All hail my absolute favorite book of all time! I found this in a little bookshop in Edinburgh when I was eight and it hasn’t left my side since. All 700 something pages of it. it might seem too long, but the imaginative and vibrant story and cast of characters just sucks you in. Like Bluebear notes in the preface, who could froget the Minipirates, the Hobgoblins, the Troglotroll, the Babbling Billows, the captive mirage, the Eternal Tornado, the gelatine prince from the 2364th dimension, the professor with seven brains, the Duel of Lies, Cogitating Quicksand, Gourmet Island, the Invisibles and the Valley of Discarded Ideas, to name of few.
And that’s only part of it. This is a truly imaginative tale; Walter Moers is one the greatest writers in the world. Plus, he addeds hilarious and well drawn illustrations to the story’s quirky plot. Oddly, this book is not published in America . . .
For heavens sake, it has been translated into JAPANESE! Get to it America.

This is a compelling narrative that weaves a web of understanding around the three complicated generations of the Stephanides family and the historical turmoil surrounding them. Through it all the daughter Callie (who turns out to be a hermaphrodite) tells it with wit and a eye for detail. You can dissect the inner meaning or just let it flow into you. It is a tale of sexuality, culture clash, history and the characters display all of this in a manner that does not seem unrealistic. After all they are human.
This book is a masterpiece. I love this book with all my heart and it is my second favorite in the world. (After Jane Eyre.) I’ve wanted to read it since I was seven, but my mother wouldn’t let me. One day when I was eleven I picked it up and read it anyway. Now I have to re-read it at least every three months.

I loved this book. It was great. Mr. Haufmann is a fantastic writer. I know this isn’t a great review, but I just want to say that I think the end was a bit of an anti-climax. The book is good, but it’s too SHORT.