Pun Salad

Pun Daughter gave me this book for Christmas last. Although my fiction tastes tend to run toward the less serious, I quite enjoyed it. And I'm not alone. Click on the book image to take you to the if-you-buy-it-I-get-a cut Amazon page and you'll see a long list of honors, including the WSJ's Best Novel of the Year. I've only read a couple of other books by the author, Michael Chabon. I think I'll probably track down some more now.

It is (despite appearances, fictional) history of Chabon's maternal grandfather, a story told with heaps of humor, sex, violence, sadness, suspense, and horror. And a deadly Florida python who may have eaten a stray cat. All tied together with masterful punch-you-in-the-face style.

Real life people show up: Alger Hiss, Wild Bill Donovan, and (most notably) Wernher von Braun. The book jumps around in time more than Slaughterhouse-Five, as Grandpa reveals his story to Chabon from the bed where he's suffering from terminal cancer. Additional characters, fully explored, are "my grandmother" and "my mother". But the actual relationships are more complex than that.

I repeat: apparently all fictional, although I had to check reliable sources to make sure. (There's a "this is a work of fiction" disclaimer at the front. A cheeky "Scout's honor" is appended.)