I asked my wife the definition of ‘beach read’. Since the jacket cover had a man lounging on a beach chair at the beach, I thought perhaps this was a not too subtle hint I was to embark on a beach read. My wife informed me what a beach read isn’t. It won’t contain theology or politics and certainly nothing that requires too much thinking. I then picked up a newspaper, which contained a review of 10 ‘summer reads’. This Jimmy Buffett book wasn’t on the list, but looking at the list gave me some insight into what a ‘beach read’ may be.
This book constantly switches view point, from pig to human to pig. The story solves no big dilemmas nor tries to give the reader some deeper understanding into life’s questions (or answers for that matter). The story traces the adventures of a young family (including an estranged father who begins to orbit closer to his ex-wife and kids) moving from rural to urban and taking a couple of beloved pets with them. A cat named Syrup and a pig named Rumpy. The cat has a few minor appearances, but as the title implies the true star is the pig. The whole family ends up living on the roof of a nice Hotel in Manhattan, which of course bans exotic pets, to which category Rumpy the pig is defined. Thus the tension for the entire story revolves around hiding the pig. I guess this means, there is certainly no theological under current to the story. Unless one counts, within the bounds of theology eating red bloody meat. The villain of the story eats red meat and serves the best red meat in Manhattan, and all the vicious carnivores of New York City seem to dine at his steak joint. Thus there were a couple of moments during the short time it took to read this fluffy story; I nearly got myself up to fry some celebratory bacon in honor of Rumpy’s long lost brother. However as the story unwound I found some empathy for the swine and the kids. Although not directly billed as a children’s story, using the viewpoint of a boy and a pig, I think this would be better as a kid’s book rather than an adult beach read. Assuming of course you’re OK with Vegan indoctrination for your kids.
As the kids become accustom to their new digs, and the pig figures out life in New York, the story started to suck me in. I wanted the pig to find her brother, wanted the kids to fit into the New York educational system. And for the life of me couldn’t figure out why dad had left the adoring family in the first place. The hard working mom creates the most sought after dessert in New York City and the restaurant starts to gain fame for something other than it’s bloody steaks (I started substituting juicy for bloody, and this week splurged and purchased some filet mignon to kick of the start of summer at our house – take that Jimmy Buffet). Of course as mother’s star rises the juicy steak chef becomes jealous and starts suspecting a swine may be loose in the hotel. The slap stick humor will likely suck most kids in with side splitting laughter. I decided to try the children’s book theory out and started reading the book during our family reading time. Based upon the reaction of my children I would say unless you’re under the age of around 14 this book will be taken as silly. I think I’ve found the spot for this book, it’s a kid’s beach read.
Reviewed by Ted Anderson
