America's beloved writer, Lilian Jackson Braun, author of twenty-four Cat Who...mysteries, is now the subject of a mystery herself. In Robert Kaplow's brilliant and bawdy parody, Ms. Jackson's headless body has been discovered in the men's room of a bar in Lower Manhattan. The police are busy filming reality television shows, and so it falls to Braun writer friend James Qafka and his Siamese cats, Ying-and Poon-Tang, to solve the ghastly mystery. Q.'s quest leads him on a wildly satirical chase that combines the spirits of Lenny Bruce, Dashiell Hammett, and the Hope/Crosby "Road" pictures. Before it's over, we're encountered a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, a sex-starved suburban housewife, a mysterious Hollywood diary, Harry Houdini, a sinister cult, and two gifted cats who lead Q. and his spunky undergraduate assistant to finally unravel the riddle of The Cat Who Killed Lilian Jackson Braun.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
February 6, 2007 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- File size: 132549 KB
- Duration: 04:36:08
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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This vicious and delicious parody satisfies on many levels. The much-beloved world of bestselling author Lilian Jackson Braun (author of an endless series of The Cat Who. . . . mysteries) is whipsawed through Kaplow's bizarre and hilarious filter until it resembles the seaminess real life often holds. That Braun is murdered horribly and has led a sordid second life is just the beginning. Enjoy the remainder of this R-rated parody with reader Arte Johnson, who deadpans a wicked George Guidall impression throughout. (Guidall has voiced all of the actual Braun audiobooks.) Johnson never overplays the comedy, and adds wonderful fillips of innuendo and archness throughout his performance. Not for the easily offended, but a deeply funny recording. D.J.B. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine -
March 10, 2003
In this wildly funny, biting satire, in which James Qafka, noted children's book author and his cats, Ying-Tong and Poon-Tang, investigate the ghastly murder of Lilian Jackson Braun, Kaplow's shotgun approach shatters his main targets and does a lot of collateral damage as well. Like Mad
magazine humor, the zingers come quickly, lancing Britney Spears on one page, delivering a glancing blow to "Murder, She Wrote" on the next and giving a resounding slap to Oprah Winfrey a couple of pages after that. The copious puns range from the simple to the elaborate, and include a perfect gem complete in a one-page chapter. As is true with the author and sleuth the book parodies, readers are more likely to be along for the joy of the journey than for the nominal mystery. But where the real Lilian Jackson Braun chronicles a whitebread world of gentility and graciousness, Kaplow's fevered imagination brings forth a torrent of insults, invective and invention. Who else would create a confluence of Mary Astor, Dashiell Hammett, Arthur Conan Doyle and Jackie Gleason, while at the same time paying particular tribute to The Maltese Falcon? LJB purists may not be amused, and the same might be said of staunch Philip Roth fans, for Roth plays a unique role in Kaplow's opus. The rest of the reading public may read and roar. (Apr. 1)Forecast:While readers familiar with Lilian Jackson Braun's bestselling "Cat Who…" series are the obvious target audience, the book's literate if at times tasteless humor should ensure it reaches well beyond mystery buffs. Promotion on NPR, for which the author created the Morning Edition program Moe Moskowitz and the Punsters, will give a boost.
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