Funco File

By Burt Cole

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0380003139
• ISBN13: 9780380003136
• Release Date: January 1970
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 5.5" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Witty, funny, and imaginative

The Funco File somehow manages to be both light and dense at the same time, which is quite an accomplishment. It's also devilishly funny. In a near-future, slightly madcap world four unique individuals have appeared with inexplicable powers: a middle-aged accountant with the ability to write indelible ectoplasmic blue fire with his nose, a backwoods boy who is a living poltergeist, an elite soldier with superhuman strength and the ability to go hours without breathing, and a sacred temple prostitute from the Far East who can levitate while performing. The stories of these four oddballs are each begun in four large sections of the novel, as they move towards each other without realizing it. Also unknown to them is the interest taken in their cases by The Machine, a massive self-aware computer which embodies much of the functions of the government and society.The dialogue is clever and funny, the major and minor characters are likeable and unique, the plot has no dead spots, and there's plenty of love, action, and comedy. Mr. Cole keeps the pace lively throughout. He also provides several evocative and highly entertaining settings: a backwoods America that may not really exist (but is highly entertaining without descending into slapstick), a fictional Far Eastern monarchy with the most peculiar customs and surprisingly canny inhabitants, and the quirky world of secret elite government death squads, whose members are forced by conditioning to kill ANYONE who comes too close. The solider is one of the recipients of this conditioning, and as the back cover blurb notes, this makes things difficult between him and the temple prostitute...At over 300 pages it's not a short book, but it never wears thin or gets boring. It's a pity there wasn't a sequel. In terms of sex and violence the book might rate PG-13, more for sex than for violence - it's really quite mild for both categories, but children might be confused by some sections. Parents may want to read it themselves, first.Readers who enjoy The Funco File would probably also enjoy Superstoe by William Borden and A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.