Who Censored Roger Rabbit [Roger Rabbit #1] by Gary K. Wolf (ePUB+)

“Who’d want to kill a dumb cartoon bunny?” That’s what Eddie Valiant wants to know. He’s the toughest private eye in Los Angeles, and he’ll handle anything – if you’re human. If you’re a Toon, that’s another story. Eddie doesn’t like Toons – those cartoon characters who live side-by-side with humans. Not the way they look, and especially not the way they talk: word-filled balloons come out of their mouths and then disintegrate, leaving dust all over his rug. Eddie will work for a Toon if his cash supply is low enough. So he reluctantly agrees when Roger Rabbit, a Toon who plays straight man (or should that be straight rabbit) in the Baby Herman cartoon series, asks him to find out who’s been trying – unsuccessfully – to buy his contract from the DeGreasy Brothers syndicate. Then Rocco DeGreasy is murdered – and Roger is the prime suspect! The rabbit is also, as Eddie soon discovers, very, very dead. Who censored Roger Rabbit? And who shot Rocco DeGreasy? Was it Roger, or was it Rocco’s hot-cha-cha girlfriend, Jessica Rabbit? Why had Jessica – a pretty steamy number for a Toon – ever married a dopey bunny in the first place? And why does everybody want Roger’s battered old teakettle? As Eddie combs L.A. from the executive suites of the DeGreasy Brothers to Sid Sleaze’s porno comic studio, he uncovers art thefts, blackmail plots….and the cagiest killer he’s ever faced. In Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, author Gary K. Wolf has created a wonderfully skewed – and totally believable – world compounded of equal parts Raymond Chandler, Lewis Carroll, and Walt Disney. This riotously surreal spoof of the hard-boiled detective novel is packed with action and laughs. From first page to last, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? is shear delight. Celebrated author Gary K. Wolf’s cult classic and highly praised novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? is the basis for the blockbuster Walt Disney/Steven Spielberg Academy Award winning film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. This version includes an author’s sketch of Roger Rabbit PLUS autographs of Gary K. Wolf AND Roger Rabbit himself! The detective on the cover is portrayed by Mr. Wolf.

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Review

This antic mystery, in a tradition -- and on a terrain -- familiar to fans of Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald, amuses as it intrigues.
The New York Times

An impressively sustained, original mix of fairy tale and burlesque ... Wacky!
Publishers Weekly

A decidedly different and thoroughly enjoyable piece of fiction. Highly recommended.
Roanoke Times and World News

It's fun. And crazy. And it works. Gary K. Wolf has created a fast-moving send up of the classic trench coat thriller, turned the world 90 degrees to left and then stirred in the barnyard beasties of the comic pages. The action stays frantic. Wolf creates a world wacky and real enough to keep you turning the page.
Long Beach Independent Press Telegram

The style is a well-oiled version of Raymond Chandler, and characters are about what one would expect if Daffy Duck were to become the producer of "Wild Kingdom". Hilarious.
Kansas City Star
The ultimate tongue-in-cheek burlesque of the typical hard-boiled private eye thriller. Who Censored Roger Rabbit? stands with the true detective epics of the '30s and '40s.
Jacksonville Times Union

A wild, wacky and highly original story which never has a dull moment.
Chattanooga News-Free Press

Wolf's writing is genuinely funny. His characters wander around in a Chandleresque Disneyland of comic violence that is surreal without being unrealistic. He also trots out every cliché imaginable in the detective/mystery genre, and milks them for every laugh, or groan, that he can get.
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About the Author

It was watching Saturday morning cartoons "for research purposes" that inspired Wolf's idea for Roger Rabbit.

"It was during the commercials," says Wolf. "I saw Tony the Tiger and the Trix Rabbit, and Cap'n Crunch, cartoon characters, talking to real people. And nobody seemed to think that was odd. I thought, 'What a great idea for a novel. A place where Toons lived side by side with humans.' I wove that into a mystery, and bingo, I had my book."

His innovative concept was the basis for the novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit? Wolf found his idea hard to sell -- this time to publishers. Even with three well reviewed science fiction novels to his credit, it took Wolf two years and 110 rejections to find a publisher for his unusual book. "Publishers told me it was too esoteric. Too weird. Nobody would understand it," Wolf explains. Finally, a small publisher took a chance and brought it out. Soon after, Walt Disney Pictures came calling. Disney and Steven Spielberg teamed up to make Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The film became the most critically acclaimed and highest-grossing film of 1988, bringing in more than $750 million at the box office as well as four Academy Awards.

Wolf has written ten novels.

He currently lives in Boston.