I.
Q: What do these books have in common: Murder on the Orient Express;
Watchmen; The Colour of Magic; The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?
A: They’re all, to varying degrees, parodies or deconstructions of the
genre that they represent - crime
fiction; superhero comics/graphic novels1;
fantasy; and sci-fi, respectively. They are also, pretty much, the first of
each of these genres that I encountered, certainly the first as non-kids’
books, and I've never looked back.
I’ve been thinking about parody and deconstructions
as a genre entry point for a while now, I even started writing a thing last
year, but didn’t get very far. And then I saw Amanda Palmer’s blog on “Weird Al” Yankovic and
discovering some music genres via his parodies, and it has kicked my arse into
gear (I mean if she can finish her book, I can do a single essay, right?)