Over the past two decades, "The Toxic Avenger" has achieved the status of cult icon. Discerning fans around the world have followed "Toxie's" adventures through four films, an animated feature, a Saturday-morning cartoon series, comic books, action figures, and more. His name has been used by everyone from the Environmental Protection Agency to the U.S. Army to PETA; he appears in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; and his creator, Lloyd Kaufman, is claimed as an influence by directors like Peter Jackson and Quentin Tarantino. Now Kaufman has set aside his video camera and unleashed his twisted brilliance on the artistic form of Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, and Mitch Albom. And to put it simply, Kaufman has blown those jokers out of the water. Readers who dare to crack the spine of this book will experience the gamut of human emotion (and then some): laughter, tears, and perhaps even vomiting and spontaneous ejaculation. With more girl-on-girl action than an episode of "Springer, " more blood-soaked bad taste than an "After School Special, " and with special "guest narrators" such as J. D. Salinger and Oliver Stone, "The Toxic Avenger" oozes hilarity on every page.

At 'The Hollyhocks' old people's home, the inhabitants are 'waiting for the scythe'. But while they are waiting...Lady Celia is running a blackmailing business on the side, Mr Cross keeps a tally of fellow residents' deaths on the back of his wardrobe, and then there is the rabid old Scots nationalist, and Mrs Green, a woman with a mysterious past. Hardly surprising in this environment that Mrs Bellamy decides she can't take any more and slits her throat. When Matron hushes it up because it would be bad for business, Lady Celia sees an opportunity to expand her blackmailing operation. Meanwhile two new incomers disturb the life of the home further; Mrs Feinberg, a sprightly Jewish woman of whom the other residents are immediately suspicious, and the elegant Mr Rufus. Hidden pasts, unusual sexual preferences and wickedly dark humour are mixed to delicious effect in Bernice Rubens' wonderful new novel.