Dick and Jane and Vampires Book

While the book is clearly jumping on the P&P&Z bandwagon, and is also very clearly extremely impressed with its own cleverness, I am willing to admit that in-between the kindergarten level text, there is a subtext worthy of several graduate dissertations on 20th and 21st century social, sexual, political issues and mores.

The book deconstructs several genres, capable of making a point about gender roles, real versus imagined fears of living in modern suburbia, the blindness of the 50's to certain subjects, like pedophilia, while inventing fears about creatures invading our homes - "reds under the bed" comes to mind as Dracula hides under little Sally's bed, the old man giving the little girl a scary look as the other characters berate silly Sally for making up stories.

Mother and Father wear the prescribed outfits for a husband and wife in the imagined idyll of the Leave it to Beaver household, complete with the ultimate gender stereotypes in fashion - the apron and the hat, and they approve heartily of their children's playtime with the fanged vampire.

Are they purposefully ignoring dangers they don't want to deal with - conservatives refusing to acknowledge their innocent little girl is sexually active until she's 9 months pregnant and asking for a ride to the hospital? - or are they liberals acting the part of open-mindness and acceptance, the first on the block to welcome the new minority moving into the neighborhood?

A lot is going on in this little tale. But it's still a bandwagon jumper and its still way too smug.