The Stench of Honolulu: A Tropical Adventure by Jack Handey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When you are reading a book by Jack Handey, and you come across a sentence such as: “The sun was like a blazing ball of fire in the sky,” you know you are witnessing genius.
Because yes, the sun literally is a blazing ball of fire in the sky, so structuring the sentence as a metaphor is ironic. But the word “fire” has connotations of heat, and with “blazing” it’s an unbearable, oppressive heat. So. Despite the irony, the description is perfect. This is also ironic. And achievable only in the context of this being a Jack Handey novel.
Art is all about consistency. Yes, The Stench of Honolulu is silly, but’s consistently silly. It’s unwavering, uncompromising. Anyone can make these jokes, but every paragraph, every sentence, for 165 pages? Only Jack Handey. I am not exaggerating: pure genius.
Right now, I’m only on page 64, but this is rapidly becoming of my all-time favorite books. Reviews continues when I finish.
[A few hours later] Okay all done. I was right—easily one of my all-time favorite books. I read it on my e-reader, but I tempted to go get the hard-back edition and keep it with me and read it over and over and over. I spoke about Art before. Let me bring it up once more: you know how people will see some piece of modern art, and say “I could have done that?”
The usual reply is “but you didn’t.” Well, let me be clear. I dare you to read The Stench of Honolulu and then say “I could have written that.” I guarantee you couldn’t.