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Title: Murder in the Museum of Man by Alfred Alcorn ISBN: 0-944072-78-X Publisher: Zoland Books Inc Pub. Date: 01 December, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.09 (11 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A delicious send-up of every imaginable pretension
Comment: This book is only nominally a murder mystery. But that's OK. In fact, that's wonderful--because Alfred Alcorn has written one of the wryest, dryest, funniest send-ups I've ever read. With cleverness, wit, and something akin to slapstick, Alcorn skewers the pretensions of academia, the 1960s, elitist culture, multiculturalism, bureaucracy . . . you name it, he's got its number! I laughed out loud reading this book, and you will, too.
Rating: 3
Summary: Good story, tediously written
Comment: I loved the idea of this book; there's nothing like a good send-up of the academic world. But it was the writing style that turned me off. While I'll admit my vocabulary expanded by leaps and bounds the further and further I read, it started to feel a little pretentious, and the story didn't move along quickly enough to keep my attention riveted. But, if you like extremely dry, prosaic humor, you'll enjoy this book.
Rating: 4
Summary: A different who done it
Comment: Everyone knows at least one Norman Abbot de Ratour. The museum world and academia seem to attract his type, so having him as the protaganist of this mystery was perfect. Norman is a middle aged, single, never married, fussy, prissy, pretentious man. He hides behind the barrage of memos over the "correct procedure" for everything from where the annual Christmas party should be held to meeting procedures, etc.
Norman's ordered life is assaulted at every angle by the modern world, the slovenly museum business manager, and the attempts by Wainscott University to take over the governance of his beloved Museum of Man. Into this mix, the visiting Dean from Wainscott University is murdered and his remains seem to have been feasted upon and prepared by a gourmet chef. The attending scandal on his beloved museum is more than Norman can stand, so he decides to solve the mystery himself.
The book is written as an unofficial Museum of Man journal by Recording Secretary Norman de Ratour. You feel the pain of this man as he tries to come to grips with the fact that his ordered "civilized" world doesn't really exist anymore. We also learn about his lost love, Elsbeth. One hears so much about her, that it isn't even a surprise when she appears in the last quarter of the book. Not a natural detective, Norman makes many false starts and wonders how best to proceed, trying to draw on the few detective stories he has read.
The book takes great joy poking fun at academia, museums, governing bodies, committees, etc. The meetings where the Wainscott oversight committee looks into the proposed exhibit on Neanderthal life is hysterical. My only complaint about the book is that it proceeds along at a leisurely, drawn out pace for 4/5 of the book then - bam we are rushed to an ending that makes sense but seems to come somewhat out of left field.
If you have worked in museums, academia, or similar environments you will enjoy this book. If you want a good, interesting and amusing read you will enjoy this book. However, if you are looking for a fast read, look elsewhere.
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Title: Death At La Fenice by Donna Leon ISBN: 0061043370 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 January, 1995 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title:Pirates of the Caribbean - The Curse of the Black Pearl ASIN: B00005JM5E Publisher: Walt Disney Home Video Pub. Date: 02 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $19.49 |
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