Fartiste by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, illustrated by Boris Kulikov - review

Fartiste by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, illustrated by Boris Kulikov

"One minute, by chance, he was flexing his gut.
The next, he had sounds coming out of his butt!"

Oh my god. If I did this for storytime, the screams of laughter would collapse the school. Nobody would even hear me after page two. It would be like that Duran Duran concert I went to by accident in 1983.

I think readings of Fartiste should be confined to small groups. Many, many, many small groups.
See, NOT ONLY is Joseph Pujol able to control the tone and tempo of his gas - so much so that apparently the guy could fart out songs and do realistic sound effects - which makes for a pretty funny story, but Boris Kulikov's illustrations are extremely funny. We see a seagull surprised by a fart, we see Joseph putting out the gaslights at the theater - with his butt! - we see his audiences by turns horrified and convulsed with laughter.

Best of all, Joseph Pujol was a real person, and the authors have included a brief account of his star-studded career, plus a list of sources, including Baz Luhrmann's musical Moulin Rouge!. I knew I loved that crazy movie for a reason!