Mixed Animal

In his ambitious but overreaching debut, Martin fashions a folksy small-town political parable in the fictional town of Hmmm, U.S.A. The novel focuses on the smartest man in in town, Lemuel Washington, a philosophic fix-it man. Just as his sister Shane embarks on a mayoral campaign, Lemuel inherits his Uncle's bizarre pet Buzz, a mix of many animals-badger, dog, moonbat and goat among them. Buzz is a hungry, slobbering pain, but when a sinister figure begins to stalk the creature, Lemuel realizes just how precious it is. Soon, it seems everyone wants a piece of Buzz; though its charms spur much of the action and conflict, proof of the creature's affecting qualities never goes beyond a few tricks here and an abundance of clever physical descriptions. Martin leans heavily on quirky grammar and misspelling to set his homespun tone, but comes across as forced and unfunny. With a condescending tone, the potentially fascinating inhabitants of Hmmm are reduced to ciphers in a pointless farce.