NEW SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY REVIEWS
Reviews Of Recently Published Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
Reviewer: Forrest Schultz schultz_forrest@yahoo.com 770-583-3258
Blog Address: http://newsciencefictionandfantasyreviews.blogspot.com
September 10, 2012
A Mixed Bag Of Jewish Humor
A review of
Russell Andresen Are You Kosher? -- Memoirs Of A Jewish Vampire (iUniverse, 2010)
308 pp $18.95 ISBN-10: 1450240755 ISBN-13: 978-1450240758
Reviewer: Forrest Schultz
Most of the humor in this book can be understood by the general reader, but some of it consists of "inside" jokes which only Jews will get. The latter should be removed from the main body of the book and placed into an appendix titled "Humor For Jews Only -- Goyim Keep Out!". There is some material in the book which definitely will not make it into Clean Laughs Night! This should be placed into an appendix titled "Non-Kosher Humor": just as a kosher diet means clean foods, so kosher humor means clean jokes!! OK, this is my attempt at meta-humor, i.e. humor about humor.
One of the purposes of the book is to satirize the follies of mankind, especially those prominent today. Be warned: your sacred cow may be vilified! However, on the other hand, there is no guarantee that what is satirized here deserves it -- let the reader beware!
Another purpose of the book is to dispose of vampirological myths so that the real vampire can stand up! For instance, we are told here that vampires sleep in beds (not coffins), that "holy" water does not harm them, and that vampires can see their reflections in the mirror. But, we learn, it IS true that a vampire (like any other human) can be killed by driving a stake through its heart!
And vampires do live super long lives (if they are careful). Thus the vampire narrator is able to relate to us his personal impressions of such historical noteworthies as Samson, Judas, Columbus, Nostradamus and Freud.
Andresen grew up in Brooklyn, has a Jewish mother, narrowly escaped dying in 9/11, and has lived in Coweta for several years but just recently surfaced and is the most recent member of the Coweta Writers Group. He has written two sequels to the book reviewed here, which he hopes to get published soon.
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