Author: James Finn Garner
Year of Publication: 1994
Genre: Satire, fairy tales
Pages: 79
First Line: (Of the Introduction:) "When they were first written, the stories on which the following tales are based certainly served their purpose--to entrench the patriarchy, to estrange people from their own natural impulses, to demonize "evil" and to "reward" an "objective" "good."
Summary: Once upon a time, in the olden days, heavy-set middle-aged men would congregate in their elitist clubs, sit in over-stuffed leather chairs, smoke air-choking cigars, and pitch story ideas and plots to each other. Problem was, these stories, many of which founds their way into the general social consciousness, reflected the way in which these men lived and saw their world: that is the stories were sexist, discriminatory, unfair, culturally biased, and in general, demeaning to witches, animals, goblins, and fairies everywhere.
Finally, after centuries of these abusive tales, which have been handed down--unknowingly--from one male-biased generation to the next, James Finn Garner has taken it upon himself (that's right, yet another man) to enlighten and liberate these classic bedtime stories and retell them in a way that is much more in keeping with the society in which we live today.
Source: Back of book
Review: I read this while writing an essay about politically correctness, but I had been meaning to read it anyway. It wasn't quite as "smart" as I had expected it to be, but it was pretty funny and absurd in some parts. It only took half-an-hour or forty-five minutes to read so it's worth it if you're waiting at the doctor's office or just want a little laugh.
Worst part: I was disappointed with the lack of a real biting intelligence but that isn't to say it was stupid.
Best part: The concept of this collection is really interesting.
Grade: C+
Other Books by This Author: Politically Correct. . .
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