Ben East Books

Tag: humor

  • Introducing: Cowboy Herold

    Introducing: Cowboy Herold

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , ,

    Sharing his thoughts on a fresh draft of my novel in progress, the contract illustrator proclaims: This whole thing is, like, so hilarious! Best of all, the 4th grader can barely utter consecutive syllables without breaking into fits of hysterics as he tries to describe the characters. His cheeks stretch too wide for speech at…

  • Comic Relief for Troubled Times

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , , ,

    Taking aim at the institutions we once trusted to save us from ourselves. Out Today. AMERICA’S NEXT GUN MASSACRE IS INEVITABLE.  Unless one government intern can make a miracle of his odd DC jobs. Gabriel Dunne’s internship has him tracking gun violence in America. But before he can start, boss Chloe tasks him with planning…

  • D. W. Hitman

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , ,

    Warning: the reading police, disguised as the media, have infiltrated the State Department. Based on a stroll through the Harry Truman building cafeteria, one journalist for The Atlantic pretends to understand our present condition: “As the staffer and I walked among the tables and chairs, people with badges chatted over coffee; one was reading his Kindle.” Forgive me for…

  • Writing Prompts, Spellcheck, and Academic Advice

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , ,

    There are many, many reasons not to read Flash Fiction Funny while riding public transportation. The first and perhaps best reason is Taylor Mali’s The the Impotence of Proofreading, which will leave you bent over double and wheezing for breath, the workaday passengers all around contemplating the emergency brake at the back of the train.…

  • Bart Simpson, Foreign Service Officer

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in ,

    I was driving the boys to a wishing well Sunday morning when good fortune came my way: NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me was airing Not My Job. Talented people were supposed to do something without drawing on their talent. The talent in this case was Bill Oakley, who turned a Foreign Service exam cop…

  • A Wry Ode to Clusterf***ing

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , , ,

    Joyless House posted this generous review of Two Pumps for the Body Man. See what else they’re reviewing with a click on the image. “…Two Pumps is a page-turner, baby, and it takes some real balls to satirize the great Christian crusade of our times.” Two Pumps is set in the Royal Kingdom of Saudi…

  • Unity Amid Terror

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , ,

    We can look to the barbarians who call for broad, ignorant hatred in response to the specific ignorant hatred behind the tragedies in San Bernardino, Orlando, Portland. Or we can look for unity. While Two Pumps for the Body Man is foremost a satire of the so-called “War on Terror”, it’s also rich in other themes (the odd sexual proclivities of protagonist Jeff Mutton, for…

  • Free Pumps!

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in , ,

    One week left in the Goodreads giveaway of Two Pumps for the Body Man. Follow the link at left to win a copy. Book reviewers can contact me directly for an electronic copy. The Second World War Had Catch-22. The War on Terror Has 2 Pumps. Jeff Mutton walks the diplomatic beat protecting American officials in Saudi Arabia. An expert with guns and…

  • Coming Very Soon

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in ,

    The Second World War II had Catch 22. The Global War on Terror will have:

  • Cheney: still wrong after all these years

    —

    by

    Ben East
    in

    Former veep, elegantly cloaked in fiction Crediting Dick Cheney for his rebuke of Donald Trump’s bigotry gets no traction with me. Sorry Dick: you can’t make up for decades of reckless decisions and bad policy based on one easy moment of obvious decency. You’re still a modern architect of the very party now on the verge of nominating a racist…