That's All Folks

Narrator Nick Taig, egotistical ad man about Londontown and protagonist of Snow's provocative first novel, suffers from an affliction his girlfriend Lucy has aptly named cartoonitis. With his rubbery limbs, a face that can pop back to normal after it's smashed in a fight and a temporarily elongated nose which twangs back and forth, he is turning into a cartoon character. Much of the ``visual'' humor here will strike the reader in direct proportion to his or her acquaintance with the conventions of the two-dimensional world: one finds these misadventures either hilarious or empty grotesqueries. But Snow's wit is not confined to animated antics; the novel's strength is its blend of magical realism and satire. Taig's cynical outlook and exaggerated notion of himself provide a razor-sharp commentary on the generation whose lifestyles are the legacy of Thatcherism. The story is funniest in describing Taig's obnoxiously self-centered behavior. When it becomes overtly satirical it loses a good deal of its inspirational energy. In more ways than one Taig learns he is not unique, and while this discovery slows the pace of the humor, it is the lasting lesson of an offbeat, enjoyable tale. Film rights to Guber-Peters/Columbia. (Mar.)