A Little Leg Work

I won a print copy of A Little Leg Work by Royce Leville in a Goodreads Giveaway.

I have to first give credit to author Royce Leville for having the ability to take a topic (cannibalism) that most people (myself included) find abhorrent and turning it into a humorous story.  A Little Leg Work is a very funny story.

Although there is no indication noted in the book, it is pretty clear to me that Royce Leville is British. We find many words with the British spelling, but then again, the publisher is identified as being in Hamburg, Germany, so who can say for sure. I only mention this at all because a character in the book drives a Mercedes and the author shortens this to "Merc". Which, any American car guy knows means Mercury (both fine cars, but hardly interchangeable). This is the only language difference that is seriously noticeable.

Leville keeps the story light by not focusing too much on how the "humce" (read the book) is acquired, but on the goings on of all the characters, and how easily they slid down that slippery slope into gruesome activities.

 A Little Leg Work is not graphic, even the sex. In fact, for me, one of the funniest parts of the book is how a fetus (foetus, as the author spells it) experiences sexual activity by its host.

Author Leville uses footnotes to provide snide asides about various characters and situations. I found this a very funny way of keeping the story light.

For a short time I actually worried about what it says about me that I could find such a topic funny (but I did, call me a ghoul if you want, but it was funny). I got over it, but it may be that I won't go out for Italian for a while.

The other thing that struck me was the presence of a "Travel Page" at the front and again at the back of the book. It is a place to document the travels of the book through different readers. Kind of a neat idea until two pages later when we find the admonishment "that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated..." (??).

The real lesson to be taken away from  A Little Leg Work by Royce Leville is: Never trust a vegetarian! Enjoy!


Mike