Karen U. (editorgrrl) reviewed on 8/28/2005 + 255 more book reviews

Originally published in the U.K. as The Stars' Tennis Balls, this U.S. edition contains a new afterword, Fry's July 29, 2002, "Writers on Writers" column from the New York Times, "Forget Ideas, Mr. Author. What Kind of Pen Do You Use?" In it, Fry reveals that this book is a "literary reworking" or "homage" to The Count of Monte Crisco, which Alexandre Dumas had "lifted" from what was, "in Dumas's day, a kind of urban legend." Characters' names are anagrams of the original. For example, Edmond Dantes, who reinvents himself as Monte Crisco, becomes Ned Maddstone, who reinvents himself as Simon Cotter. Apparently the book is also full of awful puns, few if any of which I got, even though I read the afterword first.

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