Dover Coloring Book

Text Box with description of Book

First, this is an offensive book. If you are offended by potty humor and mockery of religious figures such as Jesus, you should definitely skip this one.
    Second, this book is MEANT to be offensive. And annoying and gross and disgusting. It is a mockery of art, particularly literary arts, of religion, of human emotions and the human condition in general, especially the mundane aspects of life. If you are not easily offended, and enjoy exploring different genres of writing, particularly avante-garde styles, then by all means, DO read this book. It is really quite funny and entertaining!
    It begins as Balso comes across the famous Trojan Horse in the tall grass around Troy. "The mouth was beyond his reach, the navel proved a cul-de-sac, and so, forgetting his dignity, he approached the last. O Anus Mirabilis!"
The book takes on a surreal quality as Balso begins his tour through the intestine of the Trojan Horse. Much of the dialogue is a mix of Latin (sort of), art words, and nonsense. "Before entering he prayed: O Beer! O Meyerbeer! O Bach! O Offenbach! Stand me now as ever in good stead."
    As he moves along he realizes the wooden horse is "inhabited solely by writers in search of an audience" and he is trapped into listening to their stories. He first meets his guide, who tells a story of Appolonius of Tyana who had a snake living up his. . .a. . .Well, let's move on. . . .
    Balso manages to escape his guide and next meets a naked man wearing only a derby stuck with thorns, trying to crucify himself with thumbtacks. Maloney the Areopagite was writing a book about the life of Saint Puce, a flea that lived in the armpit of Our Lord Jesus Christ. As he ends his story in sobs, Balso isn't impressed. He tells him, "Don't be morbid. Take your eyes off your navel. Take your head from under your armpit. Stop sniffing mortality. Play games. Don't read so many books. Take cold showers. Eat more meat."
    As Balso continues his journey he sees a young boy hiding a diary in the hollow of a tree. He wrote it for Miss McGeeney's class. It is a crime journal about how he murders a tenant in his rooming house, a dishwasher who "was a fat, pink and grey pig of a man, and stank of stale tobacco, dry perspiration, clothing mold, and oatmeal soap". The boy is writing the journal because he wants to sleep with his teacher. Balso then meets Miss McGeeney, then falls asleep and has a dream. He ends his journey by having wild sex with her.

I have always liked the avante-garde. When I was in college and graduate school working on my music degrees, I enjoyed the classes on twentieth-century music best, especially experimental stuff. Composers like John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen pushed music to its limit, and then over the edge, simply because it had to be done. I found, though, that its greatest value was to stretch the muscles of creativity and imagination, kind of like yoga for the brain. Then when you came back to "normal" your perceptions were so much more expanded. And so it is with this book! I suggest doing research as you read; look up words and names and terms that West uses, then savor the deliciously dark humor.

HHHHHHH

All material on this site copyright © 2013 by Laughing Crow.
This site designed and written by Laughing Crow.