Book Review: William Kotzwinkle is an able and daring writer. Ever-confident in his abilities, he will take on any plot or style, as he does in the three humorous pieces in The Hot Jazz Trio. First, is a surreal novella, featuring Jean Cocteau and Django Reinhardt, as they pursue a missing magician's assistant, with cameos by Picasso and Erik Satie. The surrealism is reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland as written by Philip Pullman, but of course that can't quite describe it. He mixes a mystery with the mysterious (similar to his novel Fata Morgana) and the reader has to hang on for the ride. Nothing is too weird or odd for Kotzwinkle, and sense and sensibility go straight out the window. It's the exciting novella without any rules, and if bizarre nonsense is your cup of tea -- drink up! The second tale in The Hot Jazz Trio is a short short about a pharaoh confronting the afterlife, great concept that we too rarely hear about! The third piece is a short story, a tall tale, a myth, a folk legend, about two circus clowns become hobos on the run from Death. It too ventures into the surreal, an alternate universe, a world none of us has ever seen before. All in all, The Hot Jazz Trio is three entertainments worth a read. You'll wonder how he does it. [3.5 Stars]
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