Another nice review, this one from Phronk.com.

The monkey-related theme was a concern to the reviewer, but it seems the novel managed to bridge the monkeys funny/monkeys never funny divide:

Let me make a confession: I don’t find monkeys inherently funny. Their similarity to humans is amusing, sure, but it’s been overdone. Given the premise of Marvellous Hairy, I was a bit worried that its humour would rely on “anything is funny if you mention the word monkey alongside it” school of thought. Luckily, its absurdity is only partially monkey-based, and it delivers some genuine funny. Many scenes had me smirking as hard as I have at any Douglas Adams novel (yeah, just smirking; it takes a lot for me to physically LOL at text).

You can find the full review here. You may also be interested in Phronk’s infamous side project: “Putting Weird Things Into Coffee”.

Betty L. Dravis, author of Dream Reachers, and an Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer loved Marvellous Hairy, to judge by her review. She says:

“All in all, this is a hilarious romp that comes to a screeching halt with a satisfactory ending. Marvellous Hairy is a well-written book with an original plot and great bursts of humor and action.”

She rightly points out:

“Since the author, Mark A. Rayner, took the title from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” it would have to be pretty good…or risk the wrath of Shakespeare’s fans around the globe.”

And yes, I was worried about messing with such a volatile title, but it was just so perfect!

You can find the full review here.

Liz Cole at The Productive Cough has given Marvellous Hairy another glowing review:

Rayner accomplishes something that not enough writers do: Each character has his or her own distinct voice. Each person in the book could communicate the exact same piece of information, but each would do it with their own personal vocabulary of phrases. I love it. Why every writer doesn’t do this, I will never know. The characters, as a result, are all believable as people.

You can read the whole review at The Productive Cough, Goodreads or Amazon. Liz is one of the reviewers who responded to my open call on Twitter, and she shouldn’t feel badly about taking so long to write it; I understand how deadlines can go whooshing over one’s head!

Apparently the high-octane silliness of Marvellous Hairy ruined a perfectly good pun Calvin Chayce had all set up for the book. Of which, I’m glad. He says:

… Rayner proves to be a masterful story weaver with a gifted imagination, and a remarkable wit. If that’s not enough, a deep social conscience lies beneath it all. Those qualities combined provide for an exciting, hilarious and ultimately fulfilling reading experience. Just don’t forget to fasten your seatbelt.

You can read the full review on Goodreads here.

I have another review to pass along. In the spirit of Corey’s full disclosure, he did help with a blurb before we released Marvellous Hairy, but I trust his honesty. Of course, I would, because he’s saying awfully nice things about MH! Seriously, though, Corey is a great writer and a conscientious — not to mention prolific — reviewer of books.

You can find his review, Monkey Droppings — Marvellous Hairy, “Think Down, Think Monkey”, here.

I liked this passage in particular, though I have to be honest, it scares the crap out of me:

Canadians are funny. Yet we have yet to produce an Adams, or a Terry Pratchett, or a Robert Rankin, Christopher Moore, or Tom Robbins. We have no true clown princes of prose. We have humourous writers, to be sure. Stephen Leacock, Trevor Cole, Miriam Toews, Douglas Coupland, Will Ferguson: Canadian literature does not lack for wit.

But with all that, where’s our Adams, Rankin, Moore et al? Where’s our cult author who mangles language with glee, who puns with ferocious focus, who bends and warps plotlines and traditional narratives to satisfy his craven tastes, who goes completely meta over the whole writing thing?

I don’t know. But I think Mark Rayner could be in the running.

Read the full review at Corey’s blog …>