Satire of fallen Olympic hero a dark tale

PRLog (Press Release) - Aug 16, 2008 -
ROCKFORD, IL. - As the 2008 Beijing Olympics gear up for action, legends will be made. Scandals may arise. And after the Olympics, a new satire about a javelin thrower who was a silver medalist will be released in a print-on-demand edition through CreateSpace.com, a branch of Amazon.com. The book is already available worldwide in English as a free download e-book.

The satire is titled Pookoo by American writer D.L. Shiloh (www.dlshiloh.com) and is set in Chicago, 1991. With a flavor reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving and Stanley Elkin, Pookoo details the life of Katlin Hillmacher, golden boy of track and field, and his downward spiral. Depressed and separated from his heiress wife Cassandra, Katlin is working at a run-down movie theater as an usher. Graced with good looks and charisma, He looks in vain to fill the hole left from being orphaned in high school and after his competitive edge has gone. His girlfriend Julie Martin, is a bank loan manager who falls for this athlete with a bad boy image. On top of it, Katlin is almost 30 years old.

“As much as it's about a fallen hero, Julie's story is about how people fall for the wrong person,” Shiloh said. “It's a story calling to get back to the right place.”

The story is told by Pete Warner, an out-of-work proofreader whose own life is on the rocks, both figuratively and literally. Pete's taste for alcohol is fueled by his struggle to find another good job.

But wait – isn't this a satire? And usually aren't satires meant to be somewhat funny?

“The set-up is that it's a shipwreck on land, you need to balance it with humor,” Shiloh added. “It's got dark humor and sarcasm, but it always coming back to that undercurrent of pain.”

One example is how Pete goes on a marketing job interview and gets the job before learning he's supposed to be Lenny the Lobster, a restaurant mascot.

“We find ourselves in situations sometimes, and we're confounded that we put ourselves in them,” Shiloh said. “You can roll with it or think it's the end of the world. These characters take themselves too seriously.”

Pookoo is also making a statement on our culture that loves celebrity, both consumers and media alike. Once Katlin saves a woman from a house fire while out on a daily jog, the media attention on him grows like a wildfire. He gets second fame, but the pain in his psyche may not be the best thing under scrutiny. But it sure makes great TV.

The paperback is a print-on-demand title available at Amazon.com and CreateSpace.com, while the full e-book is available for free on the Internet. Visit www.dlshiloh.com or www.pookoo.net.

Pookoo: a satire of celebrity
$15 USD
190 pages
ISBN: 1438248164
EAN 13: 9781438248165

www.dlshiloh.com
www.pookoo.net

Homefield Multimedia
P.O. Box 16314
Loves Park, IL 61132-6314
Tel. 815-639-0769