a hundred years ago, one of American literature’s greatest authors, wrote an essay entitled “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses”; the author, of course, was Mark Twain. In the essay, Twain wrote, “There are nineteen rules governing literary art in the domain of romantic fiction – some say twenty-two. In Deerslayer, Cooper violated eighteen of them.” With great respect to his favorite author, whose work he had the pleasure of teaching to high-school students for thirty-five years, Ed Buhrer disagrees. If romantic literature has nineteen rules to be followed, he asserts that Cooper violated twenty-five of them.
In this parody, all of Cooper’s flaws -- inconsistency, inaccuracy, and improbability –have been replicated (or, as Cooper may have written, reprodlicated). In addition, Ed Buhrer has maintained Cooper’s plodding and verbose style, complete with ridiculous descriptions and misused words, for as Twain himself said, “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug.”
“Absolutely mind-boggling…a brilliant stroke of almost-genius!” – Ignatz Schnotzel,
Flatbrookville (NJ) Bavarian Baptist Church Bulletin
“Cooper at his worst and well worth it…unbelievable.” – Edna McKlurgle, San Angelo
Herald-Trumpet
“A dynamic tour de force…Ed Buhrer is dancing on Cooper’s head with golf shoes on!”
-Jo Ray Huckenfoos, Durham (NH) Dieticians’ and Nutritionists’ Weekly
“Amazing, simply amazing…as enjoyable as gargling thumbtacks!” – Phil DeGrave, Central Virginia Composting Newsletter
“Simply awesome…like shaving your legs with sandpaper…” – Mercedes Rekk,
The Brooklyn Beat
In this parody, all of Cooper’s flaws -- inconsistency, inaccuracy, and improbability –have been replicated (or, as Cooper may have written, reprodlicated). In addition, Ed Buhrer has maintained Cooper’s plodding and verbose style, complete with ridiculous descriptions and misused words, for as Twain himself said, “The difference between the right word and the almost-right word is the difference between the lightning and the lightning-bug.”
“Absolutely mind-boggling…a brilliant stroke of almost-genius!” – Ignatz Schnotzel,
Flatbrookville (NJ) Bavarian Baptist Church Bulletin
“Cooper at his worst and well worth it…unbelievable.” – Edna McKlurgle, San Angelo
Herald-Trumpet
“A dynamic tour de force…Ed Buhrer is dancing on Cooper’s head with golf shoes on!”
-Jo Ray Huckenfoos, Durham (NH) Dieticians’ and Nutritionists’ Weekly
“Amazing, simply amazing…as enjoyable as gargling thumbtacks!” – Phil DeGrave, Central Virginia Composting Newsletter
“Simply awesome…like shaving your legs with sandpaper…” – Mercedes Rekk,
The Brooklyn Beat
