Seven Books for Grossman by Morris Lurie

Details: Cover shown is the 1983 Penguin Books (Aust) first softcover edition. Cover art by Janet Goodchild-Cuffley. 110p.

Blurb: "In debt to gangsters, hitmen in hot pursuit, Fielding, a Professor of Literature, holes up (disguised as a woman) in a classy hotel, pounds out pornography to save his neck... fierce sleazy parodies of Hemingway, Faulkner, Vonnegut et al, the literary greats. These are for Grossman, the wily proprietor of Grossman Press, a master of wit and parody himself. The professor meets the pornographer. And the games begin."

Verdict: This rather strange, rather dirty book was read in less than an hour. I enjoyed it... it made me laugh and kept me constantly entertained. On the negative side, it conjured up some disturbing visual images that will no doubt linger in my mind for days to come. The Old Man and The Sea by Hemingway will never be looked at in quite the same way again! Nor will archy and mehitabel by Don Marquis, which is on my To Read pile.

And Fielding is nothing if not classy: "His shirt and jacket were classic Chanel, his silk blouse from Jaegar, his handbag and gloves and high-heeled pumps matching and authentic Gucci. He wore a Number 7 eyeliner by Elizabeth Arden with lashes colour-cued, his cheeks and lips were Helena Rubenstein, his scent Paco Rabanne. A small amethyst set in platinum rode on the froth of silk over his Warners Formfit bra."

The aptly named Grossman was my favourite character (despite the pink tutu and fairy wand).