Over the course of the five pages that begin this book, seemingly abstract images resolve into a bizarre assembly line in a factory filled with strange characters resembling a cross between a brontosaurus and an ostrich. The announcement that their enigmatic leader, the Master, has fallen ill causes unrest across the factory; when the Master then dies, the entire world is seemingly thrown into disarray. Kyle (
Roaming Foliage) brilliantly satirizes various aspects of modern life in the ensuing series of vignettes. The Master’s assistant Sarah struggles with a sense of loss and difficulty fulfilling the Master’s nonsensical last wishes, which include being buried midair. A group of children are taught that the moral of a story about a flying snail is that the Master is all-powerful. A group of mourners debate if the Master faked his death as a test or a prank, and whether to believe a rumor that the Master has been spotted strolling through a pumpkin patch.
VERDICT Kyle’s odd pacing and deadpan sense of humor work together to highlight the absurdity of this off-kilter and occasionally achingly familiar world.
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