BuzzFlash Reviews

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS

"The book is one of those rare works of satire that combine creative form, uproariously funny text and a painfully sharp underpinning of social criticism."

From Publishers Weekly:

The authors are well-known comedians. The photographer is a famous designer. The result is unlike anything the genre of humorous fiction has seen before. The book tells, sort of, the story of Wigfield, a small town that realizes it's in danger when the government wants to destroy a local dam in order to protect the local salmon population. Faced with imminent flood, the town solicits Russell Hokes, a self-centered hack journalist, who hopes to capture the undying spirit of the all-American small town. Wigfield, alas, is very far from living up to the bucolic image it intends to foster, and as the dam draws nearer to destruction, so does Wigfield's self-created myth. The plot unfolds as a series of interviews Hokes conducts with local residents, accompanied by droll, surreal photographs by Oldham. In the end, Hokes succeeds in his goal, which is, as he notes in his attached r‚sum‚, to "write a book, other than the ones that I have already written, so that I may use my words like a sword of swift justice in service of the truth, but in an easy-to-read, highly marketable way." He does so, however, not by creating a Capraesque tribute to smalltown America, but by unwittingly exposing the bumbling foolery beneath its surface. The book is one of those rare works of satire that combine creative form, uproariously funny text and a painfully sharp underpinning of social criticism.

If you want to "meet" some of the residents of Wigfield, go to: Wigfield Neighborhood

TheBookHaven.net says:

"Readers familiar with the Sedaris name, the Daily Show, or The Second City will be on the same wavelength as Wigfield. Nearly every line of the book is funny for those who can identify and appreciate edgy humor. You'll find that there is a little bit of Wigfield in every town.

Sedaris, Dinello and Colbert successfully deliver silly, pure satire as expected. Photos of the authors posing as residents will burn an image of the town on your brain and make Wigfield a memorable read."

BUZZFLASH REVIEWS