Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner
Shakespeare Shapiro navigates a senior year fraught with feelings of insecurity while writing the memoir of his embarrassing life, worrying about his younger brother being cooler than he is, and having no prospects of ever getting a girlfriend. (graphic language and ideas)
www.jakewizner.com
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3 comments:
This title drew a snicker when I briefly referred to it in a recent booktalk so I thought would read it and be able to describe it more fully. Unfortunately, I only read as far as the chapter called "October" which begins "Senior year is about two things: getting into college and getting laid." I was turned off by statements like this, some of the language used throughout, and the attitudes shown, especially towards women and adults. One professional reviewer calls it "lewd-icrous" and although the comments and ratings on amazon are positive (e.g., "hilariously funny"), one of those reviewers notes, "it would be difficult for me to recommend to actual teenagers". Without reading more, I concur; yet I am looking forward to others’ comment here. Will our students find this to be funny? Is it a genuine voice? What if anything, makes this book a potential award winner for you?
So I stand corrected... today, a student walked by our display of Abe books, picked up Spanking Shakespeare, looked at me, and said. "I can't believe you have this book ... it is SO funny!" He went on to recommend other similar titles, including Confederacy of Dunces and Youth in Revolt which is being made into a movie. And THEN he emailed me this LINK to the uber funny books for guys posted by a Michigan library. Thanks!
Ms. Straube,
While I completely agree that Shakespeare is completely inappropriate for the average teenager (heck, for just about every teenager), I think that it's nye on impossible to have a book that is not just funny but hilarious (to teens) that doesn't push the boundaries, and while not all books that completely obliterate those boundaries are necessarily funny, absolutely hilarious books tend to break those limits, though not all of them. I think this quote from the Trib's review of Spanking Shakespeare best sums up what I'm trying to say, not only as it pertains to this novel but to all in the same realm (and it fits in with the "lewd-icrious" quote you posted earlier): “This brilliantly lewd novel is hilarious.” It is in fact that same lewdness that contributes (mind you, only contributes and not completes... intelligent humour is best when combined with low-brow) to the hilarity.
I hope this made at least partial sense.
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