Synopses & Reviews
From the legendary comedic scholars who illuminated the tour de force Twilight so brilliantly in the New York Times bestselling Nightlight comes The Hunger Pains, a hilarious send-up of the immensely popular dystopian young adult novel, The Hunger Games. As excitement surrounding the Spring 2012 release of the major motion picture The Hunger Games reaches a fever pitch, the Harvard Lampoon’s The Hunger Pains takes on the story of a young girl forced to join a survival contest in order to save her community in dystopian, post-apocalyptic Panem.
Beyond a scene-for-scene parody of Suzanne Collins’s book, The Hunger Pains lampoons not only Collins’s writing and characters, but cleverly tackles the themes of morality, government control, and personal independence. The Hunger Games trilogy has sold more than 3 million copies in print; The Hunger Pains is the perfect gift for the millions of fans of the book universally hailed as addictive, exciting, poignant, complex, and brilliantly plotted.
Review
"The Hunger Pains really struck a chord with me." —Kantkiss, protagonist of The Hunger Pains
Review
"Instead of the Bible, rooms should come with a copy of The Hunger Pains." —Sheraton Hotel Memo
Review
"This book makes me wish I'd never been shot." —Abraham Lincoln
Review
"The book always falls through my hands, but in an undeniably funny way." —A Ghost
Synopsis
The hilarious instant
New York Times bestseller,
The Hunger Pains is a loving parody of the dystopian YA novel and film,
The Hunger Games.
Winning means wealth, fame, and a life of therapy losing means death, but also fame! This is The Hunger Pains.
When Kantkiss Neverclean replaces her sister as a contestant on the Hunger Games—the second-highest-rated reality TV show in Peaceland, behind Extreme Home Makeover—she has no idea what to expect. Having lived her entire life in the telemarketing district’s worst neighborhood, the Crack, Kantkiss feels unprepared to fight to the death while simultaneously winking and looking adorable for the cameras. But when her survival rests on choosing between the dreamy hunk from home, Carol Handsomestein, or the doughy klutz, Pita Malarkey, Kantkiss discovers that the toughest conflicts may not be found on the battlefield but in her own heart . . . which is unfortunately on a battlefield.
About the Author
The Harvard Lampoon debuted in February 1876 and is the world's longest continually published humor magazine. Written by seven undergraduates and modeled on Punch, the British humor magazine, the debut issue took the Harvard campus by storm. United States President Ulysses S. Grant was advised not to read the magazine, as he would be too much “in stitches” to run the government. Harvard Lampoon alumni include comedians Conan O'Brien, Andy Borowitz, Greg Daniels, Jim Downey, Al Jean, and B.J. Novak. Lampoon alumni write and have written for Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Futurama, Late Night with David Letterman, Seinfeld, The League, NewsRadio, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and dozens of others. The Lampoon has also graduated many noted authors, such as George Plimpton, George Santayana, and John Updike.