Introduction


Daniel Pinkwater
Only Daniel Pinkwater could imagine a world of super-intelligent lizards. Lizard Music, like many of his young-adult books, is unique for its decidedly nontraditional characters and storytelling. In his writing, Pinkwater expresses a particular fondness for social outcasts, with a special emphasis on the overweight or obese. His characters often find themselves in bizarre worlds or outer space adventures. In Pinkwater’s work, different never equals bad, as exemplified by the Chicken Man, an eccentric chicken-bearing character who appears in several of his books. Often working with his wife, Jill, who is also a writer and illustrator of children’s literature, Pinkwater has created highly original, unusual tales full of magical, anthropomorphic creatures and one-of-a-kind characters.

Essential Facts

  1. Pinkwater was an avid reader from an early age but did not want to become a writer. He said, “Writers’ lives are disgusting, and writing is a horrible, unhealthy activity.”
  2. For his early novels, Pinkwater not only wrote the text but drew the illustrations.
  3. His first novel for adults, The Afterlife Diet, documents the story of a man who dies and ends up in purgatory for recently deceased obese people.
  4. In 1989, Pinkwater launched his own comic strip, Norb. Despite an avid cult following by Pinkwater fans, it lasted for just one year.
  5. Not only a writer, Pinkwater has been a commentator and humorist on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered since 1987.