Love and Other Pranks

Tony Vigorito

Mobius Hardcover (386pp) 978-0-9701419-7-2

A novel that can be parsed several times to uncover new meaning, Love and Other Pranks is a must-read.

Stylish and surreal, Love and Other Pranks by Tony Vigorito is a wild ride through both the past and present.

The novel is split between two time lines. The first introduces modern San Franciscans Merlin and Lila, who oppose a New Age cult leader, Ivan, and his Holy Company of Beautiful People. The second focuses on eighteenth-century Caribbean pirates Crow and Jane, who contend with the murderous Goldtooth and his path of vengeance. Gliding effortlessly through a host of bizarre and enchanting scenarios, both couples’ seemingly different journeys become concurrent; each is ultimately a quest for truth, beauty, and fundamental meaning.

This is surrealist writing that strikes an effective balance. Vigorito’s inventive use of syntax is the novel’s best feature. Ostensibly dissimilar ideas and scenarios are conjoined in unprecedented ways through language, furthering the philosophical leanings of the characters.

Deeply theoretical ideas like the absurdity of our created society and the real meaning of truth are explored with a joyous exuberance that makes the book impossible to put down. Though seemingly intended as something of a wake-up call to readers, Love and Other Pranks never sermonizes on the importance of abstract thinking in the age of rampant consumerism and mindlessness,