Jonathan Gould is a Melbourne-based writer and – as he describes himself – a “doodler”. He refers to his writing as “dag-lit” because it doesn’t quite slot into defined genres. His stories have been described as “comic fantasies or modern fairy tales for the young and young-at-heart”. I can’t imagine anyone not being totally captivated by them. Jonathan is a very gifted writer. He’s creative and has an imagination which he manages to transfer on to his pages to engage you, fascinate you, and make you smile that smug smile that says, “I’m enjoying myself”.
I have turned the pages of three of his wonderful books – two short stories, Doodling and Flidderbugs and one novel, Magnus Opum. I can’t tell you which was my favourite – I loved them all.
Doodling is a comic fantasy. Delightfully quirky, it features Neville who can’t keep up with the world because it’s going too fast. (How often have we felt like that?) So, he does the only thing you can do in this situation. He gets off – and off he goes searching for an asteroid to make his home, meeting all sorts of weird and wonderful characters on the way. An excellent short story to brighten up your Monday on the way to work.
http://cnkbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/doodling-by-jonathan-gould.html
Flidderbugs is another small package, but big on entertainment. If you thought that Flidderbugs had nothing better to do than exercise their 6 little legs and chomp their way through leaves and Klummerflies, think again. They have serious issues to debate. Serious research to carry out. And the wheeler-dealers have complex ‘business’ to attend to. So, if you’ve had a rotten Monday at work – cheer yourself up on the way home with this one.
http://cnkbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/flidderbugs-by-jonathan-gould.html
Finally, Magnus Opum provides the same pleasure as Doodling and Flidderbugs – but the best bit is – there’s more of it! Join Magnus Mandalora, who is forced to leave the safe haven of his pflugberry-pie-making world, on his adventures over weird and never-before-seen lands. He meets the Doosies, the Cherines, and the Blerchherchh and the dreaded Glurgs. And all because his brother got a dose of The Grompets.
I just can’t get enough of Jonathan. His ingenuity and imagination are infectious and addictive. He has a skilful way of making the totally absurd and oddball seem quite, quite normal.
Follow Jonathan’s doodling on http://daglit.blogspot.co.uk/
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Cathy Speight is an accomplished book reviewer and Chief Consulting Reviewer at Indies Unlimited. For more information, please see the IU Bio page and her blog.
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Cool! Spotlight is a great idea.
I love his books. They're quirky and fun.
I've read the first two and Magnus will be next.
🙂
Sounds delightful.