 |
Why isn't a bird called a fly? Are lights called lights because they aren't heavy? What good are armpits? Tall tales answer silly questions like these and others with which the book is concerned. For example, one story explains that a fish is called a fish because a Finn "fished" (wished, in a Finnish accent) he knew what the thing he saw swimming was called. Like other tall tales about a boll weevil and another about an aardvark, some stories take their inspiration from funny creatures instead of questions.
Other chapters revolve around wordplay, like the one titled "A Case of a Sole Sole and Sole Cell in a Cell in Seoul." While these words weave together with purpose into a narrative about an amoeba pursuing her life's dream, other wordplay appears in short-joke form. Several poems to Harvey's wife, bosses, and golf, among other subjects, change up the prose pattern. One story riffs on song lyrics, another satirizes a Shakespeare play, and a few make light of baseball. Almost anything, to Harvey, can elicit a comic response. One-panel, hand-drawn cartoons divide the chapters.
The variety and brevity of the stories make the book easy to read in bite-sized doses of clean humor (except for a chapter on flatulence and one about dung). The book is not all whimsy and levity, though. Poems to his wife, letters from workmates, and an article about Harvey's involvement in the nonprofit organization Junior Achievement reveal a loving husband and a hardworking character beyond his jesting. Harvey says trying to keep up with other military personnel sparked his interest in wit. The book of language play, written over decades, demonstrates a honed craft that piques one's ear for hearing puns and making one's own.