The Stench of Honolulu

November 25, 2013
Humorist Handey’s first novel is a caper that follows two men rampaging through Hawaii in a quest to find the Golden Monkey, a mysterious treasure the exact nature of unknown to the adventurers (they know only that it is “goldish and monkey-ish”). As the heroes—a vaguely sociopathic narrator and his buddy Don—traipse across Hawaii to complete their search, they come face-to-face with natives and encounter various obstacles. The book’s tone is similar to the “Deep Thoughts” skits Handey performed on Saturday Night Live. Audiences who love the dry, mannered way Handey presented his one-liners on television are going to appreciate this audio edition. And, like David Sedaris, Handey’s authorial voice is so distinct that you wouldn’t want to hear anyone but the author reading his work. A Grand Central hardcover.

At first, Jack Handey's Forrest Gump-like reading of his book, which is not about any Honolulu on this planet, is perplexing; then the listener gets the joke. Jack Handey, right. He's the same Jack Handey whose "Deep Thoughts" segments delighted viewers of "Saturday Night Live" during the 1990s. So Handey deliberately performs his novel with the slow and silly style of a narrator who seems constantly amazed about what he's saying. The "hero" of the book is a disaster. He's a little mean-spirited as he searches Hawaii for a golden monkey, but most of his problems are caused by a Three Stooges level of stupidity. The listener is in on the gag as Handey narrates his adventures in sleepy, singsong style--as if he's telling the story to someone he met on a park bench. "Deep Thoughts" meet silly stories. M.S. 2014 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine