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A review by manwithanagenda
Shoebag by M.E. Kerr, Mary James
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A bizarre junior companion to Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis' about a young cockroach who suddenly finds himself turned into a little boy. His family is horrified, at his appearance, and at the prospect of being stepped on by accident. His father disowns him immediately.
The Biddles, whose apartment Shoebag and his family cheerfully reside in between regular fumigations, on finding the naked boy in their closet, believe his story of amnesia and adopt him, renaming him Stuart Bagg. The Biddles' seven-year-old daughter Eunice is called Pretty Soft, after the toilet paper she endorses and is kept away from all bad thoughts to preserve her youthful appearance. Her tutor Madame Grande a la Grande seems intent on making her into Norma Desmond from 'Sunset Boulevard'.
Shoebag has a hard time adjusting as a human, especially when he starts going to school and he and other children are made outcasts because of appearances. His cockroach family, particularly his father, grows ever more distant.
I was in the throes of a bad cold and drinking a lot of cough syrup while reading this, but I mean, this book has a whole lot more going than is fair. Literary allusions (a boy named Gregor Samson shows up at school) aside, James tells a pretty good story about moral relativism, dysfunctional homelifes (the Biddles and his cockroach parents are problematic), loving your differences, etc. It's candy-coated and ridiculous, but a keeper. There's also some black humor concerning the predations of a jumping spider and the general filthiness of humanity that's icing on the cake.
It reminded me, too, about the 2007 gritty noir 'Kockroach', but Kockroach had a great deal more fun as a human and held a great deal less of the fuzzy sentiments that Shoebag and friends celebrated.
The Biddles, whose apartment Shoebag and his family cheerfully reside in between regular fumigations, on finding the naked boy in their closet, believe his story of amnesia and adopt him, renaming him Stuart Bagg. The Biddles' seven-year-old daughter Eunice is called Pretty Soft, after the toilet paper she endorses and is kept away from all bad thoughts to preserve her youthful appearance. Her tutor Madame Grande a la Grande seems intent on making her into Norma Desmond from 'Sunset Boulevard'.
Shoebag has a hard time adjusting as a human, especially when he starts going to school and he and other children are made outcasts because of appearances. His cockroach family, particularly his father, grows ever more distant.
I was in the throes of a bad cold and drinking a lot of cough syrup while reading this, but I mean, this book has a whole lot more going than is fair. Literary allusions (a boy named Gregor Samson shows up at school) aside, James tells a pretty good story about moral relativism, dysfunctional homelifes (the Biddles and his cockroach parents are problematic), loving your differences, etc. It's candy-coated and ridiculous, but a keeper. There's also some black humor concerning the predations of a jumping spider and the general filthiness of humanity that's icing on the cake.
It reminded me, too, about the 2007 gritty noir 'Kockroach', but Kockroach had a great deal more fun as a human and held a great deal less of the fuzzy sentiments that Shoebag and friends celebrated.