Email
Print
by 
The creator of the bowling hat deserves a biscuit. The true fans of bowling hats deserve much more. Uncle Sal, in some sordid interpretation, is part Mr. Magoo, part The Dude, part Confucious, part Leisure Suit Larry, part Gandhi, part interior designer and part softball playing punk.
"Hunnerds" of readers of his chronicles might even agree, or
at very least offer up a bottomless mug of interpretations of Gary Schwind
’s favorite
beer chuggin, mauve robe wearin false protagonist in 'A Gopher I Couldn’t Defuse'.
Admittedly, as excited as I was to receive my very own
signed copy from Schwind, one of Orange County’s best reviewers of some of the strangest
psychobilly bands you’ve never heard of, the curious offering somehow got stuck with my
growing stack of bathroom readers. But Gopher
made the difficult upgrade from its stay on the toilet time-passing list to my night-stand,
where 100 episodes of the curious journey of Uncle Sal were devoured with much
more interest (and promptitude).
Always take delight in the writer who can abuse a short-attention span and still make the reader feel like a pro at deciphering insightful illustrations. Staying true to “the quirky humor and slanted perspective on things” that inspire his writing, Gary Schwind will entertain the reader with an inner urge to own his or her own black stovepipe hat, thinks he knows how to speak to the ladies or fancies herself as a voluptuous, polka dot blouse wearing feline with a craving for some of Uncle Sal's mutton chops.
In the few years of checking in on eccentric Sal's weekly adventures, it was a great surprise to see a collaboration of his distorted wisdom, with the only disappointment being that we must wait to see what comes of his UFO landing pad.
[$12.95, Published by: Groovy Rutabaga Publications, 2009]
Print
Report abuse
Report abuse
Thanks so much for the awesome review, Joe. One minor correction, though. The price of the book is 12.65 ($9.95 + 2.70 shipping).