The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, by Gideon Defoe
Extremely silly, but short
(Review posted 21 Nov 2004 17:48:25)

This is an extremely silly book. (Sample and typical silliness: someone remarks that the huge sea monsters on maps are just there for decoration, and don't reflect actual monsters; the Pirate Captain is impressed by this, and says that it may explain why they've never managed to catch site of that huge compass in the corner of the ocean. The Pirate Captain's motto is "I like ham".)

Unlike, say, some of Donald Barthelme's or Mark Leyner's stuff, which could also be called silly in some sense, it's just silly; there's no feeling of hidden depths or interesting meanings somewhere below the surface. It's just the author being silly, and that's the end of it. The silliness is funny in parts, in several parts even. The casual (and silly) killings put me off a bit two or three times, but I may just be an overly serious old fuddy-duddy.

And anyway it's short enough you can read it in an afternoon.