Fables from the Mud

Erik Quisling
Borderlands Press (2007)
ISBN 9781880325933
Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (12/07)


I was not sure what to expect when I picked up this book and was pleasantly surprised by the content.  “Fables from the Mud” is a satirical work that has very few words but will have you laughing out loud as you read it. 

Every page in the book has a basic hand-drawn picture with most only having a line or two of words of side-splittingly funny content.  The first fable is about an angry clam that plots the destruction of the earth but is too apathetic to do anything about it.  He tries to change his views, even converting to Islam at one point before meeting a gruesome end.  The main character in the second fable is a cynical ant that discovers a magical stone garden.  I absolutely loved Erik Quisling notes on this character’s demise “Our main character had apparently perished and my persistent flirtation with the dangling modifier was growing loathsome even to myself.”  The third fable is about a great warrior worn grown so dejected with life it has decided to commit suicide.  What happens to him on this journey is very memorable. 

This is an all around great book for having so little content.  I read the whole thing very quickly but keep returning to it to reread some of the crazy antics.  I think “Fables from the Mud” makes the perfect holiday gift for those cynical worldly friends who have everything.  At the very least, it is a lot of fun.

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