This wildly unorthodox book mixes original Spoonerism couplets with explanatory or crazy comments or stories, aimed at entertaining both wordplay nuts and ordinary mortals. Like Anil’s last four books (self-published but all Award Winners) it is an exercise in the use of constrained writing, with themes dictated by the spooner constraints. More than a gimmick, the constraints generate silly, amusing or unusual situations that he lacks the imagination to create de novo. The result is crazy fun.
Yet it’s scholarly, seen in the big Spoonerism Dictionary at the end. Examples:
synonyms: Achilles heel = hock-kill-ease ail.
Here and now = Near? And how!
antonyms: Bury the hatchet. ≠ Hurry the bad shit.
Harmony ≠ Mar honey.
essays: Free society—so see variety.
Meet your Maker… Mate, you’re meeker!
Money numby.
Anil is a preacher turned biologist turned writer of wordplay.
Born in Henderson, Kentucky, he was valedictorian and senior class president. He was further educated at Wake Forest (BS) and Johns Hopkins (PhD), with positions at U. Illinois, U. Pittsburgh, and U. Western Australia.
Now a dual citizen of the USA and Australia, he lives in Perth.
He has published five previous books of wordplay humour, with two others in press. He published over two hundred articles in the now defunct Word Ways and will continue contributing to its replacement, Journal of Wordplay, once it’s up and running.
His major influences were a humour loving mother and authors Walt Kelly (Pogo), Lewis Carroll, Will Cuppy and Dave Morice.
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