In Love With The Violet Glow Of You

Yea, Yea, Double-Yea! I am finally getting my own copy of 'The Marzipan Pig', by Russell Hoban and not for the price of $455 that Alibris Book Fetch Results sent to me on Wednesday. Yikes! For some reason, this is one of the most-coveted children's books of all time. I've been trying to get myself a copy for about three years and now I will have it, for a mere $20.

From Publishers Weekly: A marzipan pig, lost behind the sofa, is eaten by a mouse who consequently knows loneliness. The mouse looks to a clock for love, and when she leaves, the clock, in turn, knows emptiness. The owl who has eaten the mouse falls in love with a lit taxi meter, and so on, as each being or object is transformed by its encounter with another. Coming full cycle, a new marzipan pig arrives in the mail and is eaten by the upstairs mouse, who is not eaten by the owl. Instead, she goes dancing all night on the Embankment, wearing a pink hibiscus-petal frock. Exploring the same themes of love and its redeeming power as in The Mouse and His Child, Hoban incorporates humor and adventure in this short, fable-like story. Blake's charcoal-and-ink drawings charmingly illuminate the text.

There's a funny story about two other Hoban characters; a badger with an inquisitive palate meets a twelve year old orphaned boy with a puppet and an amazing record collection. From time to time they have trouble understanding what the other is or isn't talking about, but food seems to be the common denominator that makes everything OK. Next up; Riddley And The Lobster Quadrille.