PYGMY

Paul Michael Garcia earned his paycheck for his performance of PYGMY, Chuck Palahniuk's (FIGHT CLUB) semi-comedic novel about a 13-year-old terrorist nicknamed for his diminutive size. Pygmy is one of many young agents from an unspecified nation who infiltrate the U.S. through a foreign student exchange program. Pygmy, in bizarre pidgin English, narrates the tale with sentences like: "Operative me seated surrounding meal table host American holiday. Present Vast Cow Father, Pig Dog Brother, Chicken Mother, Cat Sister host family all hands link so create fence." Garcia's challenge is to read the ungrammatical sentences carefully so listeners can interpret their meaning. The story is some kind of weird "Karate Kid as a young terrorist" effort, which is even funny at times. Overall, it's worth the effort. M.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JUNE 2009]