It's fictional story. Keep that in mind.
The forensic photography and sketches add a humorous touch to the book. It is a satire of the time we live in and the talk of terrorists. I won't get too into the politics of the Winkie trial but it proves that even in a fictional book about a stuffed animal we (society and even humanity) love witch hunts. We love that kind of stuff. Think of it, Osama Bin Laden and stuffed teddy bears trying to destroy our way of life.
I enjoyed baby Winkie's writing and the memories that flooded back from childhood about my stuffed animal friends having feelings and souls.
December 3, 2007
It's the story of a teddy bear that is passed down from a mother through her five children, and then left neglected on a shelf. Finally the bear's consciousness begets movement and Winkie escapes. He goes to live in the forest and bears a child, a mini-me called Baby Winkie. This idyll is interupted when a mad man of the forest, a Unabomber type whose bombs never explode, becomes obsessed with Baby Winkie and bear-naps her. She escapes from captivity by winking herself out of existence; the man dies, and Winkie is bereft. Then the authorities descend and decide that Winkie must be the mad bomber, some kind of deformed terrorist.
Most of the attention the book has received has focused on this satiric aspect, and the capture, imprisonment, and trial of Winkie is a mildly amusing way to spotlight the terrorist hysteria of our times. Winkie winds up accused of a laundry list of crimes from treason to sodomy to positing that the Earth revolves around the sun. In fact, the trial of Winkie encompasses the trial of Oscar Wilde, the Scopes Monkey trial, the Salem witch trials, etc. (I find it odd that Winkie isn't charged with any racially-tinged crimes; there's no satire of lynching here, and given the disgusting racism attributed to Winkie's human family, that seems remiss).
But this is just one aspect of the book. I think it's more about the bear's quest for autonomy, desire for love, and exile from paradise. And that part of the book doesn't mesh well with the satire; Chase's prose if often as not overwrought when something starker would be more appropriate -- cursive when it should be print. Emotion doesn't require curliques.
Most of the attention the book has received has focused on this satiric aspect, and the capture, imprisonment, and trial of Winkie is a mildly amusing way to spotlight the terrorist hysteria of our times. Winkie winds up accused of a laundry list of crimes from treason to sodomy to positing that the Earth revolves around the sun. In fact, the trial of Winkie encompasses the trial of Oscar Wilde, the Scopes Monkey trial, the Salem witch trials, etc. (I find it odd that Winkie isn't charged with any racially-tinged crimes; there's no satire of lynching here, and given the disgusting racism attributed to Winkie's human family, that seems remiss).
But this is just one aspect of the book. I think it's more about the bear's quest for autonomy, desire for love, and exile from paradise. And that part of the book doesn't mesh well with the satire; Chase's prose if often as not overwrought when something starker would be more appropriate -- cursive when it should be print. Emotion doesn't require curliques.
December 23, 2008
Winkie
By Clifford Chase
236 pp. Canada
Williamson Music. $12.00
ISBN-10: 0802118305
ISBN-13: 978-0802118301
Did you ever wonder “What’s the purpose of your life or why did you like this?” In the book “Winkie” it’s about a teddy bear named Winkie and it’s about a journey that he took to find who he is and where he comes from but there’s one problem. The police/army put him on arrest while he had done nothing wrong. Soon they decided to send him jail until they gain more information. While he was there, he began questioning himself why he lived liked this and why were people treated him like this . Later he still manage to find hope along with his new friends. Until then he has fighting for his freedom and wanted things to change.
A decade ago Winkie use to be a toy to be played with, for a child. As time passed by, the child was growing to old for him and soon she left and neglected him. Later on he decided to take some action by jumping off a window and going off to the forest to start his journey.
What makes Winkie so special is that he can walk and it has minds of it’s own . Winkie is very kind and has no confidence to speak for its own and people always mistreat him as if he was a monster. One of his friend named Francoise is able to understand and care for him since she asked on Winkie behalf and knew how she felt to be judged. Then there his friend, lawyer whos trying to help him win Winkie’s trials. As he was brought to his last one they try to end his fate by interviewing people that had connections with him. Now he has the decision to take control of his fate or not to, but in order to find out you have to read the book.
“Winkie” is my all time favorite, it was the first book that has all the pages filled with excitement so it would only make you want to read more. I recommend this book to children who are 12 or older because the language might not be suitable for younger children. Also if you adult’s, like to read about TEDDY BEARS to make you feel young and something that deals with crime or courtrooms/lawyers, must read this book.
The qualities that were great about this book was that Winkie’s point of view showed how cruel society can be and gave a message saying that as long as you don’t give up then you’ll able to succeed. Also what I really enjoyed is that he showed that we shouldn’t mistreat others including teddy bears.
By Clifford Chase
236 pp. Canada
Williamson Music. $12.00
ISBN-10: 0802118305
ISBN-13: 978-0802118301
Did you ever wonder “What’s the purpose of your life or why did you like this?” In the book “Winkie” it’s about a teddy bear named Winkie and it’s about a journey that he took to find who he is and where he comes from but there’s one problem. The police/army put him on arrest while he had done nothing wrong. Soon they decided to send him jail until they gain more information. While he was there, he began questioning himself why he lived liked this and why were people treated him like this . Later he still manage to find hope along with his new friends. Until then he has fighting for his freedom and wanted things to change.
A decade ago Winkie use to be a toy to be played with, for a child. As time passed by, the child was growing to old for him and soon she left and neglected him. Later on he decided to take some action by jumping off a window and going off to the forest to start his journey.
What makes Winkie so special is that he can walk and it has minds of it’s own . Winkie is very kind and has no confidence to speak for its own and people always mistreat him as if he was a monster. One of his friend named Francoise is able to understand and care for him since she asked on Winkie behalf and knew how she felt to be judged. Then there his friend, lawyer whos trying to help him win Winkie’s trials. As he was brought to his last one they try to end his fate by interviewing people that had connections with him. Now he has the decision to take control of his fate or not to, but in order to find out you have to read the book.
“Winkie” is my all time favorite, it was the first book that has all the pages filled with excitement so it would only make you want to read more. I recommend this book to children who are 12 or older because the language might not be suitable for younger children. Also if you adult’s, like to read about TEDDY BEARS to make you feel young and something that deals with crime or courtrooms/lawyers, must read this book.
The qualities that were great about this book was that Winkie’s point of view showed how cruel society can be and gave a message saying that as long as you don’t give up then you’ll able to succeed. Also what I really enjoyed is that he showed that we shouldn’t mistreat others including teddy bears.
February 17, 2013
Winkie is a very well-written and imaginative book that casts a loveable old teddy bear in the lead role.
If that sentence put an idea in your head about how this book will play out, dash it right now! You're wrong. I was wrong.
I imagined a tale of "Toy Story 3" proportions that would leave me in tears and hugging my old toys with fervoured nostalgia. Well, I got it partly right:
^ This is Brown Bear and he's a good bear.
But, the fact is, that this is a strange book and nothing like the story I thought it would be. That isn't a bad thing, but the way of this book might catch you off guard. It's cultured, but primal. It's nostalgic, but looks to the future. It's thought provoking, but unanswering. It's comforting, but also uncomfortable.
"...he felt as though he had waded into the very flood stream of life and paradox." (It's also very quotable !)
Also: poop. (Please don't ask...)
I think that my one nitpick with it (besides being caught off-guard and weird pacing at times) is that it very clearly has an agenda. Everything has a meaning in Winkie and it's all a social commentary of one thing or another. I think that's actually very interesting, clever, and smart! However, it's so transparent that I think it would have really benefited from a little subtlety. It's all a bit much after awhile and hiding it a bit deeper would have kept me from getting bombarded with it at every turn. That being said, the social commentary and satire is usually spot on (and sometimes hilarious) so I can't really complain.
So, if you're looking for an odd tale with something to say and an old teddy to say it, this is the book for you!
P.S. Go hug your old toys for goodness sake!
If that sentence put an idea in your head about how this book will play out, dash it right now! You're wrong. I was wrong.
I imagined a tale of "Toy Story 3" proportions that would leave me in tears and hugging my old toys with fervoured nostalgia. Well, I got it partly right:
^ This is Brown Bear and he's a good bear.
But, the fact is, that this is a strange book and nothing like the story I thought it would be. That isn't a bad thing, but the way of this book might catch you off guard. It's cultured, but primal. It's nostalgic, but looks to the future. It's thought provoking, but unanswering. It's comforting, but also uncomfortable.
"...he felt as though he had waded into the very flood stream of life and paradox." (It's also very quotable !)
Also: poop. (Please don't ask...)
I think that my one nitpick with it (besides being caught off-guard and weird pacing at times) is that it very clearly has an agenda. Everything has a meaning in Winkie and it's all a social commentary of one thing or another. I think that's actually very interesting, clever, and smart! However, it's so transparent that I think it would have really benefited from a little subtlety. It's all a bit much after awhile and hiding it a bit deeper would have kept me from getting bombarded with it at every turn. That being said, the social commentary and satire is usually spot on (and sometimes hilarious) so I can't really complain.
So, if you're looking for an odd tale with something to say and an old teddy to say it, this is the book for you!
P.S. Go hug your old toys for goodness sake!
December 9, 2008
Winkie is a well-loved teddy bear who gets tired of sitting on a shelf, waiting for yet another child to pick him up and love him. Tired of decades of tedium and sameness, he decides to make himself real. So he wills himself off the shelf, and out into the world. Once out in the real world, Winkie quickly finds himself on trial, accused of gross terroristic acts against humanity.
What is intended as biting social commentary on how terrorism is regarded in America today, instead comes off as petulant, immature, plodding and dull. The author, Clifford Chase, has almost all of the right ingredients to pull off a great satirical comedy: context, trivial facts, intellectual references, a sympathetic character in Winkie, and an interestingly absurd story line. But what Chase forgets, is that satire is supposed to be FUNNY, and should never take itself too seriously. Winkie starts out with great promise, and has moments of heartwarming humor, but gets so tangled up in itself that it looses the gentle, light-hearted spirit that it starts with. This books reads like a short-story that stretches on and on, until the end becomes so hard to see that you feel like you'll never get there.
What is intended as biting social commentary on how terrorism is regarded in America today, instead comes off as petulant, immature, plodding and dull. The author, Clifford Chase, has almost all of the right ingredients to pull off a great satirical comedy: context, trivial facts, intellectual references, a sympathetic character in Winkie, and an interestingly absurd story line. But what Chase forgets, is that satire is supposed to be FUNNY, and should never take itself too seriously. Winkie starts out with great promise, and has moments of heartwarming humor, but gets so tangled up in itself that it looses the gentle, light-hearted spirit that it starts with. This books reads like a short-story that stretches on and on, until the end becomes so hard to see that you feel like you'll never get there.
August 17, 2009
Here is a wonderful and unique imagination at work. Winkie is as scary as a nightmare and captivating as a child's game although a somewhat evil child.
August 18, 2024
O misiu, który został oskarżony, bo chciał kochać. A misie nie kochają. I dostał adwokata z urzędu, który nazywał się Niewygrał.
July 23, 2023
3.5✨️ Śmieszył mnie ten cały proces i ci ludzie traktujący Winkiego za najgorsze zło świata ("szatan-karzeł" is my favourite 😅)
I jak to dr. Seuss powiedział: "Lubię nonsens, budzi komórki mózgowe." 😋
I jak to dr. Seuss powiedział: "Lubię nonsens, budzi komórki mózgowe." 😋
July 19, 2022
OK so this is by far the weirdest book I’ve ever read. Granted, I really liked the idea of the story and think the premise was promising but the execution threw me completely astray because I went into it expecting something completely different than what I got. I liked the idea of a teddy bear being falsely convicted of terrorism as a way to reveal our misplaced paranoia and understood what the book was trying to, do but the use of effective satire got lost somewhere along the way. I would like to compare the experience of reading this book to one time in my childhood when I found a mysterious cup of liquid on the counter of my kitchen and took a sip, expecting the sweet and exciting sensation of juice upon my tongue but rather tasted the disappointing and rather revolting taste of lukewarm milk. Multiple times throughout this book i said “what” out loud due to honest and utter shock. I’m still recovering from whiplash because I actually don’t know what I just read. Maybe I am just missing something, but after reading other reviews I think I’m not alone in believing this book was really, really weird and not necessarily in a good way
June 16, 2012
Clifford Chase's Winkie is a weird, satirical, philosophical, thought-provoking and touching fantasy book about a sentient teddy bear called Winkie. Winkie is a nice and innocent teddy bear, who just happens to be in a wrong place at a wrong time and is arrested. Winkie is accused of terrorism and other things, because people believe that Winkie is responsible for several nasty things.
I think it's interesting that the author has written a book a sentient teddy bear. An innocent teddy bear is an unforgettable protagonist, because there aren't many adult books about living childhood toys (some people may probably think that Winkie is just like A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, but Winkie is different from Winnie-the-Pooh).
The author explores different topics from childhood memories to fear of terrorism. He even explores gender issues, because it isn't clear if Winkie is a male or a female teddy bear. It's great that the author writes about difficult and socially challenging topics, because it makes the book interesting.
Winkie is a weird and unique combination of farce, parody, drama and social satire. It's a bit similar to Franz Kafka's stories, but it's totally different from them. It also reminds me of David Sedaris' satirical books. I think that readers who like Franz Kafka and/or David Sedaris, will like Winkie very much.
I can highly recommend this book. In my opinion Winkie is a wonderfully satirical book – it's one of the best and most interesting books I've read this year (it's actually amazing that I hadn't read it before, because I like this kind of weird books very much). This book is definitely "something different" and that's why it can be recommended to readers who are tired of conventional fantasy books. (I think I should mention that depending on your taste in books and your sense of humour, you'll either like this book or not.)
I think it's interesting that the author has written a book a sentient teddy bear. An innocent teddy bear is an unforgettable protagonist, because there aren't many adult books about living childhood toys (some people may probably think that Winkie is just like A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, but Winkie is different from Winnie-the-Pooh).
The author explores different topics from childhood memories to fear of terrorism. He even explores gender issues, because it isn't clear if Winkie is a male or a female teddy bear. It's great that the author writes about difficult and socially challenging topics, because it makes the book interesting.
Winkie is a weird and unique combination of farce, parody, drama and social satire. It's a bit similar to Franz Kafka's stories, but it's totally different from them. It also reminds me of David Sedaris' satirical books. I think that readers who like Franz Kafka and/or David Sedaris, will like Winkie very much.
I can highly recommend this book. In my opinion Winkie is a wonderfully satirical book – it's one of the best and most interesting books I've read this year (it's actually amazing that I hadn't read it before, because I like this kind of weird books very much). This book is definitely "something different" and that's why it can be recommended to readers who are tired of conventional fantasy books. (I think I should mention that depending on your taste in books and your sense of humour, you'll either like this book or not.)
March 8, 2010
This story was really two books in one. The first was the beautiful and moving story of a teddy bear who wills himself to life and wanders the world enjoying all of life's most basic and wonderful experiences. The descriptions are wonderfully rendered through the eyes of innocence and the bear's grasp of the beauty of life is spellbinding.
The second story line is a satirical look at the judicial system as a whole and the war on terror specifically. It is dripping with sarcasm and almost over the top at times, but maintains its humor and point.
The problem is that these two great story lines never meet in a gentle way, but instead jar against one another in a grating manner. I would have enjoyed either story with out the other, but trying to reconcile each against the other made the novel as a whole worth less than its parts.
The second story line is a satirical look at the judicial system as a whole and the war on terror specifically. It is dripping with sarcasm and almost over the top at times, but maintains its humor and point.
The problem is that these two great story lines never meet in a gentle way, but instead jar against one another in a grating manner. I would have enjoyed either story with out the other, but trying to reconcile each against the other made the novel as a whole worth less than its parts.
January 17, 2019
OMG, this was phenomenal. The premise was so bizarre, yet once I got into the story it became absolutely plausible. This novel is heartfelt, quirky, and if you like magical realism, you will love this. It's not what you'll expect, if you read the synopsis. It is indescribable. It is unlike any book I've ever read. If I say anything more, I will give it away. Just read it. Fresh idea, fresh voice, fresh premise, and it will leave you very satisfied and possibly restore a little glimmer of your long-lost childhood wonder.
December 28, 2019
I found this book in a charity shop and after reading the back thought it was either going to be really good or really bad. I decided to try it and I have to say I think it is both. It is unique and I couldn't stop reading it because it was so strange. I laughed at how ridiculous it was, it was so bad I needed to see how it went. Not in a boring way but a "where on earth is this going" kind of way.
I am not sure if there were deep meanings behind what was going on (if there was I missed them). I am glad I read it and it will definitely be a book I will remember 😂
I am not sure if there were deep meanings behind what was going on (if there was I missed them). I am glad I read it and it will definitely be a book I will remember 😂
June 9, 2016
Straight up dumb!
February 12, 2023
I found this book by chance at a thrift store, and the brief summary inside made me too curious to resist.
This book subverted all of my expectations, down to the very last page. Every time I expected something to go a certain way, the story turned and I was surprised again.
The book is a wild ride. It also feels I may have to read this again to really absorb the complete message. There are probably a lot of details I didn't pick up on at my first read.
I think in concept alone, this book is one that will stick with me. I can honestly say I've never read anything like it before.
This book subverted all of my expectations, down to the very last page. Every time I expected something to go a certain way, the story turned and I was surprised again.
The book is a wild ride. It also feels I may have to read this again to really absorb the complete message. There are probably a lot of details I didn't pick up on at my first read.
I think in concept alone, this book is one that will stick with me. I can honestly say I've never read anything like it before.
March 29, 2025
both soothing and alarming in its absurdity. also a little tiresome, but just compelling enough to get through.
this would make a great movie i think
this would make a great movie i think
January 1, 2015
After suffering decades of neglect from the children who have forgotten him, Winkie summons the courage to take charge of his fate, and so he hops off the shelf, jumps out the window, and takes to the forest. But just as he is discovering the joys and wonders of mobility, Winkie gets trapped in the jaws of a society gone rabid with fear and paranoia. He (yes, he) gives birth to a cub, only to see the newborn captured by a bomb-building woodsman Unabomber. Winkie arrives at the hermit's cabin to save the cub, but the terrorist, who is surrounded with explosive devices and plans for attacks, has died of a heart attack. The clueless feds arrive and mistake Winkie for a dangerous, transgender teddy terrorist. Following are 9,678 counts of murder, sedition and filthy sexual activity.
This all sounds much more interesting and entertaining when summarized than it actually is when read. At the end of the day, Winkie amounts to a lot of empty promises and a frustrating lack of execution.
There are two narratives at play here: 1) a series of flashbacks that recount three significant memories in Winkie's life, and 2) the story that frames these reminiscences: Winkie's capture and subsequent trial at the hands of the hysterical American justice system.
Winkie is a teddy bear who has—through means that are never truly explained (divine intervention, manifest destiny, you decide)—developed the abilities to move and think and feel. At the beginning of the book he is living in a cabin in the woods, lonely and bereaved over the loss of his child. All of a sudden he is arrested by a small army of law enforcement agents for reasons he can't really understand and walked through a Kafka-esque nightmare of American jurisprudence.
The real beating heart of this book, though, is in the three vivid memories he re-lives throughout the story. Trapped and knowing his time may be over, Winkie goes over his life, trying to figure how he might have done things differently. He remembers his first owner and his last owner, and the days each of them stopped loving him.
While marginally affecting, and delivered with great sensitivity, these memories are cloying and emotional manipulative. They're also chock-full of lines like, "If only Cliff loved him like before, with the old fervor, Winkie could be happy being a toy forever."
In the third reminiscence, Winkie relives the discovery of his ability to move. The product of extreme isolation and boredom, Winkie's literal shelf-life makes Jean-Paul Sartre look like Liam fucking Gallagher. But this makes him a new being, a strangeness that isn't understood by the rest of the world, a man/woman (no one seems to know, not even Winkie) with his own cub and a life of his own making, a life that the human world is unwilling to leave alone.
But as smart and moving as these memories can be, the frame story undermines the whole thing with a ceaseless barrage of trivial, hyperbolic attempts at satire. Suspected of violations of the Homeland Security Act, Winkie suddenly finds himself in court, accused of every significant crime in Western history, including consorting with witches, the sexual quirks of Oscar Wilde, and even the transgressions of Socrates as related by Plato.
I understand the premise. Winkie is utterly powerless and is being trampled upon by a faceless, monolithic authority for no other reason than the fact that he is different. It's meant to satirize America's panic over terrorism post-9/11 and humanity's need to place blame on the likeliest of people: those we don't understand.
I get it. But this is, essentially, the sole point of the novel. Clifford Chase's satire strikes only this one obvious note, and he didn't need to take 256 pages to say it. A lesson in economy this book is not. Chase did with a novel what some people can do with a fortune cookie.
Some of it is excellent, but most of it is awful, and the sum total of Winkie ends up being a motley collection in which the good and the bad are bound together in a way that is memorable, yet wholly unsatisfying. A plot this bizarre needs to be handled with utmost skill in order to just break even, but Chase's inability to realize his insane story's potential makes the concept sound more like a homeless man's fever dream than the premise of a legit novel.
It's books like Winkie that make me wish that novels were occasionally re-written by more talented authors in the way movies (sometimes) are. Winkie has a good book inside it somewhere, but Clifford Chase has neither the subtlety nor knack for storytelling needed to pull it off. It's not an easy feat, granted, but Chase fails. Hard.
This all sounds much more interesting and entertaining when summarized than it actually is when read. At the end of the day, Winkie amounts to a lot of empty promises and a frustrating lack of execution.
There are two narratives at play here: 1) a series of flashbacks that recount three significant memories in Winkie's life, and 2) the story that frames these reminiscences: Winkie's capture and subsequent trial at the hands of the hysterical American justice system.
Winkie is a teddy bear who has—through means that are never truly explained (divine intervention, manifest destiny, you decide)—developed the abilities to move and think and feel. At the beginning of the book he is living in a cabin in the woods, lonely and bereaved over the loss of his child. All of a sudden he is arrested by a small army of law enforcement agents for reasons he can't really understand and walked through a Kafka-esque nightmare of American jurisprudence.
The real beating heart of this book, though, is in the three vivid memories he re-lives throughout the story. Trapped and knowing his time may be over, Winkie goes over his life, trying to figure how he might have done things differently. He remembers his first owner and his last owner, and the days each of them stopped loving him.
While marginally affecting, and delivered with great sensitivity, these memories are cloying and emotional manipulative. They're also chock-full of lines like, "If only Cliff loved him like before, with the old fervor, Winkie could be happy being a toy forever."
In the third reminiscence, Winkie relives the discovery of his ability to move. The product of extreme isolation and boredom, Winkie's literal shelf-life makes Jean-Paul Sartre look like Liam fucking Gallagher. But this makes him a new being, a strangeness that isn't understood by the rest of the world, a man/woman (no one seems to know, not even Winkie) with his own cub and a life of his own making, a life that the human world is unwilling to leave alone.
But as smart and moving as these memories can be, the frame story undermines the whole thing with a ceaseless barrage of trivial, hyperbolic attempts at satire. Suspected of violations of the Homeland Security Act, Winkie suddenly finds himself in court, accused of every significant crime in Western history, including consorting with witches, the sexual quirks of Oscar Wilde, and even the transgressions of Socrates as related by Plato.
I understand the premise. Winkie is utterly powerless and is being trampled upon by a faceless, monolithic authority for no other reason than the fact that he is different. It's meant to satirize America's panic over terrorism post-9/11 and humanity's need to place blame on the likeliest of people: those we don't understand.
I get it. But this is, essentially, the sole point of the novel. Clifford Chase's satire strikes only this one obvious note, and he didn't need to take 256 pages to say it. A lesson in economy this book is not. Chase did with a novel what some people can do with a fortune cookie.
Some of it is excellent, but most of it is awful, and the sum total of Winkie ends up being a motley collection in which the good and the bad are bound together in a way that is memorable, yet wholly unsatisfying. A plot this bizarre needs to be handled with utmost skill in order to just break even, but Chase's inability to realize his insane story's potential makes the concept sound more like a homeless man's fever dream than the premise of a legit novel.
It's books like Winkie that make me wish that novels were occasionally re-written by more talented authors in the way movies (sometimes) are. Winkie has a good book inside it somewhere, but Clifford Chase has neither the subtlety nor knack for storytelling needed to pull it off. It's not an easy feat, granted, but Chase fails. Hard.
October 29, 2008
I was enjoying this book quite a bit at first. And then I began to get bored with it. And then it picked up again. And then I had to wonder what the fucking point was. Who the fuck cares?
Winkie is a book that I had been following the reviews of for a while. I was anxious to read it. Eager. It's gotten good reviews. And I don't want to say that the good reviews are unfounded because the book is good. But there is a disconnect in tone throughout the book that, in my opinion, drags the whole proceedings down.
The book is about a teddy bear who feels unloved and abandoned by his owners, wills himself to life, and inadvertently becomes the key suspect in a terrorist bombing plot. The notion that the government believes, even for a minute, that a teddy bear could be responsible for terrorist attacks is an amusing one, but it isn't enough to hang an entire novel on.
Winkie finds himself in court, forced to defend himself against crimes he did not commit. The trial that ensues ends up encompassing the trials of a whole slew of famous people who never actually did anything wrong (Oscar Wilde, Copernicus, etc.) and this section of the book is delightful. It works really well. But the section of the book where Winkie is out in the wild, fending for himself, caring for his own bear cub child really slows the book down. And not because it's unbelievable (one tends to suspend their disbelief from the get-go), but because it's too well-written. This whole section of the book is written in a poetic prose style with lots of big words and gorgeous imagery that ceases to work when you realize at various sections of the work that Winkie cannot actually talk. How can an inarticulate bear be so articulate?
If Chase could have kept the amusing tone he keeps throughout the arrest and the trial, then the "moving" bear-as-human sections would have worked better. As it stands, there is a disparity between the novel Chase thinks he's writing and the novel he's actually written. Which is too bad, because Chase is equally good at both the absurd and the moving. It's unfortunate that he has no inkling of an idea how to meld the two.
Winkie is a book that I had been following the reviews of for a while. I was anxious to read it. Eager. It's gotten good reviews. And I don't want to say that the good reviews are unfounded because the book is good. But there is a disconnect in tone throughout the book that, in my opinion, drags the whole proceedings down.
The book is about a teddy bear who feels unloved and abandoned by his owners, wills himself to life, and inadvertently becomes the key suspect in a terrorist bombing plot. The notion that the government believes, even for a minute, that a teddy bear could be responsible for terrorist attacks is an amusing one, but it isn't enough to hang an entire novel on.
Winkie finds himself in court, forced to defend himself against crimes he did not commit. The trial that ensues ends up encompassing the trials of a whole slew of famous people who never actually did anything wrong (Oscar Wilde, Copernicus, etc.) and this section of the book is delightful. It works really well. But the section of the book where Winkie is out in the wild, fending for himself, caring for his own bear cub child really slows the book down. And not because it's unbelievable (one tends to suspend their disbelief from the get-go), but because it's too well-written. This whole section of the book is written in a poetic prose style with lots of big words and gorgeous imagery that ceases to work when you realize at various sections of the work that Winkie cannot actually talk. How can an inarticulate bear be so articulate?
If Chase could have kept the amusing tone he keeps throughout the arrest and the trial, then the "moving" bear-as-human sections would have worked better. As it stands, there is a disparity between the novel Chase thinks he's writing and the novel he's actually written. Which is too bad, because Chase is equally good at both the absurd and the moving. It's unfortunate that he has no inkling of an idea how to meld the two.
August 7, 2020
The summary is overly generous. "Scathingly funny": Not even close. More like "Nails-on-a-blackboard irritating". This part is true: "trapped in the jaws of a society gone rabid with fear and paranoia." The only piece I wrote down from this book was when the prosecutor was interviewing an army general on the witness stand:
"...they are nothing less than an army of super-combatants, trained to maim and kill." The general revealed his next chart. "And created, we believe, by a scientific process we don't yet understand, but which might well involve the use of stolen children, combined with DNA from a local animal, such as a snake or rodent or, just as likely, a drug-resistant micro-organism, such as smallpox or anthrax."
So, this is a fine statement on the way things are quickly becoming, with all reason going out the window when the media gets hold of the next big threat. Take swine flu, for example. Swine flu is no worse than the regular flu, which kills immuno-compromised people each year. However, there was a HUGE media campaign to the point of hysteria about it. Totally uncalled for.
While I appreciate the author's over-the-top examples of societal maladies, they were a bit tooooo over-the-top for me. I wanted to slap silly the defense attorney, then shake him by the shoulders until his head rolled off onto the floor. I wanted to put the prosecutor through a tree shredder. I wanted to take the judge and ram that gavel right up his robed rectum.
In short, I hated everyone. Winkie was okay, but let's face it: he's a teddy bear. Who can hate a teddy bear?
I am glad this one is over and I plan to never read another by this author.
"...they are nothing less than an army of super-combatants, trained to maim and kill." The general revealed his next chart. "And created, we believe, by a scientific process we don't yet understand, but which might well involve the use of stolen children, combined with DNA from a local animal, such as a snake or rodent or, just as likely, a drug-resistant micro-organism, such as smallpox or anthrax."
So, this is a fine statement on the way things are quickly becoming, with all reason going out the window when the media gets hold of the next big threat. Take swine flu, for example. Swine flu is no worse than the regular flu, which kills immuno-compromised people each year. However, there was a HUGE media campaign to the point of hysteria about it. Totally uncalled for.
While I appreciate the author's over-the-top examples of societal maladies, they were a bit tooooo over-the-top for me. I wanted to slap silly the defense attorney, then shake him by the shoulders until his head rolled off onto the floor. I wanted to put the prosecutor through a tree shredder. I wanted to take the judge and ram that gavel right up his robed rectum.
In short, I hated everyone. Winkie was okay, but let's face it: he's a teddy bear. Who can hate a teddy bear?
I am glad this one is over and I plan to never read another by this author.
June 12, 2010
This book took me forever to get through. Because... well, it's not actually that good. It starts out well, with some nice magical realism and a touch of the absurd which I usually love, but soon it gets out of control with the absurd and the author sort of... lost me. It's pretty clear at first that the story is a big honking metaphor and aspires to be an intelligent sort of satire, but it loses its point halfway through by being so painfully weird and oddly masturbatory (shameless self-insert of the author tends to do that) and becomes so convoluted it seems to lose any meaning it might have had (and it drowns in its own attempts at desperately wanting to come across as well-educated... copying excerpts from Oscar Wilde's trial, word for word, into Winkie's trial? Really now?) I think I get where he was going with it, but at times I really just wanted to beat it with a shovel. Finishing it was, especially for a relatively short novel, hard fucking work.
November 24, 2023
6/10
Winkie’s story is so full, which allows for there to be conflicting levels of emotional tone and quality. I can see why many reviews of this book use the word “ambitious” to describe its nature. I personally wish it had been less so, and more focused. The narrative whiplash is my main gripe with the story, alongside the overly harsh treatment of the protagonist, beyond the conveyed point of disadvantage to the accused.
With all of that said, the tender moments and the intense moments had me very invested, and it was philosophically rewarding to read even though the book in its whole form was lacking focus.
Winkie’s story is so full, which allows for there to be conflicting levels of emotional tone and quality. I can see why many reviews of this book use the word “ambitious” to describe its nature. I personally wish it had been less so, and more focused. The narrative whiplash is my main gripe with the story, alongside the overly harsh treatment of the protagonist, beyond the conveyed point of disadvantage to the accused.
With all of that said, the tender moments and the intense moments had me very invested, and it was philosophically rewarding to read even though the book in its whole form was lacking focus.
April 14, 2008
So it's been a long time ago that I read this...I will attempt to remember what I thought: very weird, very surreal, and well written. Lots of social commentary, maybe too much time spent on the trial portion of the book. The subplot of Winkie and his/her child was heartbreaking. Overall I liked it and would recommend it to others.
June 1, 2008
A story about a teddy bear who comes to life and is accused of terrorism. Sounds completely insane right? But it wasn't, it somehow made sense, it was funny, touching, tragic and a great look at the insanity of modern life and the so called 'War on Terror'
April 27, 2010
A bizarre little novel that I quite enjoyed.
July 19, 2014
Tüylerim diken diken oldu.
May 23, 2016
Meh. Three stars is maybe being generous. Interesting premise. But felt like 3 different stories meshed together somewhat poorly.
August 3, 2019
Dit boek begon erg leuk en ik zat er helemaal in, maar toen werd het volkomen onbegrijpelijk en ingewikkeld.
June 9, 2025
At first I was shocked by these negative reviews, but then I realized that of course a novel as bold as this would be divisive… This is smart, funny, inventive, poignant, so soft and so hard all at once. The writing could somehow be dreamy and nostalgic, then quickly become hard-hitting with its wit. Its satirical knife is sharp enough that the cuts it makes are surgically precise, yet the tone of the novel somehow remains sensitive. It’s wise in its depictions of grief, loss, the passing of time, prejudice, societal mania, and identity — all while being laugh-out-loud funny at times.
I suspect that some readers are struggling with fully giving themselves over to the concept of this story. With books like this, I think you have to fully give into their world. You have to accept that a teddy bear is going to learn how to poop, and that its daughter (also a teddy bear) who was magically conceived/birthed is going to be a self-taught genius capable of saintly powers. Once you give into the magical realism afoot, which I did from Page One because that’s the entire point of the novel(!), it’s an ingeniously clever ride that manages to deliver great reflections on life, self, and society when the humor/satire is giving you a break.
Overall, this is absolutely one of a kind. Chase knew exactly what he was doing and he sure did it. And the photographs included were utterly spellbinding… I stared at each of them for long periods of time and often flipped back to them, even when it was just photographs of the houses. They added such a physical presence to this book. They’re beautiful and vaguely haunting too. What a phenomenal concept executed wonderfully.
I suspect that some readers are struggling with fully giving themselves over to the concept of this story. With books like this, I think you have to fully give into their world. You have to accept that a teddy bear is going to learn how to poop, and that its daughter (also a teddy bear) who was magically conceived/birthed is going to be a self-taught genius capable of saintly powers. Once you give into the magical realism afoot, which I did from Page One because that’s the entire point of the novel(!), it’s an ingeniously clever ride that manages to deliver great reflections on life, self, and society when the humor/satire is giving you a break.
Overall, this is absolutely one of a kind. Chase knew exactly what he was doing and he sure did it. And the photographs included were utterly spellbinding… I stared at each of them for long periods of time and often flipped back to them, even when it was just photographs of the houses. They added such a physical presence to this book. They’re beautiful and vaguely haunting too. What a phenomenal concept executed wonderfully.
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