Synopses & Reviews
Odell Deefus, who's not the sharpest tool in the shed, has one goal: to "try my hardest to be a good soldier against the mad dog Islamites." But while driving to an army enlistment office in Callisto, Kansas, his '78 Chevy breaks down on the side of a country road, and it's only the beginning of his troubles. When he accepts a local's offer of shelter until the car is repaired, things go from bad to worse—worse as in murder, drug dealers, tenacious televangelists . . . and finding himself a prime target of the FBI, which thinks he's a member of a terrorist sleeper cell. And none of it bodes well for his unrequited crush on Condoleezza Rice. But fear, rash judgments, and extreme reactions are simply the norm in a post-9/11 world. Odell will just have to deal with it.
Review
“Torsten Krol pulls no punches with his modern farce.... Hes crafted the perfect foil in Odell.... Callisto is a funny, smart and well-timed novel.” San Diego Union-Tribune
Review
“A witty sendup of the anxieties that make Americans so dangerous...barbed with enough tragedy to sting.... A macabre farce, a la the Coen brothers.” Washington Post Book World
Review
“Odell has one of those narrative voices that grabs you out of the gate and never lets go. Think The Good Soldier Swiek with a touch of Confederacy of Dunces and maybe even a little Catcher in the Rye.” Booklist (starred review)
Review
“Callisto is an absolute joy and a rare pleasure. A work of stark raving genius. Imagine a collaboration by Sinclair Lewis, John Kennedy Toole, and Stephen Colbertbut funnier.” Adam Davies, author of < i=""> The Frog King <>
Review
“Callisto is wickedly well-plotted and just plain funny... Deefus is an extraordinary character...like a grown-up Holden Caulfield in a crueler, more dangerous world.” John Barlow, author of < i=""> Eating Mammals <> and < i=""> Intoxicated <>
Review
“Funny, suspenseful, scary and, most importantly, the best portrayal of an American Innocent since Forrest Gump.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Review
“[Odells] naïveté becomes a sharpened satirical tool as he confronts the flaws in the institutions he treasures... Readers...will enjoy the romp.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“Theres plenty to love.... Krols best twist in a plot packed with them: our identification with his clumsy charmer becomes at once the scariest and most appealing thing about the book.” New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
"Callisto" is a hilarious romp, a full-throttle satire on the fear, rash judgments, and extreme reactions that have become the norm in a post-9/11 world; and Odell Deefus, who is the unwittingly humorous, charmingly innocent, and hopelessly hapless hero.
About the Author
Torsten Krol is the author of Callisto. Nothing further is known about him.