Sale Day at C Mart

Joe Basara's second novel, SALE DAY AT C MART, like his first, is set in a fictitious (or perhaps better "mythical") 1980s part of North Central Florida which the author styles Cypress Lake. C MART is a large, incompetently managed discount department store that sits across the street from and snarls at its rival T MART. According to the book's back cover we have here a "comedy about one day in the life of a discount store." That we are dealing with a chronological phenomenon is clear from the chapter titles, e. g., ONE: 7:00 a.m., FOURTEEN: 3:00 p.m. and finally EIGHTEEN: 5:00 p.m. *** With a nod to Charles Dickens, C MART is run by Ebenezer Scrooge wannabe store manager Don McKeever. He is determined to rise toward corporate headquarters in Atlanta through paying low wages, getting rid of workers before they put in ten years and become vested for a pension and other unkind management practices. Novel's hero is American Indian BIlly Buffalo assisted by a magic Santa Claus suit worn throughout the day by various employees, each of whom is transformed into an idealistic, caring person during the annual Christmas in July sale. *** Between the two moral poles of Don McKeever and Billy Buffalo there is stretched a plot suggesting Lewis Carroll and Alice in Wonderland. From store opening till store closing a lengthy parade of zanies and one obscenity spewing escaped parrot strut their stuff, with one eye toward the Mad Hatter. Store worker Carrie was right when she told Billy Buffalo, "You work here long enough, you'll see just about every variety of oddball there is. I think this store attracts them" (Ch. 12: 2:00 p.m.). *** Author Joe Basara loves humor based on caricature, exaggeration, and a plot endlessly piling on one weird character after another. My personal reaction is "something too much of this." There is for sure humor, satire, bloviating, opining and more. Not my cup of tea, but in the universe of niche writers and niche readers, there will, I predict, be some who will enjoy reading SALE DAY AT C MART -- at least once. -OOO-