Customer Reviews

Enlightenment the easy way... - By: Kurt Messick, 29 Dec 2005
Given the success of the first volume, 'Politically Correct Bedtime Stories', James Finn Garner took another journey into fairytale land to find a revisionist's dream of reframed stories, & assembled them into the volume 'Once Upon a More Enlightened Time'. Like the first volume, this one holds nothing sacred, highlighting both the excesses of prejudicein the past while exposing the excesses of the politically correct currents of today.

Once again, the tone is set from the startin the Introduction by Garner: 'At the outset, I would like to apologise sincerely for the success of my last book. The number of trees that voicelessly gave their lives so that my resource-greedy publisher & I could meet retail demand was truly appalling, & quite likely contributed to the global warming that gave those of usin the Northern Hemisphere such an unseasonably warm winter.'

Garner misses the opportunity here to remind us of the disparity of wealth between hemispheres, but beyond that, he doesn't miss much. The titles of the stories will give you insight:

- A Politically Correct Alphabet
- Hansel & Gretel
- The Ant & the Grasshopper
- The Princess & the Pea
- The Little Mer-persun (Mer-maid is a demeaning title)
- The Tortoise & the Hare
- Pussin Boots
- Sleeping Persun of Better-than-Average Attractiveness (to call her a beauty demeans all others)
- The City Mouse & the Suburban Mouse (the countryside having been ravaged & now no longer exists close to cities; the country mouse has become suburban)

The politically correct alphabet I will list below--this gives a flavour of the rest of the text.

A is an Activity itching to fight
B is a Beast with its animal rights
C was a Cripple (now differently abled)
D is a Drunk who is 'liquor-enabled'
and so forth...

Garner hastens to add that, of course, the traditional ordering of the letters does notin any way imply that 'A' is more better or deserving a letter than X, Y, or Z.

Garner's publicity blurb says that he is called 'a master of the tour de force' by The Washington Post & 'a smart-alec, mealy-mouthed creep' by The London Daily Telegraph, yet feels the truth lies somewherein between.

These stories will be loved by anyone who doesn't take life too seriously. Nothing is sacred here--be prepared to find somethingin yourselfin here.