Rating: 
Summary: A first-rate comic effort, RED MEAT will have you laughing
Review: If your job has you down and you find yourself constantly ridden by an overbearing, obnoxious blowhard of a boss, spare a thought for Sky Thorne, protagonist and corporate whipping boy in Starbuck O'Dwyer's first novel, "Red Meat Cures Cancer" (originally published by a small press in 2002, the novel is being reissued by Vintage). A raucous and frenzied tale, "Red Meat" is the story of Thorne, a 46-year- old senior vice president of Tailburger, a renegade fast-food establishment known for its deep-fried, cheese-smothered burgers and the Tailfrap, a beef- flavored shake. Thorne has problems, and they go beyond his dealings with his boss, Tailburger President Frank Fanoflincoln, a reprehensible sort who changed his name as a young man to reflect his fanaticism for Abraham Lincoln. The rabid anti-meat group SERMON -- a.k.a. Stop Eating Red Meat Now -- has Tailburger in its crosshairs. The company's celebrity spokesman, the Belgian basketball wonder Jelloteous Junderstack, has a heart condition made worse by the product he's endorsing. Tailburger's latest ad campaign -- with its slogan "Why just abuse your body when you can torture it?" -- is going over as well as a burger at a tofu convention. On his quest for personal and professional fulfillment, Thorne finds himself kicked in the groin by love, dealing with a daughter who wants her chest enhanced and fighting accusations that he's part of a porn ring preying on disabled kids. Things only get more surreal from there. In the book's opening chapters, it seems that O'Dwyer is working hard to pack a punch line into every sentence. As the story progresses, however, the humor becomes more understated and, as a result, a lot more effective. A first-rate comic effort, "Red Meat" will have you laughing cover to cover. -- Simon Read - San Francisco Chronicle February 8, 2004
Rating: 
Summary: A Failed Attempt at Intelligent Satire
Review: O'Dwyer's "Red Meat..." attempts to provide a somewhat scathing view of fast food giants and big business alike. Though his writing elicits a laugh or two, the reader is left with an empty feeling, a feeling that something greater was intended. The novel is schizoid in delivery, hopping from situation to rushed situation without any true development of character, circumstance, plot, and (more importantly) depth. The promising topic (especially in light of the publication and subsequent success of Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation") was left by the wayside by an utterly unfulfilling execution of authorship. The focus, and thus the importance, of the novel was lost and marked irretrievable by publication. Though initially engaging, interest wanes and drags onward toward the middle and end of the book--quite antithetical and even perfunctory to the fine art of literature. All in all, I cannot recommend this book for anyone who is looking for more than a few good laughs (and perhaps that is just what he intended). Those looking for an important blow at modern society should keep browsing. Better luck with the next one Starbuck.
Rating:
Summary: Laughter is the Best Medicine
Review: Outrageous and smart humor makes this book an enjoyable read. The story starts so far from reality and coherently spins out of control, I found myself searching for real-world parallels. This is an effective technique making the story work and the characters memorable. Like a recurring, well done Saturday Night Live sketch (Will Ferrell as George W. Bush or Darrell Hammond as Chris Matthews "Hardball") the caricatures follow the subject and continue to entertain far into the future. Red Meat will no doubt have the same result for the many stereotypes O'Dwyer weaves into the book. I love stories set in familiar places and I think this is the first book I have ever read set in Rochester NY, where I grew up. The many popular landmarks from upstate NY added to the story md
Michael Duranko
www.bootism.com
Rating:
Summary: Laughter is the Best Medicine
Review: Outrageous and smart humor makes this book an enjoyable read. The story starts so far from reality and coherently spins out of control, I found myself searching for real-world parallels. This is an effective technique making the story work and the characters memorable. Like a recurring, well done Saturday Night Live sketch (Will Ferrell as George W. Bush or Darrell Hammond as Chris Matthews "Hardball") the caricatures follow the subject and continue to entertain far into the future. Red Meat will no doubt have the same result for the many stereotypes O'Dwyer weaves into the book. I love stories set in familiar places and I think this is the first book I have ever read set in Rochester NY, where I grew up. The many popular landmarks from upstate NY added to the story md
Michael Duranko
www.bootism.com
Rating: 
Summary: good solid story
Review: overall a solid story. great developed characters, you know the people he describes. nothing too original, a bit slow at the beginning, but it picks up about 1/3 of the way in. the ending was done well. there are a few bright spots in the book, parts that shine, but as a whole, it is an even keel book.
Rating:
Summary: A Hilarious Spoof and Satire of the Fast-Food Industry
Review: Schuyler Witherbee Thorne, 45, the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President in charge of marketing at Tailburger, Inc. of Rochester, New York, has a problem.
Frank T. Fanoflincoln (aka "The Link"), a Civil War buff who has legally changed his name, is the founder and President of Tailburger and the father of the golf-obsessed triplets Ned, Ted, and Fred ("a triumvirate of stupidity"). The Link gives Sky an ultimatum: "Pull Tailburger out of its tailspin. Increase our market share to five percent or you will be 'let go.' "
The flagship sandwich of the franchise, known as the Tailpipe, consists of four batter-dipped, deep-fried patties of red meat and a bun, held together by five generous dollops of Cajun-style mayonnaise. For the "fast food outlaws" at Tailburger all talk of "no fat, low fat, reduced fat, artificial fat" is anathema.
Tailburger's customers? "We go after the disenchanted, the disaffected, the dispirited and the dispossessed. We go after the self-mutilators, manic-depressives, agoraphobics, crackheads, scoop fiends, and redneck trailer trash. We're banking on the fact that most Americans would rather be fat and happy than thin and deprived."
At "Cholesterol City" the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. Advertising campaigns, no matter how mendacious, are launched if they will increase revenue. It's full speed ahead into the coronary zone, and the public be damned.
With twenty years of faithful service at Tailburger, and only six months to go until retirement, Sky looks forward to a well-deserved pension. But, given declining sales and spirited attacks by consumer advocate groups such as SERMON (Stop Eating Red Meat Now), Sky's work is cut out for him.
A widower and father of two semi-estranged grown children (Ethan and Sophia), Sky is basically a decent man who strives for moral integrity, peace of mind, and someone whom he can love and who will love him.
Trouble is, Sky, has been caught up in the rat race of pursuing the American Dream. Snared in a tangled web of deception, he cuts corners, tweaks and twists the truth, and fabricates inaccuracies. Let's face it: he lies.
Sky has a torrid encounter with Muffet Meaney, SERMON's tofu-munching, "politically correct," nymphomaniac who zealously warns consumers of Carnegeddon. He even makes a videotape of their erotic tryst. He soon realizes, however, that the real prize is Rochester's mayor, Annette McNabnay, an intelligent, beautiful, and caring woman.
Sky's "New Age" do-nothing older brother, King, who flits from job to job, seeks to heal Sky's "chee" (restore his "inner harmony") with a mishmash of Taoism, Buddhism, and Qigong, and a regimen of chai tea, organic polenta, and various soybean derivatives.
The plot thickens (sickens?) when Sky's best friend, Cal Perkins, convinces Sky to link Tailburger with a pornographic website and promote a sordid (and, as it turns out, illegal) sweepstakes at Nevada's www.lustranch.com
"Lies are wonderful devices," muses Sky. "Like hidden mines, however, they forever threaten to blow you up if you aren't careful. . . . Why do my desires and basic needs continually put me at odds with the truth? I'd started my life with the desire to have the fortitude of David Copperfield and I'd ended with the weakness of Pip."
All of his life, Sky has dreamed of escaping the rat race and sailing to Tahiti, where he will find the elusive peace of mind. Will he find love and happiness or will he be sent to prison for his shady deeds? At the end, just when it seems that Sky's ship has come in--literally--a shattering bolt from the sky, a deus ex machina, writes finis to his tale (tail?).
A rip-roaring spoof of the fast food industry and a withering satire of pork barrel politics, corruption, nepotism, toadyism, bribery, and blackmail, Red Meat Cures Cancer is a veritable primer of political incorrectness.
Raunchy, risque, and ribald, this ribbing of American pop culture is a comic romp--a hoot, a howl, a sidesplitting takeoff. If Starbuck O'Dwyer's novel doesn't make you laugh hysterically, you don't have a funny bone in your body.
Red Meat Cures Cancer, however, is more than slapstick comedy. There's also a serious leitmotif here of pathos and tragedy. Commenting on the sad state of American culture, O'Dwyer opines that the false idols of money, fame, power and youth thrive because of the perceived void of worthier things to believe in.
"Life, I'd learned," says Sky, "is just one big accumulation of wounds. Now I needed time to heal." Apparently, O'Dwyer is saying that we are fortunate if, in the end, we have found more joy in life than woe.
A well-crafted book, Red Meat Cures Cancer moves briskly; its characters, dialogue, and story line snap, crackle, and pop--like juicy burgers sizzling on a red-hot grill. Starbuck O'Dwyer has written a winner.
Starbuck O'Dwyer is a graduate of Princeton, Oxford, and Cornell Universities. Originally from Rochester, New York, he now lives near Washington, D.C. You can visit his website at www.starbuckodwyer.com
Roy E. Perry of Nolensville is an amateur philosopher, Civil War buff, chess enthusiast, and classical music lover. He is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville Publishing House.
Rating:
Summary: A Hilarious Spoof and Satire of the Fast-Food Industry
Review: Schuyler Witherbee Thorne, 45, the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President in charge of marketing at Tailburger, Inc. of Rochester, New York, has a problem.
Frank T. Fanoflincoln (aka "The Link"), a Civil War buff who has legally changed his name, is the founder and President of Tailburger and the father of the golf-obsessed triplets Ned, Ted, and Fred ("a triumvirate of stupidity"). The Link gives Sky an ultimatum: "Pull Tailburger out of its tailspin. Increase our market share to five percent or you will be 'let go.' "
The flagship sandwich of the franchise, known as the Tailpipe, consists of four batter-dipped, deep-fried patties of red meat and a bun, held together by five generous dollops of Cajun-style mayonnaise. For the "fast food outlaws" at Tailburger all talk of "no fat, low fat, reduced fat, artificial fat" is anathema.
Tailburger's customers? "We go after the disenchanted, the disaffected, the dispirited and the dispossessed. We go after the self-mutilators, manic-depressives, agoraphobics, crackheads, scoop fiends, and redneck trailer trash. We're banking on the fact that most Americans would rather be fat and happy than thin and deprived."
At "Cholesterol City" the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. Advertising campaigns, no matter how mendacious, are launched if they will increase revenue. It's full speed ahead into the coronary zone, and the public be damned.
With twenty years of faithful service at Tailburger, and only six months to go until retirement, Sky looks forward to a well-deserved pension. But, given declining sales and spirited attacks by consumer advocate groups such as SERMON (Stop Eating Red Meat Now), Sky's work is cut out for him.
A widower and father of two semi-estranged grown children (Ethan and Sophia), Sky is basically a decent man who strives for moral integrity, peace of mind, and someone whom he can love and who will love him.
Trouble is, Sky, has been caught up in the rat race of pursuing the American Dream. Snared in a tangled web of deception, he cuts corners, tweaks and twists the truth, and fabricates inaccuracies. Let's face it: he lies.
Sky has a torrid encounter with Muffet Meaney, SERMON's tofu-munching, "politically correct," nymphomaniac who zealously warns consumers of Carnegeddon. He even makes a videotape of their erotic tryst. He soon realizes, however, that the real prize is Rochester's mayor, Annette McNabnay, an intelligent, beautiful, and caring woman.
Sky's "New Age" do-nothing older brother, King, who flits from job to job, seeks to heal Sky's "chee" (restore his "inner harmony") with a mishmash of Taoism, Buddhism, and Qigong, and a regimen of chai tea, organic polenta, and various soybean derivatives.
The plot thickens (sickens?) when Sky's best friend, Cal Perkins, convinces Sky to link Tailburger with a pornographic website and promote a sordid (and, as it turns out, illegal) sweepstakes at Nevada's www.lustranch.com
"Lies are wonderful devices," muses Sky. "Like hidden mines, however, they forever threaten to blow you up if you aren't careful. . . . Why do my desires and basic needs continually put me at odds with the truth? I'd started my life with the desire to have the fortitude of David Copperfield and I'd ended with the weakness of Pip."
All of his life, Sky has dreamed of escaping the rat race and sailing to Tahiti, where he will find the elusive peace of mind. Will he find love and happiness or will he be sent to prison for his shady deeds? At the end, just when it seems that Sky's ship has come in--literally--a shattering bolt from the sky, a deus ex machina, writes finis to his tale (tail?).
A rip-roaring spoof of the fast food industry and a withering satire of pork barrel politics, corruption, nepotism, toadyism, bribery, and blackmail, Red Meat Cures Cancer is a veritable primer of political incorrectness.
Raunchy, risque, and ribald, this ribbing of American pop culture is a comic romp--a hoot, a howl, a sidesplitting takeoff. If Starbuck O'Dwyer's novel doesn't make you laugh hysterically, you don't have a funny bone in your body.
Red Meat Cures Cancer, however, is more than slapstick comedy. There's also a serious leitmotif here of pathos and tragedy. Commenting on the sad state of American culture, O'Dwyer opines that the false idols of money, fame, power and youth thrive because of the perceived void of worthier things to believe in.
"Life, I'd learned," says Sky, "is just one big accumulation of wounds. Now I needed time to heal." Apparently, O'Dwyer is saying that we are fortunate if, in the end, we have found more joy in life than woe.
A well-crafted book, Red Meat Cures Cancer moves briskly; its characters, dialogue, and story line snap, crackle, and pop--like juicy burgers sizzling on a red-hot grill. Starbuck O'Dwyer has written a winner.
Starbuck O'Dwyer is a graduate of Princeton, Oxford, and Cornell Universities. Originally from Rochester, New York, he now lives near Washington, D.C. You can visit his website at www.starbuckodwyer.com
Roy E. Perry of Nolensville is an amateur philosopher, Civil War buff, chess enthusiast, and classical music lover. He is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville Publishing House.
Rating:
Summary: A Ribald Romp Spoofing the Fast-Food Industry
Review: Schuyler Witherbee Thorne, 45, the Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President in charge of marketing at Tailburger, Inc. of Rochester, New York, has a problem. Frank T. Fanoflincoln (aka "The Link"), a Civil War buff who has legally changed his name, is the founder and President of Tailburger and the father of the golf-obsessed triplets Ned, Ted, and Fred ("a triumvirate of stupidity"). The Link gives Sky an ultimatum: "Pull Tailburger out of its tailspin. Increase our market share to five percent or you will be 'let go.' " The flagship sandwich of the franchise, known as the Tailpipe, consists of four batter-dipped, deep-fried patties of red meat and a bun, held together by five generous dollops of Cajun-style mayonnaise. For the "fast food outlaws" at Tailburger all talk of "no fat, low fat, reduced fat, artificial fat" is anathema. Tailburger's customers? "We go after the disenchanted, the disaffected, the dispirited and the dispossessed. We go after the self-mutilators, manic-depressives, agoraphobics, crackheads, scoop fiends, and rednecks ... We're banking on the fact that most Americans would rather be fat and happy than thin and deprived." At "Cholesterol City" the bottom line is, well, the bottom line. Advertising campaigns, no matter how mendacious, are launched if they will increase revenue. It's full speed ahead into the coronary zone, and the public be damned. With twenty years of faithful service at Tailburger, and only six months to go until retirement, Sky looks forward to a well-deserved pension. But, given declining sales and spirited attacks by consumer advocate groups such as SERMON (Stop Eating Red Meat Now), Sky's work is cut out for him. A widower and father of two semi-estranged grown children (Ethan and Sophia), Sky is basically a decent man who strives for moral integrity, peace of mind, and someone whom he can love and who will love him. Trouble is, Sky, has been caught up in the rat race of pursuing the American Dream. Snared in a tangled web of deception, he cuts corners, tweaks and twists the truth, and fabricates inaccuracies. Let's face it: he lies. Sky has a torrid encounter with Muffet Meaney, SERMON's tofu-munching, "politically correct," nymphomaniac who zealously warns consumers of Carnegeddon. He even makes a videotape of their erotic tryst. He soon realizes, however, that the real prize is Rochester's mayor, Annette McNabnay, an intelligent, beautiful, and caring woman. Sky's "New Age" do-nothing older brother, King, who flits from job to job, seeks to heal Sky's "chee" (restore his "inner harmony") with a mishmash of Taoism, Buddhism, and Qigong, and a regimen of chai tea, organic polenta, and various soybean derivatives. The plot thickens (sickens?) when Sky's best friend, Cal Perkins, convinces Sky to link Tailburger with a pornographic website and promote a sordid (and, as it turns out, illegal) sweepstakes at Nevada's ... "Lies are wonderful devices," muses Sky. "Like hidden mines, however, they forever threaten to blow you up if you aren't careful. . . . Why do my desires and basic needs continually put me at odds with the truth? I'd started my life with the desire to have the fortitude of David Copperfield and I'd ended with the weakness of Pip." All of his life, Sky has dreamed of escaping the rat race and sailing to Tahiti, where he will find the elusive peace of mind. Will he find love and happiness or will he be sent to prison for his shady deeds? At the end, just when it seems that Sky's ship has come in--literally--a shattering bolt from the sky, a deus ex machina, writes finis to his tale (tail?). A rip-roaring spoof of the fast food industry and a withering satire of pork barrel politics, corruption, nepotism, toadyism, bribery, and blackmail, Red Meat Cures Cancer is a veritable primer of political incorrectness. Raunchy, risque, and ribald, this ribbing of American pop culture is a comic romp--a hoot, a howl, a sidesplitting takeoff. If Starbuck O'Dwyer's novel doesn't make you laugh hysterically, you don't have a funny bone in your body. Red Meat Cures Cancer, however, is more than slapstick comedy. There's also a serious leitmotif here of pathos and tragedy. Commenting on the sad state of American culture, O'Dwyer opines that the false idols of money, fame, power and youth thrive because of the perceived void of worthier things to believe in. "Life, I'd learned," says Sky, "is just one big accumulation of wounds. Now I needed time to heal." Apparently, O'Dwyer is saying that we are fortunate if, in the end, we have found more joy in life than woe. A well-crafted book, Red Meat Cures Cancer moves briskly; its characters, dialogue, and story line snap, crackle, and pop--like juicy burgers sizzling on a red-hot grill. Starbuck O'Dwyer has written a winner. Starbuck O'Dwyer is a graduate of Princeton, Oxford, and Cornell Universities. Originally from Rochester, New York, he now lives near Washington, D.C. You can visit his website ... Roy E. Perry of Nolensville is an amateur philosopher, Civil War buff, chess enthusiast, classical music lover, and aficionado of fine literature. He is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville Publishing House.
Rating:
Summary: beef and porn amok!
Review: Sky Thorne is a few months away from retiring from Tailburger, a lesser hamburger chain, when he has to up the market share to 5% in order to even collect his pension. He thus throws himself into the "Torture Your Body!" campaign and links it to his best friend's adult entertainment website (secret from his family.) Sky's two grown children (including an annoying daughter) take many a handout from him, and his deceased ex-wife's second husband is salivating at collecting half of Sky's pension, which would have gone to her anyway. The depiction of Sky is awesome -- he is so sarcastic, funny, hating his job (especially his moron underhanded boss who renamed himself "Fanoflincoln" in honor of Abraham, and his golf-crazy triplet sons). He comes up with some very true sayings "Guys would rather have their friends find their bodies at the bottom of a ravine with a note rather than tell them their problems -- it's just less trouble that way." If you ever read "Fast Food Nation", this is extra gruesome to read. But Sky is quite an entertaining train wreck -- even he knows it. It's great!
Rating:
Summary: "Red Meat" Is Hilarious
Review: This book is an outrageous satire on the fast food industry and all the people it touches. Perfect timing, given the insanity over cigarette and fast food lawsuits. It pokes expert fun at those who never blame themselves for their troubles and, in so doing, gives the reader some sober reflection on where we're headed as a society. O'Dwyer is a top-notch humorist and commentator. I cannot wait until his next one. I'm handing this one around as a Christmas gift. Cannot miss.
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