Fifty-two, the narrator of the novel, is number 52 out of 200 monkeys chained to typewriters. They are there because Martin Ralsey, a trust-funder trying to make something of himself, gets the bright idea that he is going to fund research to find out if the old adage is true: if you put enough monkeys at enough typewriters, one is sure to write a great novel.
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Fifty-two is the monkey that writes the novel, and "Some Novel Monkey" is the product. Fifty-two has a unique, cynical, and hilarious view of the people around him and the state of the world. 52 makes fun of President Bush and homeland security.
The novel also speaks loudly about animal rights, and will appeal to people interested in this as well as politics, monkeys, and humor.
The review of this Book prepared by Lauren Bond
Martin Ralsey is a trust funder ineptly attempting to fulfill his parents' constant admonishments to make something of himself. Strangely enough, he decides it would be a good idea to commission a study to see if enough monkeys at enough typewriters really will write a great novel. Monkey number fifty-two writes and narrates Some Novel Monkey.
Fifty-Two wants only to escape the typing lab alive. Returning to his natural habitat would be a big bonus. Martin Ralsey's hired researcher, the overly ambitious Assistant Professor Bighorn, will do anything for tenure. He believes that having tenure will allow him to make the world a better place at some undetermined future date. Bighorn embezzles Martin's money and steals Martin's monkeys for use in Bighorn's cosmetics-testing project. Along comes Julie Mandril, a new undergraduate lab assistant who believes that the only way to save the monkeys is to bomb the monkey labs in an act of ecoterrorism.
In Some Novel Monkey, Fifty-Two attempts to understand the societal forces that have led Martin, Julie, and Bighorn to recklessly jeopardize the lives of Fifty-Two and his fellow lab monkeys.
The review of this Book prepared by David Kovsky