4: Fantastic Novels

by Daniel Pinkwater

Book Overview

From the popular NPR commentator comes an omnibus edition of four of his hilarious middle-grade novels: Borgel, The Worms of Kukumlima, Yobgorgle and The Snarkout Boys & the Baconburg Horror. Foreword... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689834888
• ISBN13: 9780689834882
• Release Date: August 2000
• Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
• Length: 640 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 5.8" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

anything better??? NEVER!

first i must say, there is nothing in this world as wonderful as Daniel Pinkwater's books. These were the first books of his i have ever read and i must say i was in sheer delight. While, I at first only bought them because the name Pinkwater was possibly the best i'd ever heard, I, now after reading them, would have bought them if his name was Joe Smith. And i must tell you i don't respond well to boring names, or anything for that matter, and pinkwater and his books are anything but boring. Giant Popsicles as a symbol for all thats good in the world, asian realitives of the adocovo, salami snaps, giant earthwarms thinking humans love gronala, giant pig submarines? who thinks of these things? obviously only Daniel Pinkwater. He's just plain goofy. And it's not in the slightest anoyying. Do i recommend this book? ABSOLUTLY! and the 9-12 thing, while just ignore that intirely because this book is for everybody!

Chickens, Avacados and Interspace Travel

Daniel Pinkwater is a fabulous author. His skewed take on life is not only funny and entertaining but reminds every reader that there's more to life than meets the eye. You'll discover something new each time you read (and re-read) Pinkwater's stories, making Pinkwater loved by kids and adults alike. If you buy this book, prepare to have your views on life broadened -- all while being wildly entertained.

Resurrected from back-order limbo

4 Fantastic Novels is the second recent Pinkwater compendium. It contains . . . four fantastic novels by the master which he stole back from indolent publishers. Borgel is really two stories-one a tale of how a young lad is educated by his eccentric uncle to understand some of the finer points of intellectual life, the other a fantasy yarn which is a kind of road story reminiscent of traveling the highways of an America long gone.Yobgorgle is about The Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario, based in Rochester, and the adventure of finding it. It mentions a secret passage in the Rochester Public Library. When they moved the library to new digs, they made sure there was a secret passage there, too. A librarian told me they did that because it was mentioned in Yobgorgle.The Worms of Kukumlima includes some of Mr. Pinkwater's real-life adventures in Africa. The on-safari sections bear careful attention, as they describe the change in being that occurs when you get out into the land where man (and woman) began.The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror complete the republication of this series that began with 5 Novels, the earlier Pinkwater compendium. The "boys" (one is a girl) are starting to grow up, but their adventures continue.There. Four fantastic novels resurrected from back-order limbo (how low can publishers go?), they are vintage Pinkwater-I love them all. More, the successful effort to bring good works back to the public is a message to us all about taking charge of our own destiny. Thank you, Daniel.

Another fantastic collection!

The Good Captain Pinkwater has done it again, with a carefully-chosen anthology of 4 classic novels. There's something simply magical about these 4, as well as other Pinkwater yarns. _Borgel_ is my all-time favorite; it just reaches out and appeals to your love for the inane, for your desire to be a kid with an 111+ year-old uncle who takes you on trips through time, space, and the other, for your love of adventure and beatnik poetry. If you haven't read anything by Daniel P. yet, there are many places to start, but reading 4FN should leave you hooked. (And I'm not just saying this because I'm quoted on the inside, as a good number of other Pinkwater readers are too. Isn't that a novel idea, printing praise from actual readers instead of stuffy reviewers who thrive on words like "convoluted" and "weird?")

I love this book, and not just because I'm in it.

Daniel Pinkwater is such a great guy. He doesn't bother with the New York Times when he needs jacket quotes, he goes straight to his fans! These are some of the best books in the world, all here in one volume. Borgel changed my life. It says so on the inside cover so it's true. Yobgorgle is a modern day Flying Dutchman. The Worms of Kukumlima comes complete with giant intelligent worms, and the second Snarkout book is poetry in motion. These books cannot be found in print individually anymore, so for a quadruple dose of funny freaky fantasy, 4 Fantastic Novels is your Rx.