i2 arts & entertainment January 18,2011 - Over the Hdge

Douglas Coupland

Changes Pace
Highly Inappropriate Tales

Takes a Different Direction

DARCIE SMITH
ARTS EDITOR

A uthor Douglas Coupland stepped out of his usual novel-writing comfort and teamed up with illustrator Graham

Roumieu to come up with Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People — a book of short stories that stay true

ee
ee
ee
ee
oe
a
_————
a—_

to the title. This is certainly a picture book for adults who have a dark sense of humour. Not all seven of the
short stories are as funny as the reader might hope them to be, but there are definitely some highlights and plenty of
entertainment value. It can probably be read in under an hour, and big fans of Coupland will be pleased with the quirky
experiment.

Some of the more preferable stories include Donald, the Incredibly Hostile Juice Box, which takes a different ap-
proach to the after school bully idea. This is the first of the seven, and it starts it off with a few good laughs. Another
fantastic story is Sandra, the Truly Dreadful Babysitter, who proves to be a child-caring monster. At times, the dry and
subtle humour reads like an episode of Arrested Development. There are probably some readers who feel a lot of the
ideas touched on in this book are borderline offensive, such as Hans, the Weird Exchange Student (another favourite).
One of the tales goes as far as even assassinating a little girl — but it is still funny. Kevin, the Hobo Minivan with Ex-
tremely Low Morals hilariously tells the tale of an old van that steals money from kids to buy vodka to fuel his tank. He
lures children inside of him to shake the change from their pockets and thieve their electronics to sell. It is a disturbingly
realistic comparison to some everyday commonalities.

The endings of each story are also quite entertaining. Often, there is no closure whatsoever, or something horrible
happens but it is barely mentioned at all. Many of the unfortunate events in the stories are told in understated and under-
whelming terms, which add to the humour and appeal.

As for the illustrations of Roumieu — they are excellent. Drawn in a scratchy and sarcastic way, they compliment
the tone of Coupland’s writing perfectly. In some regards, the illustrations are a step up for Roumieu, and the writing a

small step down for Coupland. Roumieu has authored and illustrated several books including Bigfoot: I Not Dead, In
Me Own Words, and Me Write Book. The publisher of Tales compares Roumieu’s drawings in it to that of Edward Gorey

and Tim Burton.

Rick Hansen

MN oe

Presenting Partners

The
RICK Hansen
Relay ts coming

visiG RiCKHansenRelay.com For intormab&ion

Bisco
Fok hengan

wg