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Review #59 3/06
Title: The Red Fez

What is it? Novella by Leopold McGinnis. 76 pages.

Technical Quality: Very high. Attractive looking book has color cover of Red Fez and a Grapefruit (a plot point) in front of a map of Algiers and seen through an Arabic styled arch. There's easy to read type, 9 black and white illustrations and an easy to handle size that is slightly wider than a paperback.

Innovative Quality: Nothing here that hasn't been done by others.

Review: Taut, lively story of a stolen antiquity, caught me at the opening and kept me reading to the end. The story opens with red fez wearing Habibi buying extra mustache wax, a sure sign that something big is up.

The author says that his story "is heavily film noir inspired." And it does have that "Casablanca" film classic, feel to it. The place is 1936 Algiers, the locals hate the colonial French, and everyone is hungry to make a deal.

The characters are distinctive and crisply drawn. Besides Habibi, there's the police chief Pierre Rensard, cafe proprietor Savid, the evil British gun trader Sylvia Longshot and her hunchback henchman, Afiz.

Like good pulp fiction, the story goes with no stops. Habibi may have something worth a lot on the black market. But who does he sell it to and how does he escape the authorities that are cracking down on illegal sales.

Besides the cast of characters, there's a clear plot, a lively McGuffin - as Hitchcock called 'the thing everyone wants,' - and a menacing hot desert atmosphere that colors everyone's actions.

The story creaks a little when the wily Habibi is caught too much off guard without a back up plan - I am skeptical he would be duped - and he doesn't use the ropes he's tied up with to escape his rope- needing predictament! I'll say no more.

Overall a fun read in a great looking package, with a pulp ficition film noir style that I enjoyed. Perhaps the nicest compliment I can say is I read it straight through and didn't put it down till the story ended.

Overall Grade: 5.9 (Note: Under Musea's rating system 5-6 equals "Very good".)

"Psst! Come here my friend, I have something that you will find...interesting

http://www.redfez.net/leopold/store/The_Red_Fez/

Yes, that is right, follow the above link to find an oasis in the middle of the literary desert of this land. The Red Fez is a ripping yarn set in our land of romance and full of mysterious and double-dealing characters who might do anything to get...

But I musn't give too much away, my friend. Go to Red Fez Publications and buy the book of that same name. Let us meet back here for discussion of the tale when the moon next appears as a ripe juicy grapefruit in the inky desert sky."*

Winnipeg author, Victor Schwartzman, ordered a copy of The Red Fez. At a teenage party hosted in his house by his 16 year old daughter, the book subsequently disappeared. It is very likely that it was pilfered by one of the unruly house guests. Not only is this wildly appropriate for a book like The Red Fez (you'll just have to read it to find out why), but you can NOT buy street cred like that!

Here is a dramatized confessional of what probably happened by Victor himself:


Victor then purchased ANOTHER copy from this humble author. All in all, everyone benefitted, as should you, if you dare order...The Red Fez.

After reading The Red Fez, Victor then sent me his review. Here are some excerpts, to avoid spoilers:


Of course, the first copy turned up the day after Victor ordered the second copy. That morning Victor looked in the mailbox, and "there the first copy was. Tattered, yes. Stained on certain pages, true. And with several greasy fingerprints."

What happens when a national relic suddenly is missing in Algiers in 1936?

Well, there's the grapefruit embargo ordered by the French, of course. And a wild every man and woman for themself free for all.

Leopold McGinnis' novella The Red Fez tells this mystery. The pace is non-stop. The coniving is convincing. The friendships and associations are pushed to their limits as everbody hides information trying to get their hands on the relic.

Habibi, the Algerian man who constantly waxes his mustache and hides things in his bra, has the relic. But, British collector, the French government, and a local bar owner are all trying to get their hands on it.

My favorite part was when Habibi escapes from the desert. I won't give away any details, but I laughed out loud.

The book is in a zine format with a attractive, sturdy, color paperback cover.

This is a story I would have loved to have written and highly recommend.

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