Munmun

The premise of Munmun by Jesse Andrews is deceptively simple. In this world, size is directly proportionate to one’s bank account. Big people flourish, little ones die fast. Our hero, Warner, is trying to stay alive and get some money (munmun) for himself and the people he loves. However, his story is revealed to be a brilliantly deranged satire of horror, humor, and heartbreak. There are no limits on the characters’ morality or the writer’s imagination: communal dreams are weaponized, bombs are sold at the mall, people are permanently crippled by cats or eat entire mammoths for lunch. The dreamlike insanity contrasts with the painful truths that Andrews is trying to get across. We do live in a society where crushing poverty, double standards, peer pressure, incompetent officials, drug addiction, street violence, sexual assault, brutal educational demands, and parasitical debt flourish. These demons are given strange new faces by Andrews, creating terrifying obstacles for Warner to fight. The story of his battle to get big is laid out with magnificent writing and held together by a unique dialect of Jesse’s creation. This book is sometime depressing and always bizarre, but it’s a great read–and a necessary one–all the same.