Penn has a great tempo to his writing – it mimics the way he speaks. Frenetic, intelligent, and humorous. The pop culture references are fun and almost make it a game. The plot is a little weak and the clues come together far too neatly, but plot is secondary here, as the characters and the writing style are the stars.

This book was amazing. you can tell penn jillette is the kind of guy who has the philosphy that embarrassment is a joke, that you should always keep it real, that you can wash away the facade of society and get down to what is really going on and still be comfortable living in the illusion of the world.
its funny, because i didnt really think of this book as a story. i thought of it as a philosophy. as clear-cutting through all the bullshit.
thats pretty much what penn jillette is all about.

excellent book.

A bizarre read, but immensely enjoyable read. I love to see a list of pop-culture references from the book.

Bizarre is the only word to describe this novel by Penn Jilette (the bigger half of the Penn & Teller comedy/magic duo.) It’s the story of Dickie, a real wammerjammer sock monkey, owned by a NYPD diver, who, with his newfound gay hairdresser friend, is risking his whole career and possibly his life, to find the person who killed his ex-girlfriend. This novel has so many pop-culture and song references, that it often feels as if the narrative should be set to music.

A bizarre book.. I really enjoyed it, though. (7/31/04)