BY MARTIN CARTWRIGHT, ILLUSTRATIONS BY DON SEED (GLOVER’S YARD PUBLISHING, GREAT BRITAIN, 2007; 85 PAGES; $18.04)
REVIEWED BY SUSAN LYNN KINGSBURY
A Year in Flagrante is a collection of illustrated satirical correspondence sent to Captain Glover over a year’s worth of time. You’ll read responses from the powers that be — whether marine insurance chairmen, yacht club certification officers, marine supply salespersons or magazine editors — to Glover’s wild escapades and letters of complaint. Be prepared: the letters are blunt and scathing. Still, the imaginary Captain Glover remains an outrageous, shameless, extreme violator of all the rules — and he never apologizes or admits to being in the wrong. Instead, he is increasingly indignant.
Author Cartwright apparently is appealing to the maverick hidden inside some of us, the ones who say, “It’s not my fault!” or can’t figure out why bad things always happen to them.
Both the letters and illustrations are presented in a rebellious way, perhaps to remind us that these letters are simply parodies. Cartwright uses puns — plays on words — to draw the readers’ attention to the total nonsensicalness of the correspondence. Addresses like “Blackball Creek,” “Damforeigner Straat,” “Little Jobsworth” and authorities with names such as “Joy Forall,” Hugh Stickler,” and “Jack Blower” are used throughout the text. Likewise, the cartoon-like illustrations are further exaggerations of the brazen theme.
If you are looking for a light read this is a good “boat book” for you. But it’s not for everyone. Some may not find the “Benny Hill” slapstick-type humor tickles their funny bone.
