Littéraires - Bizzarro!: Wildly Imaginative Satirical Novel Lampoons Humanity's Decline - Anthony Whomsoever

Written by Anthony Whomsoever (AKA: Anthony Veale), ‘Bizzarro! A Comedy of Manners’ is a sharp and amusing exploration of the degradation of the human race. Following Barney Digger, a journalist who is investigating a curse that has plagued a seaside hotel since Victorian times, the novel introduces a colourful cast of characters, including Skipper - “the voice from the walls”. With incisive wit and vibrant prose, ‘Bizzarro!’ sets the stage for the showdown of the millennium… 

Does humanity have a divine right to rule? That is one of many complex questions at the heart of Anthony Veale’s brilliant new novel, ‘Bizzarro! A Comedy of Manners’, which will be published on April 7, 2023 by Snowball Press.

In the novel, the protagonist, Barney Digger, a journalist, investigates a curse that has been passed down in a hotel from the times of Queen Victoria. The curse is embodied in the form of Skipper, who speaks a humourous “mumbo jumbo” from the walls, often delighting the guests. If only Skipper were so benign! His aim instead is to topple the human race, and he begins his reign of terror by attacking the hotel’s staff and guests. Barney negotiates a truce with Skipper, offering to free him from the walls within a week. This promise - and truce - sends Barney on a journey to understanding the strange objects within the hotel (including a stuffed parrot with one eye) and toward an equitable solution for both human beings and the supernatural alike. 

Will he succeed? Or will humans find themselves at the bottom of the pecking order for once?

Readers will delight in Veale’s satirical take on humanity, as well as his commentary on history, tradition, the relationships between human beings and objects, the various abuses of power that arise from a ruling class and the eternal desire for freedom.

Synopsis:

Satire rises to the challenge of naysayers spreading like knotweed from the 20th Century to   the   new millennium:   a   time   in   England   when   manners   and   abrogation   of responsibilities in all walks of life were drifting towards rock bottom. Barney Digger, a freelance journalist seeking fame and fortune, believes he can throw light on events by researching a story from Victorian times when polity had never been so divided.  

One night in October 1859, in the fishing village of Borrowsea on the south coast of England, the residents  of an  old  lodging  house  are awakened  by  a  gruff  male  voice seeming to come from inside the lather and plaster walls: proof enough to believe that if walls have ears, they are also able to speak. The language, mumbo jumbo and hostile in tone,  causes  a  rumpus  through  which  no-one  can  sleep:  a  curse  indeed,  which  as locals had attested was set to continue for many moons to come. 

In 1862  the property was  rebuilt  and  renamed  the  Orlando  Hotel.  Yet in an older part, retained for its architectural interest, the curse remains. Known to management as Skipper – quite why no-one is certain - guests are encouraged to put an ear to him should bad weather  prevent  a  breath  of  sea  air  and  a  walk along  the  prom  to  the  Laughing Lobster Café, famous for Chef Vasili’s fishy delights. 

Fast forward to 2006 and the hotel’s business-like owner, Miss Alice, believing she is under attack by forces unknown, as do her guests- celebrity couple Prudence Tallulah née Vantage and husband Tamil Preen, high court judge Sir Whatkin Windlestraw, staff Chef Olly Swellins and waitress Bonnie Bluitt– all of whom are relieved to hear that Miss Alice has allowed Barney to investigate Skipper. Wanting to record what he has to say, Barney inserts a narrow microphone through a small hole drilled into the lobby wall off Reception. 

Offended, Skipper assails him: Armageddon with it never rains but it  pours  a-while  away  the  hours  is  not  to  reason  why  peeling  onions  make  you  cry. Tommyrot, a riddle or what, you may ask. In truth, it was a warning to him to back off. 

Fearing for his future, Skipper hurries to personify artefacts, chiefly selected from the dining  room  tables.  Given voice, they become allies in his Crusade and avowed intent to topple the human race. His attacks on residents and staff intensify. A war of words breaks out between the two sides. But it is baffled humans who suffer and find themselves casualties in the care of the promiscuous Italian Dr Lusso Veloce: head of the renowned Vantage Wing and Liberty Hall its new psychiatric treatment centre: both of which are incorporated within the grounds of Borrowsea’s Camellia Court Hospital. 

Barney negotiates a truce with Skipper with  an offer  to  free  him  from  the  walls. Given a week to do so and, should he fail, feeling the sword of Damocles to be hanging over his  head,  he  travels  the  country  from  west  to east  in  search  of  deeper  truths concerning Bosun, a stuffed one-eyed African Grey parrot and a mythical Whale that are somehow  implicated  in  a  comedy  of  manners  which include  plans  for  an  Easter celebration to be held at Liberty Hall: in hope of reaching an equitable future for all. 

“I think the enjoyment of this book will come from discovering the text for yourself, and the often surprising humour embedded in it,” says Veale.

Continuing, “At the end of the introduction, I promise the reader that I’ll give them a much-needed laugh - a quest inherent in the tag on the frontispiece, ’A Comedy of Manners’. The tag refers to the amusement satire brings to behaviour during a contest of wills. On opposite sides are human beings - at odds with themselves and their various foibles, and the other - a paranormal entity that seeks to destroy the former’s assumption of right to rule the planet. It’s the most fascinating of stand-offs, and I do think my pledge of laughter will hold true. But you’ll have to read to find out…”

‘Bizzarro!’ will be published on April 7, 2023 and will be available for purchase at the retail price of £25.00. 

About the author:

Bizzarro! Is the third work of fiction from an author who, in his career as an artist, has exhibited work at galleries both in the UK and abroad over the course of fifty years. His work from the 1960s and 70s includes political cartoons, caricatures and the popular Junglerumba series of poster-size animal cartoons for children. This was followed by book illustrations published in 1967 in England and New York by Chatto, Boyd & Oliver.

Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the author’s exhibitions included studies of wildlife and surreal landscapes. In the 1990s, he created a sculpture garden containing a collection of his work in both bronze and Carrara marble.

The author lives in the Westcountry and is married with a son and daughter, and six grandchildren. 

Nombre de pages : 444 pages

Prix : £25.00