The Afterlife Diet - Hardcover

Pinkwater, Daniel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679419365 ISBN 13: 9780679419365

Publisher: Random House, 1995

Synopsis

In a heaven reserved for the obese, Milton Green, a second-rate editor who died under mysterious circumstances, ponders his life, his romance with an equally obese woman, and the conditions of his demise

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Reviews

The gonzo humor and imagination that popularize Pinkwater as both NPR commentator and children's author permeate every line of his hilarious third novel for adults. Echoing A Confederacy of Dunces in tone, iconoclasm and choice of subject matter (right down to the inclusion of fat men, hot dog vendors and Trailways buses), this is an out-there New York Jewish fantasy of dizzying proportions and convolutions. Hugely obese and a "lousy" editor,' Milton Cramer is murdered and finds himself in a Heaven that is a Catskills resort where everyone is "circumferentially challenged," God is a stand-up comic and there are no prunes. In flashbacks, Milton's nemesis turns out to have been Milo Levi-Nathan, former employee of Bird Wirld [sic], owned by his stepfather, Felix MacGregor. Milo subsequently becomes a counterman at Rubenstein's Orthodox Hot Dogs and sends proposals for novels (like Mamzers from Cassiopea [sic]) to Milton. Milton rejects them all, including one he has lost without reading. So when Felix anoints Milo as a son of his ancestral Blint (you have to be there) and orders him to fulfill his destiny, Milo murders Milton. Throughout, the spherical antagonists bounce up against one another and a riotous supporting cast, including a face-stuffing psychiatrist, a channeling literary thief, deli owners, publishing moguls, diet gurus and big women. You need a wacko sense of humor for this one, but those who qualify will read it a dozen times over and laugh out loud each time. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

NPR commentator and author Pinkwater writes for kids of all ages. Here he has concocted a satirical novel about--let's not mince words--fat people. When Milton Cramer, an enormous book editor at a schlocky sf publishing house, dies, he finds himself in a heaven that resembles, horror of horrors, a Catskill resort. Everyone is fat and sarcastic, and God has a terrible stand-up routine, but the food is "literally to die for." In the evenings, all the happy campers show up at the casino, where the prizes include oblivion and rebirth. Corny? You bet. But things are no less goofy on earth, where a psychotherapist, Dr. Plotkin, sees patients in a deli and hot dogs are considered powerful aphrodisiacs. Then there's Milo, frustrated author of Call Me Whale (Moby Dick from the whale's perspective), who is working on a series of progressively bizarre book proposals featuring rotund detectives and classy dames ("a knockout . . . and there's plenty of her"); an immense, intergalactic pharmacy; and aliens who look like trees. Like rich food, this novel will either bring you pleasure or give you dyspepsia. Donna Seaman

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0679419365
• ISBN 13: 9780679419365
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 259