The Hong Kong Phooey, by Caleb Joshua Mannan
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In the spirit of my dad, Kent Foster Mannan, US Naval Corpsman 3rd class, 1966-70, who was told by a fellow theatergoer at a screening of ‘It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World’ in 1969:
“You know, I didn’t think the movie was that funny, but sitting next to you, and hearing you laugh, I couldn’t help but laugh myself.”
May you all laugh at me laughing at this.
CJM
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This book is full of outrageous lies – you must not believe any of it.
The Author
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This book is the absolute God’s truth, you must believe every word of it.
The Author
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The Tenets of Inventive Nonfiction Fiction
(This will make sense later. maybe.)
In no particular order. Because there is none:
• “Verisimilitude Schmersimilitude.”
• Tell your own story, and fill it full of lies.
• Tell, don’t show.
• You have to create a character to tell the truth.
• Epilogues are horseshit. Just end it.
• Prologues, though less shitty than epilogues, are still horseshit.
• Sometimes you need to trick yourself into writing (Absurd times call
for absurd measures).
• Lazy transitions are hilarious.
• The truth is funnier than you think.
• All fiction has some nonfiction in it. All nonfiction is a lie.
• Good Writing is devoid of cursing. Good storytelling is rife with it.
• If it aint fun, don’t try to fix it.
• The semi colon is winking at you for a reason – it’s a trick, don’t go
there.
• Jab at conventions with a smartass thumb. Irreverence is the
salvation of humanity.
• Don’t get bogged down in ‘research’, which is a fancy word for
‘procrastinating’, which is a fancy word for ‘the opposite of writing’.
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Psalm 121
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”
Start READING: The Hong Kong Phooey Chapter 1
