Connections: Literature for Composition Book

This book is supposed to be an exciting fun-filled romp and it almost gets there, but misses the mark in several major ways. The biggest problem is that the intentionally ludicrous plot is taken very seriously so instead of quirky / charming, the tone is odd / peculiar. It needs more funny. There's never a campy wink at the reader acknowledging the big joke of it all. The main character narrator is intentionally despicable, but then also allowed every excess. (He invents his own punctuation.) The effect is eye-rolling instead of laugh-inducing. This story is fun to read at times in the same way people get a thrill from gawking at the mentally ill. Since it's obviously going for complete unrestricted, unabashed, audacious absurdity (voodoo zombies need love too), please skip the mundane diary aspects (like details about the real estate market in Arizona and post-hurricane New Orleans). Why is it even set in Tuscon? It needs to be happening in like the magical land of Vierblakkor or something.