BOOK REVIEWS: Four titles that redefine how one should read comedy
If there’s a common thread running through the four novels today, it’s how gentle comedy can be a most effective way for bringing home a message. From examining our fascination for the occult, to thinking up a near-future, making a statement about the young Black American today, and our need for legends and tall stories; this quartet of books employ humor in great, imaginative ways.
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The Stranger Times’ by C. K. McDonnell
Think ”Stranger Things” but set in Manchester and with adults working for a sensationalist tabloid as the main cast, and you’ll have an idea of the premise this novel brings to the table. Mix in the occult and sorcery, a dash of the supernatural and dark forces at odds with each other, and have this all seen and observed through the prism of a band of ragtag tabloid journalists. It’s a heady blend of hilarity, the most stubborn (the “Stranger Times” editor), and a staff of oddballs, failures in life, and the most benign of personalities. It all starts when an American “wizard” comes to Manchester for some (at first) unexplained reason and a spate of mysterious “suicides,” with people jumping off the same building, which starts having the ”Stranger Times” hoping-to-be staffer questioning why this could be happening.