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4: Fantastic Novels
 
 

4: Fantastic Novels [Paperback]

Daniel Pinkwater , Scott Simon
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

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Product Description

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Whether you know Daniel Pinkwater as a children's book author (and you should, he's written over 40 fabulous books) or as a National Public Radio commentator, you must agree that he is a very, very funny guy. Though his books are perfectly nonsensical and absurd in all the best ways, they leave you feeling strangely serene about the universe. Whether his books introduce us to muffin-eating polar bears (Larry), really old time-traveling men (Uncle Borgel), or 266-pound chickens (Henrietta from The Hoboken Chicken Emergency), they each reflect a polite world where people (and other species) basically respect each other--warts, multiple heads, foul smells (we're thinking of the Bloboform), and all. As luck would have it, four of Pinkwater's previously published novels are now combined in one delicious and aptly named paperback volume, 4 Fantastic Novels. In it you'll find Borgel, Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario, The Worms of Kukumlima, and The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror, none of which will disappoint. Fans will want to pick up 5 Novels as well, a collection which includes Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars, Slaves of Spiegel, The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, The Last Guru, and Young Adult Novel.

What are Pinkwater's novels like? Imagine the wondrous science fiction classic A Wrinkle in Time without the heavy cosmos stuff--and seventy times funnier. (In Borgel, for example, 111-year-old Uncle Borgel compares the concept of time to a map of the state of New Jersey and describes space as "sort of like a bagel, but an elliptical one, with poppy seeds.") His fast-paced and funny adventure stories are philosophical and moral, though undercut with such delightfully irreverent goofiness that they never lose their buoyancy, not for a second. Pinkwater reaches out to the kids all over the planet who feel like "the boy from Mars," and shows them that everything is not only going to be just fine, but that life is pretty darn magical. (Ages 9 to 109) --Karin Snelson

Product Description

Four-fantastic-books-in-one by the popular author of The Hoboken Chicken Emergency:

Borgel

Yobgorgle

The Worms of Kukumlima

The Snarkout Boys & the Baconburg Horror


Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
This is how Borgel turned up. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars Who needs Prozac?, Oct 16 2003
This review is from: 4: Fantastic Novels (Paperback)
If only all teens could read this book...there would be a whole lot less depressed teens in the world today! Like most teens, I have gone through depressing times in my life, but since I got this book, I certainly have had less of them! Just read "Borgel" and meet the great-great-great-great-grandfather you wish you had. Or open up to "The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror" and go to pieces as you read the escapade of the Snarkout Boys (one of whom is a girl) all through Baconburg and Hamfast. If you prefer 'classic literatur,' then read "Yobgorgle," a wonderful mix of the Loch Ness Monster and "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" and the legend of the Flying Dutchman. Seriously (not really, it is impossible to be serious where Pinkwater is concerned), this book can bring you out of depression in an instant. (Try some chocolate, too.) And as Stephanie said in her review, IGNORE THE AGE LIMIT! YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD FOR PINKWATER!
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3.0 out of 5 stars hate to rain on the parade, but, July 3 2002
By A Customer
OK, first off I consider myself to have a decent (even above average) sense of humor. I'm always biting my lip to stifle giggles because my companions wouldn't get the joke. I love Lemony Snicket. I worship at the altar of Dave Barry. But, unlike a lot of readers here, I'm only mildly amused at most of Pinkwater's stuff. I enjoyed the "Borgel" story, but I was crushed at how lame [sorry] the "Snarkout Boys" sequel was. I loved the first, thought it was great. But I think it was the constantly switching viewpoint that sank the sequel. It also read like a first draft, particularly the werewolf monologues. That's what bugs me, how much better a lot of the stories could have been. Please, make them just a bit more accessible to new readers; sometimes the wackiness really goes into overload and it's too much to stay with the story.

Secondly, and this only really mattered in the "Snarkout" sequel, teenagers (at least the ones I know) don't talk like that! Even the biggest [nerd] at my old high school didn't sound like Scott Feldman, or really, Rat or Winston, for that matter. Though maybe they sounded like Pinkwater's high school peers. But if this doesn't matter to the majority of readers, maybe I shouldn't complain either.

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3.0 out of 5 stars The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror, by D. Pinkwater, April 12 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: 4: Fantastic Novels (Paperback)
Daniel Pinkwater's excellent formula of humor and imagination makes among the funniest but exciting books. I have found that in almost every book of Mr. Pinkwater's, his imagination can take you anywhere from halfway around the globe to a magical backyard. Here lollipops can dance and time is like a map of New Jersey. Humor dominates in the Kingdom of Pinkwater. Two books that I read were: The Worms of Kukumlima and The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror. In The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror: Winston Bongo and Walter Garr are two teenagers who snarkout. Snarking is when you sneak out of the house to go see a movie. At the Snarkout Theater, the two boys meet a girl named Rat. When something horrible happens and secrets starts to damage things around the city of Baconburg, it is up to the three friends to figure out what is happening. The strange thing is shredding things with what seems to be claws. Meeting odd characters and people who can help them makes a perfect plot and an exciting story. You never know what is lurking around the corner, and it's up to you to decide who is friend and who is foe.
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