Reviews: The Spotted Unicorn

This review first appeared online in September 1999. Cathy E. Kerrigan regularly reviews movies and books simply for personal interest and also writes articles on management and IT for publication.

   This is a little gem. McGough is one of Britain's leading poets and this tiny volume was inspired by a comment in the Confucian analects about a forgotten Chinese poet. McGough uses this as a platform for a brief, witty exploration of what this poet, Chi Wen Tzu, might have been like. It is illustrated with equal wit by Satoshi Kitamura and can be read in about 10 minutes, but I do recommend this to everyone.
 

This review first appeared online at Tangled Web UK, a crime and mystery fiction website.

"Chi Wen Tzu always thought three times before taking action. Twice would have been quite enough." - Confucius

   Inspired by Confucius' acerbic remark, The Spotted Unicorn takes the form of a diary written by Chi Wen Tzu, a brilliant poet and inventor, whose daily dilemmas involve betrayal, murder and the invention of both the porcelain willow pattern and the haiku. Grappling with his daily life, this indecisive genius confronts himself at the end of each diary entry with three courses of action, none of which is the obvious choice. Through his journal we learn more about ancient China than perhaps is good for us.

    This is McGough at his hilarious best, with inspired drawings by Satoshi Kitamura.