Matt Ruff’s book Sewer, Gas & Electric made me laugh out loud.  What is not to like about a book with a mutant shark, a polka-dot submarine, and a lamp with the personality of Ayn Rand?  The plot can be summarized with one of my favorite phrases:  chaos ensues.

Amidst all the hijinks, important stuff gets said.  I offer the following:

“…you don’t disprove someone’s pessimism by adding up good and evil on a desert napkin to see which is the greater total.  Hope’s a choice, not a sum; you can have as much of it as you damn well feel like having, regardless of actual circumstances.  But if you try to explain that straight out to someone when they’re in a bad mood, they’ll assume you’re being patronizing and may even throw something at you.  It’s better to use a little finesse.”

I will keep the book and have already threatened to make several people read it, so two thumbs up.