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Book Review of The Magic Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom
Author: Stanley Elkin
Genre: Literature & Fiction
Book Type: Paperback
melusina avatar reviewed on + 32 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1


I enjoyed this book so much, it's hard to begin explaining why. Read the description on the previous page, and then think: it's NOT sentimental. Rather than sentimental, Stanley Elkin makes this story of terminal children a bit grotesque (because their illnesses are painful, disabling, & disfiguring), a larger part hilarious (because of how silly, and also grotesque, Disney World seems in face of imminent death), and always cut-to-the-funny-bone realistic.

The best way to learn more about this marvelous book, praised by so many, by an author who's been praised by so many, too, is to read this terrific New York Times review by another great comic author, Max Apple: "Having Their Last Good Time".