Celebrity Cat Recipes
by Joe Bennett, HarperCollins, $28.99
I haven't read Joe Bennett in any form other than newsprint, and must confess to being a little wary when thrown his latest paperback to review.
The title, Celebrity Cat Recipes, at first glance a deliberate stray from the author's previous canine-centric rants yet
consistent with his irreverent stance on "literature", is in fact a ruse - and consists of much the same.
In fact, it's exactly the same, being his 13th collection of columns.
But I'm not complaining.
Despite reading many of these pieces before, I was richly rewarded with a rereading.
The bite-sized columns were the perfect antidote to two icy days spent indoors earlier this week.
The weather remedied with much mirth sparked by the chief wit's broadsides at the commentators, celebrities, solicitors - anything not found in his own living room.
A personal highlight was his hilarious description of a cricket match streaker: "The streaker didn't run. He bounded ... he was joy on toes ... the man ran with the ease of a gibbon along a branch."
Even if you're not a fan of the subversive, Bennett's knee-slapping vignettes take little motivation to read.
I was left with the impression the book's author has taken another step towards cementing his place in our "literary" canon - whether he likes it or not.
