Etiquette And Vitriol: The Food Chain And Other Plays (1996) - Plot & Excerpts
I can't really decide if this contains spoilers - so read with caution!!! You may be someone who wants to know nothing about the book before reading it. I don't personally think this gives anything away really. I enjoyed "The Food Chain" - the first play in the book - although it was definitely bizarre. It was very funny and entertaining. Then I read "Fat Men in Skirts" which was a mistake. Cannibalism, incest, rape - I did not find it funny, although it's supposed to be and I think people with a darker (much darker) sense of humor would enjoy it. It was kind of funny in the beginning but eventually I was just horrified and wasn't able to enjoy any kind of sarcasm or humor that was hidden in the insane horror. I should have seen it coming and stopped - but unfortunately I didn't. Again, stupidly I read "Pterodactyls" next (Why was I subjecting myself to this after having suffered the last play? My guess is that I was in shock). I didn't find it as bad as "Fat Men in Skirts" but I did think it was worse than "The Food Chain." This play contained insanity, suicide, sexual abuse within family, (a death which I didn't understand - suicide or murder? By that point I didn't really care.) - needless to say, I didn't much enjoy this one either. And in every play there is lots of sex. LOTS of it. Not the thrilling, romantic kind, but the dirty, disturbing, uncomfortable kind. I did not read the 4th play. So maybe I'm not allowed to say that I read this book (it's just easier than finder each play and writing separate reviews). You may not believe me after this review, but I understand that these plays are well written. I can tell, through the moroseness and freakishness, that he is trying to make an artistic point and that he's a good writer. I just personally find it much too disturbing and not matching my taste at all and I'm just warning those of you out there who might be like me. Just go for reading "The Food Chain."
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