As an adult reading this book I found it absolutely hilarious dispute its intended age range.The story tells of two best friends Lenny and Caspar; its starts with Caspar buying himself a very expensive, very real looking fake mustache as well as a convincing 'man-about-town' suit.At first Lenny doesn't thingk that much of it; that is until the local bank is robbed and billions of dollars are stolen by a gang of accordion players, led by a small man with a large mustache and wearing a 'man-about-town' suit. As more banks start getting robbed by groups of well-to-do citizens; Lenny suspects that his friend Caspar may have something to do with it.Yet it turns out that this is just the beginning and before Lenny knows it, his best friend has changed his name to Fako Mustacho, purchased a multi-billion dollar company and is now running for president of the USA. To make matters worse Fako Mustacho's mustache is so convincing that it has brain washed the entire country into being Fako's minions. Only two people are not affected by the awesomeness of Fako's mustache, Lenny and a former children's television star, Jodie O'Rodeo. The two end up teaming up to put a stop to Fako's evil plans, but soon find its not so easy taking down an evil dictator when an entire country is again them.There are a few things I love about this book, the first is that it is incredibly funny without resorting to toilet humor.Most of its humor comes from the books delivery, lovable and relatable characters and observational humor. Some scenes even seem like there in the style of a lot of British comedy shows, an example being the scene where the chief of the FBI can't understand Lenny due to his incorrect use of grammar. The books plot is also very well written and is, quite possibly, one of the most original story conceived for a while, (this included adult literature) despite how ridiculous it is. The fact that an entire country could be won over by how convincing a mustache looks is a brilliant concept.But what really made this story for me is the relationship between the two characters Lenny and Caspar/Fako Mustacho. Not once is the illusion of these two being best friends broken. Even when one of them is sending armed guards to kill the other, the dialogue between them is still that of two close friends who are having a bit of a disagreement. It just so happens that this disagreement is the running of an an evil empire.It makes the story feel weirdly human as opposed to some great revenge story where the hero has been betrayed. If I had to chose and age range that this book is best aimed at, it would probably be late Key Stage 2 (years 5-6, ages 9-11.) As although there really isn't anything that would offend younger readers there is a lot of themes that many younger children would struggle to understand. A key example being that there's rather a lot of politics and political terms used that may be lost on younger readers.In the classroom this book would probably be best kept on the bookshelf for independent reading or maybe as a stimulate for creative writing. The reason being that the book seems to be something that I can't imagine a whole class getting behind. It seems to have a greater purpose as a book a single child can enjoy and perhaps share with their friends or the class.That is unless there is a presidential election coming in the near distant future. If that's the case I can't imagine a better book for helping children get a basic understanding of American Politics. I REALLY appreciate books that tell about strange/weird things and present them in a matter-of-fact, NON-over-milked way.It's rare to find a book that does what it wants without having to have a safety blanket of sarcasm to hide behind (like say, Percy Jackson to name an example).That said, it's only disappointing that I haven't found a book like that that also... how can I explain it? Tries to have a point.Okay, so he wasn't sarcastic this time. But he still didn't give his main character a personality, or let us take the story quite seriously enough to care about or remember it the same way we might have.In my opinion, this is a good book. But not a great book. Like a lot of other books, it stops short for some reason when it could easily have it all if the author put in a little more effort.This one got originality down for sure. And that is rare. Especially when it's not over-milked. So it's pretty high on my list, but not as much as it could have been.Oh, one other disappointment was when he stooped to lame humor and started making boring "crude" jokes about boogers and stuff. I think this author could have been better than that. I felt the same way when he was trying too hard by making them say "silly" words like "gadzooks!" I just think he could have done better.(Oh yeah, the pictures were GREAT. All books should have catchy cartoon pictures in them, like the ones in this book. I love that. The pictures are the best. Awesome).
What do You think about Fake Mustache (2012)?
My 4th & 5th graders will most likely think this book is much better/funnier than I did.
—Eric
This book had booger guns, ultra sticky hands, zap gum, and lots of other pranks.
—Ladycats9
Funny little book. Edges toward completely unbelievable, but love this author.
—Ash
funny and clever. Fun read aloud with my kids!
—Akif
