Ibid: A Life

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Three-legged Jonathan Blashette was the founder of a successful deodorant company and a forward-looking humanitarian of the early 1900s. Although he was not a particularly extraordinary man, his extra limb notwithstanding, the interest in this story lies not in the fictional biography of Blashette himself as much as in the minutiae at the margins of his life. Author Mark Dunn, who wrote the whimsical word-play novel "Ella Minnow Pea," has pushed the boundaries of fiction even farther with "Ibid." As Dunn states in the acknowledgments, he sought to "step wide of the narrative box" by crafting a story solely through the use of footnotes. As constrained as the idea sounds, it actually works. Through the footnotes with their interviews, excerpts from articles and diaries, and accounts of historical events, the reader becomes acquainted not only with Blashette, but also with his family, his friends, and society at large. Blashette managed to rub elbows with such celebrities as Rudolph Valentino, Lou Gehrig, and Dylan Thomas. He was placed at the scene of numerous historical events, both well known and obscure. Thus, Dunn asserts, "History can be more fun than dry facts and dates." The silly-sounding names and titles cited in the footnotes, as well as selections of atrociously composed poems, songs, and essays, spoof their more dry and scholarly real-life counterparts. The tongue-in-cheek details go off on bizarre tangents. In a parody of Wilde's Dorian Gray, an account is given of Blashette having commissioned his deceased true love's portrait and then having it modified every year to age her appearance. In another reference, a description is given of a friend's membership in a small Christian sect that believed Jesus had a dog that accompanied Him as He preached. There is an amusing account of a devastating squirrel migration in 1826 that destroyed crops. Another humorous segue is a court deposition, recorded during a lawsuit against Blashette's deodorant company, that is written in the form of a play script, Where Dunn will go from here is anyone's guess. Will he perhaps try a palindromic novel, or one written without any letter "e"? Time will tell. In the meanwhile, enjoy this playful story. Eileen Rieback

A Fun little book. You will enjoy this imaginative, fascinating and original read.

what a great book. the whole story is told in footnotes, quite a different approach to storytelling. some folks who prefer the traditional 1st/3rd person point of view linear story might not appreciate it. the book gives you the highpoints and direction markers and lets you fill in the fluff. it is hilarious. filled with allusions, it touches on highpoints and famous personalities of history. it is intelligent, humourous, and i genuinely laughed reading this book. it makes me want to go through other books and read thier footnotes a bit more closely. different, fresh, fun, well written. great book.

While not quite the phenomenal success as his debut novel, "Ella Minnow Pea," "Ibid" again dazzles us with Mr. Dunn's originality and wordplay. The book has more laugh-out-loud moments than any other I've read in a long time. While the book also tells an interesting and moving story, the structure of the book -- i.e., telling the story through the footnotes to a lost biography of the protagonist -- does keep the reader at a bit of a distance, so that the story is not quite as involving as it might otherwise have been. Nevertheless, "Ibid" is a treat that I would recommend highly to anyone who enjoys a good laugh and an unusual story about quirky characters and situations.