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Frank Burly #3
The Exploding Detective
One of a series of comedy science fiction novels featuring slow-witted detective Frank Burly. By John Swartzwelder, the author of "The Time Machine Did It", "Double Wonderful", "How I Conquered Your Planet", and 59 episodes of The Simpsons.
148 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 2007
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About the author
John Swartzwelder
18 books307 followersJohn Joseph Swartzwelder Jr. is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons. Born in Seattle, Washington, Swartzwelder began his career working in advertising. He was later hired to work on comedy series Saturday Night Live in the mid-1980s as a writer. He later contributed to fellow writer George Meyer's short-lived Army Man magazine, which led him to join the original writing team of The Simpsons, beginning in 1989.
He worked on The Simpsons as a writer and producer until 2003, and later contributed to The Simpsons Movie. He wrote the largest number of Simpsons episodes (59 full episodes, with contributions to several others) by a large margin. After his retirement from the show, he began a career as a writer of self-published absurdist novels. He has written more than a dozen novels, the most recent of which, The Spy with No Pants, was published in December 2020.
Swartzwelder is revered among comedy fans and his colleagues. He is known for his reclusiveness, and gave his first-ever interview in 2021, in The New Yorker. Per Mike Sacks, "Swartzwelder’s specialty on The Simpsons was conjuring dark characters from a strange, old America: banjo-playing hobos, cigarette-smoking ventriloquist dummies, nineteenth-century baseball players, rat-tailed carnival children, and pantsless, singing old-timers."
He worked on The Simpsons as a writer and producer until 2003, and later contributed to The Simpsons Movie. He wrote the largest number of Simpsons episodes (59 full episodes, with contributions to several others) by a large margin. After his retirement from the show, he began a career as a writer of self-published absurdist novels. He has written more than a dozen novels, the most recent of which, The Spy with No Pants, was published in December 2020.
Swartzwelder is revered among comedy fans and his colleagues. He is known for his reclusiveness, and gave his first-ever interview in 2021, in The New Yorker. Per Mike Sacks, "Swartzwelder’s specialty on The Simpsons was conjuring dark characters from a strange, old America: banjo-playing hobos, cigarette-smoking ventriloquist dummies, nineteenth-century baseball players, rat-tailed carnival children, and pantsless, singing old-timers."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
February 29, 2012
John Swartzwelder, notoriously reclusive Simpsons scribe, is known for penning some of that show's funniest and most culturally pointed episodes. He is capable of being absurd without succumbing to plot-driven idiocy and able to nestle high-brow-rising humor next to the goofiest of puns without skipping a beat. Few of the show's current writers can boast his kind of output, whether you're measuring it by episode or by how many gags he can fit into any given minute.
His books (four so far) don't try to follow coherency as much as his work on The Simpsons. Instead, he uses the medium as a forum for his stream-of-consciousness wise-cracking. Mass by volume, these slim tomes have the same silly density as his episodes, even if they sprawl ten times as much. For the most part, Swartzwelder sticks to the same basic formula that made his shows a success: a fat and idiotic central character gets into all manner of monkey-shines and comes out mostly unchanged. Instead of Homer, though, our main man is called Frank Burly.
THE TIME MACHINE DID IT
Frank Burly introduces us to his unlikely career as a private eye. Although his primary talents are screwing things up and getting beaten on a regular basis, he ends up with a fairly important case. A bum claims that he used to be a millionaire, but criminals with a time machine retroactively stole his wealth. Burly's in over his head (heck, this guy gets in over his head just trying to tie his shoes), but that doesn't stop him from barreling headfirst into the mystery and subsequently making it messier and harder to solve. Quickly written, hastily plotted, and genuinely funny, this is one of the few books I've ever read that's gotten me to laugh out-loud, and on a regular basis. 5 Stars. FAVORITE LINE: Frank Burly, on his imprisonment and torture by the criminals -- "I held up under all this pretty well. I was sleeping like a baby -- waking up every three hours screaming and crapping my pants."
DOUBLE WONDERFUL
Swartzwelder makes a mistake. Instead of one central character with the brains of a dusty cactus, he creates an entire town of them. The citizens of the Wild West town of Slackjaw are having economic troubles. Part of their problem is that the "wild" in their western town is missing; it's a pretty boring place, plus it exists in the shadows of the world-renowned Double Wonderful ranch, run by a wealthy couple who are so perfect, God owes them favors. They try desperately to bring fame and/or notoriety to their little corner of the world, but most of their ideas are pretty lame (encourage bandits to rob them, hang the mayor, etc.). They eventually get their wish, and it's mildly amusing, but the scattered scope of the story's lunacy and its slap-dash conclusion are pretty harried. You won't laugh as much as you'll roll your eyes. Not bad; not great. Notable mainly because the story's central theme (the horrifying price of fame) gives you some real clues as to why Mr. Swartzwelder himself so adamantly chooses to stay out of the spotlight. 3 Stars. MOST SELF-REFERENTIAL LINE: "...Buntline said that short books were the best selling kind ... That's what the reading public wanted in a book these days, he said. They wanted to get as close as possible to not reading at all."
HOW I CONQUERED YOUR PLANET
Swartzwelder, catching on, brings Frank Burly back to the fore. He's still a private detective, he's still pretty bad at it, and he's still stumbling backwards into strange cases (and sometimes plate glass windows). This time the case may have something to do with Martians. Or maybe it's Neptunians. They're both very similar, as far as aliens look, although it's harder to pronounce the word "Neptunians." While going about his daily routine of getting in the way of things, Frank ends up alienating (nyuk, nyuk) all sorts of planetary species. And, of course, he conquers your planet. Not as consistent as "Time Machine," but much sharper than "Double Wonderful." 4 Stars. FAVORITE LINE: Frank Burly, on his new alien secretary -- "...I discovered that I had hired a surprisingly dedicated secretary, who listened in on my phone calls, patted down my visitors, looked through my desk for me each morning before I got in, even appeared in my dreams taking notes."
THE EXPLODING DETECTIVE
Frank Burly's back, this time augmenting his act with a mostly-malfunctioning jetpack. His inability to steer is overshadowed, however, by his ability to withstand multiple explosive collisions, and he becomes something of a superhero. The new title doesn't fit him so well, because it requires that he get up before noon and commit all kinds of acts, most of them selfless and painful. He ends up getting involved in a battle against a super villain, a washed up James Bond type, and another time machine. Although this book is as funny as the previous, it makes it obvious that, while Burly's adventures through time and space are all well and good, Swartzwelder might do well to actually keep his gags confined to the realm of detective work. I doubt it took the man longer than a couple of days to write any of these books, but this is the first time I felt it really showed. 4 Stars. FAVORITE LINE: Frank Burly has infiltrated a Secret Club for Super Villains, searching for his would-be assassin -- "I continued around the room ... making it sound like I was a new member who was just making conversation. "Have you been trying to kill me?" I would ask, casually. "I'm just curious. Or we could talk about the weather, if you like. The weather's been trying to kill me too.'"
His books (four so far) don't try to follow coherency as much as his work on The Simpsons. Instead, he uses the medium as a forum for his stream-of-consciousness wise-cracking. Mass by volume, these slim tomes have the same silly density as his episodes, even if they sprawl ten times as much. For the most part, Swartzwelder sticks to the same basic formula that made his shows a success: a fat and idiotic central character gets into all manner of monkey-shines and comes out mostly unchanged. Instead of Homer, though, our main man is called Frank Burly.
THE TIME MACHINE DID IT
Frank Burly introduces us to his unlikely career as a private eye. Although his primary talents are screwing things up and getting beaten on a regular basis, he ends up with a fairly important case. A bum claims that he used to be a millionaire, but criminals with a time machine retroactively stole his wealth. Burly's in over his head (heck, this guy gets in over his head just trying to tie his shoes), but that doesn't stop him from barreling headfirst into the mystery and subsequently making it messier and harder to solve. Quickly written, hastily plotted, and genuinely funny, this is one of the few books I've ever read that's gotten me to laugh out-loud, and on a regular basis. 5 Stars. FAVORITE LINE: Frank Burly, on his imprisonment and torture by the criminals -- "I held up under all this pretty well. I was sleeping like a baby -- waking up every three hours screaming and crapping my pants."
DOUBLE WONDERFUL
Swartzwelder makes a mistake. Instead of one central character with the brains of a dusty cactus, he creates an entire town of them. The citizens of the Wild West town of Slackjaw are having economic troubles. Part of their problem is that the "wild" in their western town is missing; it's a pretty boring place, plus it exists in the shadows of the world-renowned Double Wonderful ranch, run by a wealthy couple who are so perfect, God owes them favors. They try desperately to bring fame and/or notoriety to their little corner of the world, but most of their ideas are pretty lame (encourage bandits to rob them, hang the mayor, etc.). They eventually get their wish, and it's mildly amusing, but the scattered scope of the story's lunacy and its slap-dash conclusion are pretty harried. You won't laugh as much as you'll roll your eyes. Not bad; not great. Notable mainly because the story's central theme (the horrifying price of fame) gives you some real clues as to why Mr. Swartzwelder himself so adamantly chooses to stay out of the spotlight. 3 Stars. MOST SELF-REFERENTIAL LINE: "...Buntline said that short books were the best selling kind ... That's what the reading public wanted in a book these days, he said. They wanted to get as close as possible to not reading at all."
HOW I CONQUERED YOUR PLANET
Swartzwelder, catching on, brings Frank Burly back to the fore. He's still a private detective, he's still pretty bad at it, and he's still stumbling backwards into strange cases (and sometimes plate glass windows). This time the case may have something to do with Martians. Or maybe it's Neptunians. They're both very similar, as far as aliens look, although it's harder to pronounce the word "Neptunians." While going about his daily routine of getting in the way of things, Frank ends up alienating (nyuk, nyuk) all sorts of planetary species. And, of course, he conquers your planet. Not as consistent as "Time Machine," but much sharper than "Double Wonderful." 4 Stars. FAVORITE LINE: Frank Burly, on his new alien secretary -- "...I discovered that I had hired a surprisingly dedicated secretary, who listened in on my phone calls, patted down my visitors, looked through my desk for me each morning before I got in, even appeared in my dreams taking notes."
THE EXPLODING DETECTIVE
Frank Burly's back, this time augmenting his act with a mostly-malfunctioning jetpack. His inability to steer is overshadowed, however, by his ability to withstand multiple explosive collisions, and he becomes something of a superhero. The new title doesn't fit him so well, because it requires that he get up before noon and commit all kinds of acts, most of them selfless and painful. He ends up getting involved in a battle against a super villain, a washed up James Bond type, and another time machine. Although this book is as funny as the previous, it makes it obvious that, while Burly's adventures through time and space are all well and good, Swartzwelder might do well to actually keep his gags confined to the realm of detective work. I doubt it took the man longer than a couple of days to write any of these books, but this is the first time I felt it really showed. 4 Stars. FAVORITE LINE: Frank Burly has infiltrated a Secret Club for Super Villains, searching for his would-be assassin -- "I continued around the room ... making it sound like I was a new member who was just making conversation. "Have you been trying to kill me?" I would ask, casually. "I'm just curious. Or we could talk about the weather, if you like. The weather's been trying to kill me too.'"
September 15, 2007
liked it better than time machine. he's starting to grow on me. reading these books feels more like staying in for a night with a hilarious friend than like a literary experience. some great quotables in this one. "Finally he began bouncing grimly toward the fortress on a pogo stick." As my friend James once noted about Dave Barry, modifier specificity can make all the difference in humor. Grimly!
November 17, 2022
I love his episodes of The Simpsons, but this was just too absurdist for me and it was really hard to get through.
January 17, 2019
Hilarious! I don't give 5 stars... but I give this 5 stars. Plenty of "lol" moments and the tale this less than astute, but likable and ridiculous detective weaves will leave you laugh/crying and wondering how it suddenly ended up "here." It's also short. So do yourself a favor and pick something that makes you laugh.
May 28, 2025
no. Not for me
March 10, 2022
world wasnt ready for the Frank Burly + Orville Overkill teamup
November 25, 2020
Another cracking madcap story by John Swartzwelder. As in my last review, the book still stands more as a connected bits or setpieces than a fully structured novel, but that's a function of John trying to get as many gags into it as possible. The "novel" side of John's work is definitely being polished however and his experience shows.
September 13, 2016
Frank Burly is but a dimwitted, loveable lucky bastard, and his adventure is worth checking out. A quick read, though the first half I had to push through a bit but the second I could definitely see the Simpsonesque type of dialogue Swartzwelder was well-known for writing (I could envision Homer in and out of the story, which I thought was great). This is the first of his books I've read so I can't really compare it to the others but I mean it is worth a read. Is it one of my favorites? No. Would I probably want to read this again at some point in time. Yes. Definitely a unique story.
August 15, 2007
from the writer that brought you over 59 episodes of the Simpsons. this is funny funny stuff.
December 23, 2015
There's a bit of sameness to these novels. Similar pace and patter and type of humor. But it's still damn funny.
February 7, 2018
like swartzwelder's other books, the narrative is just an engine for jokes. in this one detective frank burly buys an old nazi jetpack and uses it to become the flying detective, a gimmick he uses to bring in more business. except he pretty much always crashes so he ends up being the exploding detective. swartzwelder is a pallet cleanser for me; it's nonemotional quick witted, low brow, high functioning, juvenile humor. every line is a joke and every joke is an absurdity. it's a brother to jack handy and the Simpsons (for which swartzwelder was a very prolific writer).
June 24, 2019
These books can be enjoyable to read, especially in short bursts. But Burly's body is as impenetrable as his mind. The stakes just totally vanish, so the book is only happening on the joke level. They're good jokes, but it starts to feel like drinking chocolate syrup by the end.
An easy contrast would be Arthur Dent's constantly growing level of concern in the Hitchhiker's Guide. Or how Homer can frequently be kneecapped by his fear of losing Marge's love.
An easy contrast would be Arthur Dent's constantly growing level of concern in the Hitchhiker's Guide. Or how Homer can frequently be kneecapped by his fear of losing Marge's love.
August 3, 2021
I've now read 3 books in this series so far, and it continues to be a reliable way to take a quick break between "serious" books whilst getting at least a laugh per page. The author finds ways to skewer all sorts of genres and their cliches, moving so quickly from one idea to the next (though not too quickly) that you can't really predict what's going to happen next, just that it will be funny. That's why I will keep going!
March 31, 2024
Fantastic book. I read a bit each time I had a doctor’s appointment and was in the waiting room. It’s very funny and so outlandish in the best way so it’s great to help lower your blood pressure, if you get nervous about that like I do. It’s a short book at 142 pages but each page is comically written and quick to read. It’s oddly a very visual book as well. :) I can’t wait to read more by this author.
April 4, 2020
Good, full of genuine laugh out loud moments
Why adult swim or any other animation studio haven't optioned these books yet is anyone's guess maybe they've tried, any way if you like old school Simpsons (author is ex an writer and producer of the show) and the Naked gun films then you're going to want to read his work.
Why adult swim or any other animation studio haven't optioned these books yet is anyone's guess maybe they've tried, any way if you like old school Simpsons (author is ex an writer and producer of the show) and the Naked gun films then you're going to want to read his work.
February 16, 2024
"E" - My 2024 Alphabet Challenge
Having really enjoyed "The Time Machine Did It" I had high hopes for this. It's full of the silly humour and nonsense you'd expect, it's a very fun and easy quick read which had loads of really stupid moments that I couldn't help but laugh out loud at. Daft and clever Swartzwelder as per usual!
Having really enjoyed "The Time Machine Did It" I had high hopes for this. It's full of the silly humour and nonsense you'd expect, it's a very fun and easy quick read which had loads of really stupid moments that I couldn't help but laugh out loud at. Daft and clever Swartzwelder as per usual!
April 4, 2024
Explosions aren't as funny on paper as they are in cartoons—until now. In keeping with the previous Burly books, the imagery is bizarre, the plot is bananas, and the protagonist is more capricious than even his most far-out adversaries can bear. Very possibly the funniest entry in the series so far. After I put this one down, buying Burly #4 wasn't even a question.
March 13, 2025
THE POKEMASTER 5000
“You can stab 1500 guys a minute with that. And because it’s a knife and not a gun, you never run out of ammunition. No reloading. You could’ve single handedly won World War 2 with one of those!”
“You can stab 1500 guys a minute with that. And because it’s a knife and not a gun, you never run out of ammunition. No reloading. You could’ve single handedly won World War 2 with one of those!”
January 16, 2019
At first I was confused at what was going on, but once you get the groove of the book you will be laughing out loud!
February 3, 2020
Laugh out loud funny! I couldn't keep a straight face while reading this book.
March 2, 2020
Don't let a plot get in the way of a good joke!
November 29, 2020
* ...he knelt down next to me and spoke in a low whisper.
“The safety, indeed the whole future of the world, depends on what you do next.”
I tried not to fart but it was no use. *
Chef’s kiss.
“The safety, indeed the whole future of the world, depends on what you do next.”
I tried not to fart but it was no use. *
Chef’s kiss.
March 25, 2021
I'm loving this entire series of ridiculous books. Such a good pallette cleanser in-between nonfiction or heavy subject matter.
May 17, 2021
Short and funny. I took my time. Frank Burly has a lot of Homer Simpson to him.
January 6, 2023
Written by a Simpsons writer and it shows (not a bad thing!)
October 3, 2023
I loved this one too. I won’t stop until I have read all of Swartzwelders hits. This one got BERY Sci-fi-y.
January 4, 2024
So, so, so delightfully stupid
January 30, 2024
This was very funny. Don't have much else. Alas
May 25, 2024
every sentence a joke, every word a double entendre, every minute a pleasure
July 13, 2024
Best one. Laughed out loud pretty consistently
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews