The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip

Saunders' brilliant, hilarious adult allegory is masked as a children's tale but is really more of a profound critique of American social Darwinism and the false idea currently held by many rich and privileged that they are rich and privileged due to their own superiority, hard work, or God's election, and not to pure luck. The book is also a thoughtful, funny response to libertarian myths of radical individuality that currently infect American politics like those Gappers of Frip. Older children might enjoy the book as well. I could imagine teaching this book, with wonderful illustrations by Lane Smith, to intelligent ten year olds, but might also integrate the book into a high school English course.

This book is glorious. I find myself pondering passages at the oddest of times. I've read it aloud to my high school students and to friends over dinner. Saunders's prose is of the highest quality, witty, and exceedingly intelligent. Smith's illustrations are evocative and magical. This world of Frip, with its goats and its gappers and its three leaning shacks by the sea is a wonderful place to explore. The thinness of the book is deceptive. I have read it literally dozens of times at this point and always delight in some turn of phrase that I didn't fully appreciate before. The images are rich and multi-layered and just as much fun over which to pour.And then there is the lesson of the story. Never preachy, never saccharine. Though I suppose there are several messages from which you can take your pick. Ask for help when you need it. Don't believe the party line. Be kind to people, even when they don't really enjoy it. And love something that will love you back. No matter what the age of the reader, everyone needs to be reminded of those things sometimes.I would recommend this book to children and adults who are not boxed in by what they think adults whould read. Too many grown ups are scared of books with pictures. Read this aloud to friends and family and to yourself.

This very evening I discovered the joy of reading George Saunders..."There were approximately fifteen hundred gappers living in the sea near Frip. Each Frip family had about ten goats. Therefore, there would normally be about five hundred gappers per yard, or fifty gappers per goat."What is a gapper?Well, it is this baseball-like, Velcro-type crustacean with multitudinous eyes, that crawls out of the ocean at night along with (give or take) 1,499 of its buddies, all intent upon attaching themselves to local goats in a burr-like fashion. Side effects? Serious immediate goat-lassitude followed by actual withering, and depletion of milk supply!Exactly! Of course! It's fabulous.Oh man... it's been a long while since I got so caught up into one of these child/adult books, the last time being Salman Rushdie's excellent "Haroun And The Sea Of Stories."This one is every bit as good, or better. And every bit as crazy.Let me put it this way... I stumbled across this book in the store, sat down with it... read the whole thing, laughed... laughed some more... thought of many people I want to give this book to... and ended up purchasing five copies. One will be for my own re-reading.It is hilarious, and meaningful all at once... as the slipcover says, it's an "adult story for children, a children's story for adults."The illustrations are superb, and the quality of the book is impeccable... a work of art.It is a flawless imaginative work, that... while it makes you laugh at every second sentence, makes you realize that resourcefulness in the midst of undeserved adversity can really save the day! That selfishness is ugly... that neighbors ought to be... neighbors.This little girl named Capable... she is a terrific role model for children.... and adults!A brilliant work, and recommended without reservation. When you read this story to children the only question will be, who will love it more, you or them? Neither one loving it is simply an impossibility!

What a lovely, whimsical book. I picked this up on a whim at a bookstore and (at eighteen years old) laughed out loud all the way through it. Real, hysterical humor is mixed with a good moral and some unforgettable characters that are remarkably well-formed for a ninety-six page "kid's book." Family ties, pathos and some dead-on observations of human nature abound in this creative little tome which is something like a crazy "Little Red Hen" story. The dialogue is absolute perfection. It couldn't be funnier. Kids and adults alike will love this timeless tale.

The "Very Presistent Gappers of Frip" is a wonderful fable that adults will love and that kids will enjoy as well, but on a different level. (Much as "the simpsons" has many layers.) The illustrations are also great. Lane Smith's artwork evokes the surreal quality of Saudners prose perfectly. The tale is typical of Saunders' short stories in his earlier books, although without any perversity or "unsuitable" language. The story is bizarre and endearing; the characters live in a world so different than our own, yet they seem so familiar anyway. This book is expensive considering its brevity, but is worth it just for the illustrations, let alone a funny story by George Saunders. In short: Buy it! Buy it now! Buy extra copies to give as gifts!