Chapter Seventy: The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip

This very short book, written by George Saunders and illustrated by Lane Smith, is one of the oddest and most amusing stories I've read recently.  Saunders's prose, and particularly his dialogue, reads more contemporary, spoken English, and for me a good portion of the tale's humor arises from how realistic the writing is--even though the premise of the story is absurd, the dialogue and language generally are so realistic that I felt as though these things had really happened, or at least that they could.  Saunders has a way of using this realism to wryly convey some home truths about human nature; in this way he reminds me a bit of Lemony Snicket in A Series of Unfortunate Events.  Smith's illustrations are delightful and fit the text really well, matching it in realistic absurdity.  This is a very quick and amusing read, and ultimately its message is more uplifting than it is depressing, so I heartily recommend it.