Surreal Humor

My Name Was Don

2016

Genre: Absurdist literary fiction


Sub-Genre: Experimental comedy

When Don’s inner and outer realities merge, every plan fails and the stakes keep rising. Only Katie can save him. But Katie… isn’t real.

Synopsis: My Name Was Don - Author: Gary Marks

As for the book's title—no, Don did not change his name.

It’s the other thing.

Don, our narrator and the writer of this absurd comedy novella, is literally illiterate. Everything he does turns into an unmitigated disaster.

He names his dog Whoosh because of how fast he can chase cars.

His girlfriend, Katie, the love of his life, isn’t real.

And his manipulative ex-wife, Windi, has a new boyfriend named Z—a bodybuilder who works at a gym and is in no mood to joke around.

You might recognize the small-town mayor in Don's story—someone just smart enough to figure out a way to blackmail those trying to blackmail her... including Don.

Don loves Whoosh as he hobbles toward old age, and loves his daughter, Elsa, who says nothing in the book but means everything to him. But problems seem to arise at every turn.

In the end, Don comes up with a plan to make everything right. But as usual, he hasn't quite thought things through.

He writes this book from the perspective he apparently gains after he is saved from death, or life. We may never know which one, as his story ends.