Night of the Avenging Blowfish: A Novel of Covert Operations, Love, and Luncheon Meat

Rating:
Summary: Sets a record for the # of plotlines left unresolved...
Review:
If you've read Catch-22, envision the protagonist Yossarian as a love-sick secret service agent - that's this book. The writing is funny/cynical but there is almost no sustained plot. A covert baseball game between the secret service and CIA ends in a thud. The luncheon meat scandal just kind of hangs around, before whimpering out without much of a climax. The love story is left hanging as are several other minor plotlines. Also, a large part of the book is comprised of the main character, Doyle, pining over the woman he loves. That part of the book is like reading 50-pages of whining, love-sick, dreck.

The bottom-line is that Welter has a funny writing style, but there wasn't much of a plot, the plotlines that were there generally went unresolved, and Doyle's obsession with Natelle got old really fast. It all added up to a pretty average read, in my humble opinion, but I liked the author's "voice" enough that I'll probably try another of his books.


Rating:
Summary: Sets a record for the # of plotlines left unresolved...
Review:
If you've read Catch-22, envision the protagonist Yossarian as a love-sick secret service agent - that's this book. The writing is funny/cynical but there is almost no sustained plot. A covert baseball game between the secret service and CIA ends in a thud. The luncheon meat scandal just kind of hangs around, before whimpering out without much of a climax. The love story is left hanging as are several other minor plotlines. Also, a large part of the book is comprised of the main character, Doyle, pining over the woman he loves. That part of the book is like reading 50-pages of whining, love-sick, dreck.

The bottom-line is that Welter has a funny writing style, but there wasn't much of a plot, the plotlines that were there generally went unresolved, and Doyle's obsession with Natelle got old really fast. It all added up to a pretty average read, in my humble opinion, but I liked the author's "voice" enough that I'll probably try another of his books.


Rating:
Summary: Cute, but left me wanting more
Review: I was indeed swayed by the 5 stars that this book garnered from other readers. I thought the book was funny in a few places, but I wanted more depth. The characters are one dimensional, and nobody has that kind of witty banter all of the time. Mostly, I felt sorry for this 41-year-old-man who had never experienced love and was confusing sex with love. I really enjoyed the part of making a mockery out of the president, but why does a blow-up pig in a wherehouse of unwanted Spam make people laugh? I am a fast reader, and this should have been a fast read, but I was bogged down. I liked the relationship Doyle had with his psychiatrist almost more than anything. I noticed that when the book set the reader up for a hilarious scene, I was ultimately left shaking my head, as I knew it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't. My biggest laughs in the book (and there were many laughs) came from incidental comments. The book has enough slapstick, and I think it would make a great comedy film. Maybe Jim Carrey could bring Doyle to life, but to me, Doyle is a bit of a sad loser with a big gun. And, the book made me hungry for spam, which is never a good thing...

Rating:
Summary: The funniest book that will send you into a depression.
Review: John Welter calls up fond memories of Joseph Heller's' Catch-22 with his main characters irreverent logic and uncompromising honesty. This and Catch-22 are two of the only books I've red that made me laugh out loud at least once a page. The big difference is that N.of the A.B.F. is so depressingly sad that at times I was scared to keep reading.

The main character, Doyle Coldiron, is in the Secret Service, along with his wacky co-workers, his job is to protect important and respected people, people whom he believes "don't deserve to be important, much less respected". Doyle spends most of his days fervently contemplating his lonely existence and dreaming of the one woman he loves, even though she is married and he knows that it can never be. Coldiron is a truly likable character and I felt his heartache; what could be better proof of a good book?

Some may say that Welter repeats his ideas (contemplations on loneliness and hurt) too often. However, I believe that he is only trying to impress upon the reader Doyle's' profound loneliness.

I would highly recommend this to any one who liked Yossarian or anyone who likes to laugh. If you're like me, you'll be rooting for Doyle the whole way.


Rating:
Summary: More of the same
Review: This book could be neatly summed up by repeating the review for Welter's first book. This time, he satirizes the Secret Service, a welcome departure of milieu. Again, he dazzles with exciting and fast moving one-liners and situation comedy. When he's on, he's laugh-out funny.

Unfortunately, just as in his first book, the formula begins wearing itself out about half-way through the book. Over time, a sense of cohesive plotting diminishes and the book appears to be turning into a string of short-stories. Once again, his views on relationships and the codependent pursuit of a woman savior become increasingly nauseating and embarassing.

Great highpoints, and ho-hum fillers reduce this book to an averaged-out passing grade of "mediocre."

Rating:
Summary: Has its moments, but kind of tedious
Review: This book looked great - cover blurb by Joseph Heller, comparisons to Dave Barry, a quirky title. But Welter's interesting ideas -- a top-secret baseball game between the CIA and the Secret Service, a drunken piano-playing ambassador, a national scandal over canned meat -- can't seem to rise above his shallow characters, superficial and tedious love story and dialogue that rings false when it tries to hard to be witty. Welter falls back on a lot of one-trick jokes -- like the Stealth kite, an invisible kite -- that don't advance the plot or reveal anything about the characters. With his wry Washington insider stance, Welter very much wants to be Christopher Buckley -- except he's not half as funny. Frankly, I expected more from a book brilliantly subtitled "a tale of covert operations, love and luncheon meat."

Rating:
Summary: Outrageously funny...
Review: Welter's book is hilarious! In a very sarcastic and Seinfeldish way, Welter makes fun of all the stupid things in life that we take for granted (like the fact that many of us believe in everything the Bible says but don't know any of it). What I really enjoyed is seeing how retarded and sappy us men can get when we fixate on women.

Very easy reading that really unwinds you and leaves you in a great mood... This old woman on the metro started to crack up after she saw me laughing uncontrollably while reading the book!

Rating:
Summary: A wacky title and a wonderful story
Review: When I first ordered this book, I had no idea what to expect. However, I was pleasantly suprised to find a gem of a story hidden behind an eye-catching title. One minute I found myself laughing hysterically at witty puns, the next I was feeling a real empathy for the main characters loneliness, and the one after that I was nodding in agreement about with astute observations about the human experience. It is an odd book with an age old story at its core...a must read for anyone with a sense of humor, an aching heart, or any other feeling that makes us all human.