Extravaganza: A Joke Book

Subtitled "A Joke Book," Lish's Extravaganza follows Jewish comedy team Smith and Dale through a series of jokes, sometimes short and to the point, sometimes lengthy and "shaggy doggish". Along the way we see into the family lives of the two men, lives which also seem to be, primarily, fodder for a burlesque act. But occasionally something else rears its ugly head: antisemitism. Poor Smith and Dale are attacked as "f*cking kikes" by virtually everyone imaginable, including a herring in the lake. But nothing is capable of derailing their comic responses to life in general. Or is it? Is Extravaganza an oblique commentary on the Holocaust? Or maybe just on Holocaust fiction? Is it a recreation of the prejudice many Jews have experienced as a part [but not the whole] of their lives? I, for one, am not smart enough to answer those questions. But if you're up for a tumultuous ride, a funny ride, a sometimes almost inexplicable ride, why not jump on now? And don't say I didn't warn you about the hard-boiled eggs, the cookies, the butter, and Mr. Smith's tuchis!