November 10, 2008
Fishburne’s zany and entertaining, if somewhat uneven, first novel tells the story of Slater Brown: Writer Extraordinaire (at least in his own mind), as he whimsically romps through San Francisco. Slater arrives in the city with little more than the clothes on his back and a 250-pound trunk of books. He soon finds himself employed at a down and out newspaper called the Morning Trumpet
, where, with the aid of a mystic known as Answer Man and a corrupt-beyond-belief mayoral administration, Slater becomes the journalistic toast of the town. Add a beautiful chess champion as romantic interest and a genius inventor intent on manipulating the weather, and you have the recipe for a generous and whacky story in the tradition of Tom Robbins. At times Fishburne has trouble maintaining so many moving parts; the inventor story line can feel extraneous, and the love story takes a while to get going. But what saves the book is its sweetness and innocence, and the depiction of Slater in the big city is a pleasure.
October 15, 2008
A novel of mysticism, journalism, chess and romance —set with wide-eyed wonder in San Francisco.
The cryptic title refers to an American folk expression. When one went to seek one 's treasure —or other glorious mysteries that life offers —one was said to be "going to see the elephant. " The elephant-seeker of this tale is Slater Brown, who arrives in San Fran fresh of spirit and dewy of eye. He wants to be a writer and shows up at the financially strapped newspaper office of the Morning Trumpet. After he submits his first piece —and is summarily laughed out of the office on the heels of its na ™ve romanticism —he finds himself on a public bus listening to a small pocket radio, a gift from the enigmatic A.M. It turns out this is a magic radio, however, one that allows Brown to eavesdrop on private conversations. In the first magical moment Brown overhears Tucker Oswell, the popular but sleazy San Fran mayor, involved in some nefarious business that he wants to keep private. Brown turns this occult accident into a scoop, one that begins a series of successes that help put the Trumpet back on firm popular and financial footing, much to the delight of the editor Motherlove. As Oswell grows increasingly frantic to plug what he feels is a leak in his office, the narrative shifts toward Callio de Quincy, a knockout chess player who has never lost a match (her normal preparation routine consists of "read[ing] comic books, eat[ing] bon bons, and writ[ing] poetry "). Havram, Callio 's overprotective father, wants to make sure that she keeps winning. Predictably, Brown meets and falls quickly in love with Callio. Meanwhile, Milo Magnet, a technological genius who recently published a 4,278-page book entitled Theory of Everything, has invented a machine that challenges Callio to the chess match of her life.
A goofy comic novel whose whimsy feels a bit canned.
(COPYRIGHT (2008) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
January 22, 2009
Verdict: One's appreciation of this debut novel will depend entirely on a tolerance for a story that could be described as zany, irrepressible, and whimsical. Best suited for larger fiction collections. Background: To a fictionalized San Francisco, resplendent with daily newspapers, none of which is named the Chronicle, wide-eyed innocent Slater Brown arrives with a trunkful of books and the absolute conviction that he is to be the world's greatest living writer. After he lands a job at a decaying weekly newspaper, the story introduces several broadly drawn characters, including a corrupt but possibly noble mayor, a mad genius, and a sexy Pixie chess prodigy heiress. Hang on as Fishburne slings you from one improbable situation to the next.-Amy Watts, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens
Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
Starred review from November 15, 2008
Fishburnes passion for progressive journalism and longing for the heyday of newspapers shape his smart, frolicsome, and charming first novel. Starry-eyed and clueless, Slater Brown arrives in San Francisco intent onbecoming a writer, and, like all good bildungsroman heroes, stumbles upon unlikely mentors and fecund coincidences. Thanks tothe peculiarities of the citys electric buses, he also acquires mysterious powers and soon far exceeds expectations as a star reporter who rescues an all but moribund newspaper. As earnest and fumbling Slater becomes the talk of the town, the scandal-ridden mayor indulges ingourmet, life-threateninggluttony while sending his minions out to thwart the now dapper upstart. Meanwhile, the smartest man in the world, Milo Magnet, fills the mad-scientist role by whipping up miniweather systems that escape the lab to wreak surreal havoc, while Slater falls in love with a beautiful chess player held captive by her stern father. With a lively, shrewdly stylized Jazz Age tone, this old-fashioned yet newfangled tale puts a clever, global-warming-era spin on the superhero story. Delightfully visual, full of whimsy, adventure, and blithely caustic social commentary, Fishburnes sweet and funny debut novel offers comic-book-like entertainment with an iron core.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)
January 22, 2009
Verdict: One's appreciation of this debut novel will depend entirely on a tolerance for a story that could be described as zany, irrepressible, and whimsical. Best suited for larger fiction collections. Background: To a fictionalized San Francisco, resplendent with daily newspapers, none of which is named the Chronicle, wide-eyed innocent Slater Brown arrives with a trunkful of books and the absolute conviction that he is to be the world's greatest living writer. After he lands a job at a decaying weekly newspaper, the story introduces several broadly drawn characters, including a corrupt but possibly noble mayor, a mad genius, and a sexy Pixie chess prodigy heiress. Hang on as Fishburne slings you from one improbable situation to the next.-Amy Watts, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens
Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 15, 2008
A novel of mysticism, journalism, chess and romance —set with wide-eyed wonder in San Francisco.
The cryptic title refers to an American folk expression. When one went to seek one's treasure —or other glorious mysteries that life offers —one was said to be "going to see the elephant. " The elephant-seeker of this tale is Slater Brown, who arrives in San Fran fresh of spirit and dewy of eye. He wants to be a writer and shows up at the financially strapped newspaper office of the Morning Trumpet. After he submits his first piece —and is summarily laughed out of the office on the heels of its na ™ve romanticism —he finds himself on a public bus listening to a small pocket radio, a gift from the enigmatic A.M. It turns out this is a magic radio, however, one that allows Brown to eavesdrop on private conversations. In the first magical moment Brown overhears Tucker Oswell, the popular but sleazy San Fran mayor, involved in some nefarious business that he wants to keep private. Brown turns this occult accident into a scoop, one that begins a series of successes that help put the Trumpet back on firm popular and financial footing, much to the delight of the editor Motherlove. As Oswell grows increasingly frantic to plug what he feels is a leak in his office, the narrative shifts toward Callio de Quincy, a knockout chess player who has never lost a match (her normal preparation routine consists of "read[ing] comic books, eat[ing] bon bons, and writ[ing] poetry "). Havram, Callio's overprotective father, wants to make sure that she keeps winning. Predictably, Brown meets and falls quickly in love with Callio. Meanwhile, Milo Magnet, a technological genius who recently published a 4,278-page book entitled Theory of Everything, has invented a machine that challenges Callio to the chess match of her life.
A goofy comic novel whose whimsy feels a bit canned.
(COPYRIGHT (2008) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)