Spare Parts

A fun, fun, FUN, dry-humor, sardonic tale! Teeming with beautifully-developed characters, all of whom we’ve encountered at some point in our lives, Spare Parts is a tragic-comedy of Politicos with dollars dancing in their dreams versus small-town folk determined to keep their lifestyle intact, Of course, there’s also an unlikely love angle and a male mid-life crisis,Cleverly interwoven ultra-dry satire causes a delayed, laugh-out-loud reaction. I’d be reading, involved in the tale, when my mind would jerk back to something I’d just read; “Wait a minute. What was that!?” For example, in persuading main character, Hunter Barnhill to produce the coffee table book, The Kennedy Memorial Graveside Companion, (a practical joke gone amok), Hunter’s publisher explains, “The recreational mourning market is very big now and growing….”I don’t want to spoil the joy of discovery, but watch for• The funeral of Ruggles (Reggie) Wilmont, “…a lion among admen,” during which he prerecords the introduction of a television pilot for Transplant Time, a docu-reality “…mutant Wheel of Fortune, Sixty Minutes, Survivor, Millionaire, and Your Favorite Home Videos, plus ER….It’s got a reeealy big prize – life.”• The swagger stick carried by General Bunker T. Clapsaddle, US Army Retired, who revolutionized after-action field reporting with a Xerox copier carried in backpacks by a team of eleven. “It cost the lives of some brave troopers but we never lost a single sheet of paper,” he reminisces while envisioning the 8,765,000 sheets stored in footlockers at the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, in the basement of the motor pool.• Mildred, proprietor and waitress of Mildred’s Diner, local breakfast hangout in New Burford, Massachusetts, along with her cat Peachpie.• The town doctor who is enthralled with Transplant Time and laments, “Around here, the closest I came to doing a transplant was when old Henry Harper’s testicles got cut off by the rip saw over at the lumber yard. They put ‘em in a bucket of ice and drove ‘em with Henry to the hospital.”• And Waldo, whose ashes were on the living room mantle in a vacuum bag due to a minor incident with the urn.The people.The story.The situations.The humor.Laugh-out-loud, serious, FUN!

A friend recommended this book and since I I hardly ever read fiction I let it sit on the shelf a while before finally picking it up last week. I'm glad that I did.This is classic satire at its best. From brazen political schemers to narcissistic advertising/media elites, to quirky yet endearing small town folks (a la "Newhart") - RE Laurence spares no one. Just when I thought it couldn't get any wackier the author fleshes out a most absurd (yet plausible) reality TV show that will have real TV execs asking themselves "Is this potentially doable?" for years to come. I literally laughed out loud on several occasions as I read it.I can only hope that there is a sequel in the works since there is plenty of tread life left on these characters.

Brilliantly written with subtle humor, insight into various personalities with exaggerated wit and a touch of realism thrown in. The story weaves in and out into the characters actions leaving the reader wanting for even more. Great contrast between bucolic countryside living in a small town vs. the hustle and bustle of our biggest city. Would love to read more from this author.

Spare Parts is a hilarious satire set in NYC and the Berkshires, and peopled with quirky characters. It is an intelligent and well written book. The author pokes fun at the government, the military, the media, advertising, medicine, and more. A page turner that kept me laughing and left me wanting more from this author. A great read!

And enjoyed it even more the second time. It reminded me of some of my favorite moments from "Catch 22" as well as several books by Carl Hiaasen and Kurt Vonnegut: outrageous yet very believable characters and situations, a critical but amusing look at the foolishness of everyday life and a skewering of the self-important gasbags that dominate the public scene.

Fasten your seat belts! Politics, media, military, the Church and more are jabbed by R. E. Laurence's pen! And all while the reader nestles cozily among the interesting small town folk of the bucolic Berkshires. A "must read" for this summer!

Spare Parts is a great read! A real page-turner. The author obviously knows the Berkshires well, and understands both small-town idiosyncrisies and military-speak as well.

Spare Parts is an enjoyable and fun read. The characters are very cleverly crafted and at times are hilariously zany.