[Dr. Drib]

Well, I finished "The Night Circus," but it just didn't do much for me.

I'm now starting "Wonderful World," by Javier Calvo, which only has a few reviews. The novel however, has been critically acclaimed.

Here's a brief quote from Publishers Weekly:

"Calvo's first novel to appear in English is a frenetic and magnificent mashup of family drama, mob revenge story and surreal mystery featuring a gigantic enforcer obsessed with comic books, a 12-year-old girl fixated on Stephen King, a namby-pamby antiques dealer on a mad quest and a crime lord with a penchant for women's coats."

And an excerpt from Booklist:

"Meanwhile, his best friend is his 12-year-old neighbor, a fatherless girl named Valentina, who regards herself as the greatest living Stephen King expert (“excerpts” from King’s newest novel are sprinkled throughout the book). Other cultural references ranging from psychedelic rock and heavy metal to horror movies and superhero comics abound, while the novel’s action is overlaid by a patina of Quentin Tarentino–like violence. Surreal, sexy, wildly funny, self-indulgent, and wretchedly excessive, Wonderful World is clearly not for all readers, but it will have its passionate advocates and has all the earmarks of a cult favorite in the making."

I'm embarrassed to say I bought this in Aug., 2009.

ADDED: Interestingly, "Wonderful World" is the title of a fictitious Stephen King novel, one that exists only in the pages of the novel by Calvo.


Don