ELECT MR. ROBINSON FOR A BETTER WORLD - DONALD ANTRIM

I read this book because it was recommended by John Jeremiah Sullivan who, in some article, mentioned the Antrim was an interesting take on the Wallace, Franzen, Eugenides, etc. group of writers. This book is about a man, Mr. Robinson, who lives in a dystopia (a la Idiocracy or actual lived reality) and is simultaneously engaged in a handful of quests or tasks that interconnect with explain and escalate with one another. He’s trying to start a new school for the kids of his town, he’s thinking about running for mayor and planning his campaign, he’s trying to bury the body parts of the pervious mayor, who was drawn and quartered, he’s trying to relate to his wife who can goes into ichthyiomorphic trances, he’s building a replica of a Spanish Inquisition torture room, and he’s engaged in a domestic project to build a moat around his house. The tension, where the various quest each ramp up in intensity and difficulty and make one another more difficult, reminded me of the part in Goodfellas where Henry Hill is doing a lot of cocaine while trying to juggle all of these domestic and criminal responsibilities. The climax itself was genuinely shocking and undercut the goofy tone in a really satisfying way. The main character reminded me of Ignacious in the sense that he’s smart but totally oblivious to others. Also, the book is often funny in the same way ACOD is. Overall, not bad. 6 votes.