Stolen from Gypsies

Rating:
Summary: A Rare Find
Review: Noble Smith - where are you? And why aren't you writing more???

Anyone who reads Stolen From Gypsies will understand it's universal 5-star rating. You don't have to be a Shakespeare connoisseur or Anglophile to enjoy this hilarious verbal romp through a magical gypsy tale - although it helps! Never fear, there's a glossary in the back for those unfamiliar with terms like "fartleberry" and "shirt-lifter." Noble's mastery of verbal repartee translates full-strength onto the page: when you hit one of the many hilarious verbal volleys, read them aloud and you'll be holding your sides with laughter.

If you're looking for a baudy, somewhat raunchy, rollicking romp, do yourself a favor and pick up Stolen From Gypsies. You'll not regret it!

Rating:
Summary: A RANDY ROMP
Review: Noble Smith has crafted a comic gem steeped in history and infused with decadent wordplay. Daggers and tongues unsheathe with equal exuberance as we hear the tale of the afflicted (struck by love and an inability to articulate) Godfrey's transformation into the loquacious Gypsy. The characters are so richly drawn and the verbal exchanges so wittily executed that the novel plays like a film in the reader's mind ... with many a smile cracked along the way. The guilt of enjoying humour frequently reserved for 12-year-old boys - the breaking of wind, the making of water, the taking of mistress - is alleviated by Smith's brilliant use of language. A treasure tome not to be missed.

Rating:
Summary: Shakespearean style, Python humor and Black Adder wit!
Review: Noble Smith's, Stolen From Gypsies, reads like a Shakespearean comedy, but it's got a twist. All the Playwright's elements and plot devices are present from female characters disguised as male characters to long lost twins finding each other at last to letters accidentally crossed. Even the ending is typically theatrical with all the characters joining together on the stage as the author brings together the missing threads of the story.

But the ancient Playwright would probably bounce his ancient coffin right out of the ground with laughter could he read this piece of finely crafted wit. For though the structure of the story reads like a play, such Elizabethan bawdiness and humor as is found in Gypies has not been heard since Black Adder and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Smith doesn't skip a page without leaving one shocked with mirth over his Elizabethan "codpiece" humor or rolling with laughter over his descriptions of life in Carthusalem or the bawdy antics of his characters. A young man stolen from gypsies as a baby, a flatulent homunculus, and a she-devil out to get the protagonist's soul are just some of the characters which bound across and through this brilliantly fashioned plot.

But one must not neglect to mention the narrator -- an infirm man whose frequent "beet-juice enemas", doctor's visits and stool sample checks have left him with little joy in life. And it is he who is documenting the tale originally told to him by the gypsy. He reads the story to his lackey -- a crude but delightful little man whose own story of the "clock-sniffer" leaves the reader prostrate with laughter. Together they take us through the comical scenes of the gypsy's tale, made even more hilarious by their constant witty banter. And finally, after the story is told, our narrator -- like his own protagonist -- discovers life anew and overcomes his own infirmities.

In short, if you love the antics of Monty Python, the wit of Black Adder or the well crafted plots of the Shakespearean comedies -- or if you just love a good bawdy story with Elizabethan flare (and I dare say smell!) -- then you'll be delighted with this highly intelligent, hilariously bawdy, well told tale.

Rating:
Summary: Stolen From Gypsies is a beautifully written laugh riot
Review: Stolen From Gypsies is an incredibly creative and fun-filled take on the classic love story. Noble Smith has created a rich and detailed fantasy world for his "book within a book" while loading the "real" world of the narrator with juicy historical tidbits. Part of the fun of the book for me was translating the invented words with the helpful glossary in the back of the book. I laughed out loud at many points during the day it took me to devour this charming book. The humor is lavished over every word, but the book is not a hollow series of comic "interlewds" (to quote one of the characters); the central messages of looking beyond surface impressions, of faith in one's self, and of relishing the beautiful in the absurd are timeless and important. Who doesn't need to be reminded of these things from time to time? Calling it a comic fairy tale for adults is about as close as I can come to categorizing Stolen From Gypsies; it defies categorization while remaining totally accessible. I highly recommend Noble Smith's Stolen From Gypsies.

Rating:
Summary: Best of Both Worlds
Review: Stolen from Gypsies is one of those rare books that is really laugh out loud funny but also extremely well-written. It is truly delightful how Smith bombards us with low brow humor (e.g. enemas) but manages to do so in a thoroughly intelligent way. His wit shines in this novel. I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys reading great literature but is in need of a good laugh.

Rating:
Summary: "You will find out soon enough.That is part of the mystery."
Review: This is easily the most satisfying tale I've read in a very long time. Rambunctious and witty, vastly imaginative, racingly-paced, and always downright funny, Stolen from Gypsies is a book for anyone who loves a great yarn spun with great skill. The author is drunk like a lord on the rich, mad joy of the English language itself, but not only can he hold his liquor, he turns the wildness of our words, old and new, into pure, narrative gold. This book is no spare, dry, modern comment on our brief, contemporary moment; it's a hot-blooded, hip-wading, sly-winking romp through the rich, roiling tradition of hundreds of years of broadly comic tale-telling. Full of exaggerated characters with outrageous names who do, say, and think extraordinary things, and written with appreciable literary and historical wisdom and wit, this story is firmly rooted in what everyone will recognize and appreciate as the ancient tradition of classically good storytelling.

Have you been yearning for an irrepresibly laugh-out-loud tale which steeps you in history and adventure, cozies you near and dear to absurd characters, bashes you good-naturedly about the head with old English slang, and goads you into turning the pages in equal measure of curiosity, surprise, and happy contentment of perhaps the most familiar, well-loved experience language can give us--the pleasure of a great story wondrously unfolding? Then you'll love this book; it's a true pleasure.

Post-note for all you hybridization fans: think Anthony Burgess's "Nothing Like the Sun" (a brilliant masterpiece) crossed with something more outright comic--the Monty Python movie epics will have to do for now. Maybe another reader will come up with the perfect title here...