B.B. Wolf And The Three LPs
JD Arnold’s reimagining of the classic fable of The Three little pigs with the riveting illustration style of Richard Koslowski is certainly one of the best, and most overlooked versions. The novel takes the story so very far away from the original, using only its skeleton. Through realms suggestive of Alex Haley, Stanley Kubrick, Ralph Bakshi, and for sure a pinch of Stephen King, the wolf is the focus.
As a consistently-struggling blues musician intent on protecting his property and remaining family from the racketeering little pigs, who employ all kinds of legal loopholes to seize and destroy it. The pigs naturally have the law on their side (I trust I need go no further on that) and enjoy high profile connections with sleazy origins as far away as Chicago. That’s plenty of motivation for the wolf’s reported “villainy” when huffing, puffling, and blowing it all down.
It’s a strong study on class struggles and the clashes of midwestern culture that goes the “full Monty”, shall we say, with the intended allegory. Given current political and social climates, most readers are likely to find this entry at least a timely diversion.
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