- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Hyperion (Dec 16 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0786868120
- ISBN-13: 978-0786868124
- Product Dimensions: 23.5 x 18.3 x 1.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #578,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Wigfield is in peril. The Bulkwaller Dam, which towers over the tiny town, is scheduled to be destroyed which would in turn wipe out Wigfield. Journalist Russell Hokes travels there to profile the brave and honest citizens who are struggling to save their community. Well, sort of. Actually, Wigfield is not so much a town as a series of ramshackle strip clubs and used-auto-parts stores, lacking any kind of civic infrastructure whatsoever. And its people are not so much "brave and honest" as "brutal," "homicidal," and "lacking any redeeming virtue whatsoever." Similarly, to call Hokes, who narrates his own struggles to gather accumulate 50,000 words, a "journalist" is at best an exaggeration and at worst an abomination against the institution of journalism itself.
The world of Wigfield, as concocted by the brilliant Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, and Amy Sedaris (creators of the Comedy Central series Strangers with Candy), is somewhat reminiscent of the slice-of-life small-town humor of Christopher Guest's Waiting for Guffman. But instead of putting on a musical, as the Guffman folks did, the people of Wigfield busy themselves trying to acquire government handouts and stabbing each other to death. When the government rebuffs their efforts, based on the fact that they're not technically a town, they come up with a plan to get paid anyway. Wigfield's residents (as played by Colbert, Dinello, and Sedaris) are portrayed in a series of compellingly grotesque portraits by renowned designer and photographer Todd Oldham. The humor of the book--much like the town's mentality--is dense, as nearly every sentence contains one or several grimly hilarious references. Fans of feel-good whimsy are advised to navigate toward lighter fare but social pariahs, disgraced journalists, brooding malcontented sociopaths, and anyone who enjoys dark, twisted, and profoundly funny writing will find a home in Wigfield. --John Moe
From Publishers Weekly
The authors are well-known comedians. The photographer is a famous designer. The result is unlike anything the genre of humorous fiction has seen before. The book tells, sort of, the story of Wigfield, a small town that realizes it's in danger when the government wants to destroy a local dam in order to protect the local salmon population. Faced with imminent flood, the town solicits Russell Hokes, a self-centered hack journalist, who hopes to capture the undying spirit of the all-American small town. Wigfield, alas, is very far from living up to the bucolic image it intends to foster, and as the dam draws nearer to destruction, so does Wigfield's self-created myth. The plot unfolds as a series of interviews Hokes conducts with local residents, accompanied by droll, surreal photographs by Oldham. In the end, Hokes succeeds in his goal, which is, as he notes in his attached r‚sum‚, to "write a book, other than the ones that I have already written, so that I may use my words like a sword of swift justice in service of the truth, but in an easy-to-read, highly marketable way." He does so, however, not by creating a Capraesque tribute to smalltown America, but by unwittingly exposing the bumbling foolery beneath its surface. The book is one of those rare works of satire that combine creative form, uproariously funny text and a painfully sharp underpinning of social criticism.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
My resume was the foot in the door that the rest of my body so desperately needed. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
My resume was the foot in the door that the rest of my body so desperately needed. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty funny,
By "jenlau11" (Northville, MI United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wigfield (Hardcover)
This book is definitely very "Strangers with Candy"-ish. Yes, the joke runs a little long at the end, but it's still a funny read. It's short, so you won't be tied to it for long. Overall, it's no award winner, but it is a ridiculous book from some funny authors.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best work of Dinello, Colbert or Sedaris by far.,
By
This review is from: Wigfield (Hardcover)
Let it be known from the start that I am a Sedaris fan from way back. "The Talent Family", made up of Amy and her brother David, has an esoteric humor that strains against the seams of the mainstream, never quite breaking through, never quite wanting to break through. I entered the town of Wigfield with abandon, hoping to get caught up in the same obscurely dark humor the writers three made famous in their absurdly funny series "Strangers with Candy" series. While the trio may never recapture the Pantheon of Comedy 'Strangers' was they try very hard with "Wigfield" and fail, miserably. 'Wigfield' is less a book than a collection of morbid and demented characterizations of the townsfolk which inhabit the contaminated topsoil of the books namesake. Loosely structured by a narcoleptic, gluttonous aspiring journalist, the book reflects the sad sack wordsmith's quest for an easy 50,000 words of easy type. One wonders if the same dead-end journey was also endured by Sedaris and her cohorts, as the book seems to be written with a similarly half-hearted effort. The breadth of the work is a compatible display likened to their fictional protagonist as he pushes his way into the literary world. A display that is disappointing on all the parts of those involved, fictional or otherwise. The book shakes down like this: There is a town. It is threatened by the destruction of a dam. The main commodity of the town is, rather, was plutonium. The townsfolk, as well as the town, have been classified as a Super Fund project in the works. Many interviews are taken. The townspeople are personalized. A paper-thin morale is drawn in the defense of small-town America as it is attacked progressively by bureaucratic law and Urban sprawl. And in the end...well, in the end you decide for yourself if the book rewards you enough to make it that far. The cover jacket has several quotes from comedians concerning the tome. Kristin Johnston of "Third Rock from the Sun" fame has this to say for the book: "...I didn't put it down until I did." Unfortunately, for "Wigfield", the best part of the book is indeed putting it down and leaving it there.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hi-LAR-ious! (Amy Sedaris fans will understand!),
By Tara Danielle (Iowa City) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wigfield (Hardcover)
If you liked Strangers with Candy or Exit 57, you'll love Wigfield!! Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, and Stephen Colbert are comic geniuses who make me laugh like no other writers can. Wigfield is laugh-out-loud material and perfect for a fun read. Buy it-- you won't be sorry!
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