Review: Truly Inventive
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 1, 2014
As a former Pennsylvanian and Scrabble lover, I could not resist choosing The Fracking King from this month's Kindle First pre-releases. In this debut novel James Browning exposes the absurdities of hydrofracturing or fracking (yes, this is an acceptable spelling!) with a clever and satirical account about one young Scrabble fanatic, Winston Crwth, who attempts to bring down fracking company, Dark Oil and Gas, by winning a state Scrabble competition and by meeting Pennsylvania's governor, Linda King LaRue. With its breakneck pacing and colorful cast of characters Browning creates a sly and entertaining novel that nevertheless has two important lessons: words do have meaning despite attempts to disguise that meaning, and even misfits can become heroes by fighting against greed and corruption. And although The Fracking King sometimes cartwheels over plausibility in plot, I recommend it as a truly inventive read.Update: Since reading some of the negative reviews that criticize the style of Fracking King, I thought I would update my review to include a warning to those who dislike satire. Satire is, according to Kindle's New Oxford American Dictionary, "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics or other topical issues." A classic example of satire is Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal where Swift advocates eating Irish children to fight starvation in 18th century Ireland. Another more contemporary example is The Colbert Report where Stephen Colbert pretends to be a right wing conservative to ridicule right wing conservatives.  If you enjoy this type of humor, I still recommend Fracking King as good satire; however, if you do not like ironic humor, I suggest you choose another Kindle First selection.