'Mr. Monkey' by Francine Prose

     I have always been a fan of Francine Prose and I have read a lot of her stuff, fiction and non-fiction, over the years. We heard her recently talk about her new book in our near-by bookstore, and certainly the bits she read encouraged both Joan and me to read it.
     "Mr. Monkey: The Musical" is a rather tacky off-off-Broadway production of the musical version of the famous children's book called "Mr. Monkey." I assume that the book and the musical are actually inventions and are not based on any actual children's book, though "Curious George" does come to mind.
     In some respects the book is a series of short stories, each one dealing with a character involved in the production of Mr. Monkey and exploring the various links--coincidental?--between some of the actors and the author of the original children's book, a grandfather who takes his grandson to see the musical, the grandson's school-teacher, a waiter who serves the author at a restaurant and who gets free tickets to see the musical, and the producer of the show. Each 'story' or chapter focusses on one individual, and--frankly--there are quite some differences in the level of interest provided by each of the characters: some are more interesting than others, or one might say that Ms. Prose is more successful in some chapters than in others.
     But...I recommend reading it.