John Aylesworth (1928–2010)

At the start of this 1963 comedy, an advertising man is discovered naked on Madison Avenue, asleep on the street . . . and grown to over three hundred feet in length. That’s 350 feet tall when he stands up and starts causing problems.

But we aren’t in Kafka territory here, or on the beach with J.G. Ballard’s “Drowned Giant.” This is Wibberly-esque farcical satire, and the story moves away from focusing directly on the giant and towards the politicians who try to manage the mess and the German (“Nazi”) scientist who caused it. And upon some lowlife thieves who get in on the action.

A lot of fun.

I read the 50¢ cover-priced Avon paperback original from 1963, which defines the story as “A NEW SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL by John Aylesworth.” This author (August 18, 1928 – July 28, 2010) was not an unknown. Indeed, Wikipedia defines him as “a Canadian television writer, producer, comedian, and actor, best known as co-creator of the American country music television variety show Hee Haw….” The Wikipedia entry does not mention this book.

The title of which sports three commas, as in ‘Fee, Fei, Fo, Fum.’ Not sans punctuation, as in the Kindle edition listing.

The de-focusing away from “Judd Morrow,” giant, and towards those around him is, I hazard, an attempt at modesty. Had the author kept the focus on Morrow, the sheer physicality of his plight — his corpulence, if you will — would have seemed, in 1963, too “gross.” As it is, we have inoffensive light comedy skirting away from sex and body fluids and towards politics and crime and spycraft. As I said above, in the manner of Leonard Wibberly’s “Mouse” books.

I purchased the book on a lark, and read this on a lark. You could waste your time in worse ways.… (más)