Robin Anderson Author Reviews

Maharajas, Mystics & Masala

Sally Burton - Author & Theatre Producer

“I read Robin Anderson’s first novel, “Regina”, and thought I recognised the types of characters he wrote
about. I was living in London at the time and I did know a few interior designers, Robin among them, so
it is easy to see why I felt an affinity for some of his characters. I no longer live in London and have to
say that even though I have travelled the world extensively I have not met anyone remotely like Miz M
or Miz K. As Robin Anderson is a keen protector of endangered species - and Miz M and Miz K are very
endangered - I am sure he will create even more adventures for these quite unique characters who
inhabit their very own world with such verve and vivacity."

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"Transvestites of Taste"
Amos Lassen

There are drag queens and there are transvestites and sometimes the differences between them are like the differences between night and day. Miz Miranda Maracona and Miz Kookie Kombuis let us know that they, unlike drag queens, are tasteful (and you know if someone tells you that they have taste, then… [you know the rest]). These two find themselves in all kinds of crazy situations and if you read Anderson’s “La Di Da Di Bloody Da”, you know what I mean. The girls are back and things get wild when they take n the mission of saving an “African Safari Park” from ivory poachers and before you can count to three, they are in India.

Like in all of his novels, Anderson gives us an unforgettable cast of characters and here we meet Maharajah Muchkokforsur (the “munificent”), lovers Indira and Mahon, Ramatuli, consort to the Maharaja and many more. Throw in our trannies and we have a story you will not soon forget and madness is everywhere as you can imagine when you bring our two dignified ladies together to face testosterone and tusks.

I have no idea how Robin Anderson thinks of plots like these but he sure better not stop. His humor is sardonic, ironic and oh so much fun. I have lost count of how many books he has written now but I have reviewed more than twenty and Anderson just keeps getting better.

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★ ★ ★ ★

"The Further Adventures of Miz Miranda and Miz Kookie"
Grady Harp - Amazon

Robin Anderson takes a million and one chances in this stingingly funny novel and his writing style is so adept that he knows exactly how to balance camp with storyline. A little background: Anderson was born in Scotland and educated in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, and South Africa and while his novels have a decidedly bent twist, is day job is that of an internationally respected interior designer. And in that field he likely has encountered much of the classy fodder he molds into this book.

The story peels the exterior off two wildly entertaining transvestites - Miz Miranda Maracona (the mouthy and grossly endowed white one) and Miz Kookie Kombuis (the outrageous black one) - who own an agency for `men with special needs' in London at Soho's Old Crompton Street, the MK agency. This time around, in order to save a so-called African safari park from a gang of dastardly ivory poachers, MIZ M and MIZ K find themselves amidst the glittering palaces of Mogul India. `Madness, mayhem, and even murder prevail, but aided by the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell and Liz Taylor, what could possibly go wrong?'

Robin Anderson continues to write the campiest tales that take on hilarious proportions that further into the novel the reader progresses. Hi writing is risqué, full of parodies and putdowns, brimming over with naughty situations that never approach pornography. He is an apt storyteller, but in so many ways the story is not as important as the zany characters he creates to unfold his bizarre ventures. At times his writing seems like a Dr. Seuss tale written for adults with human characters instead of Seuss characters: if Horton Hears a Who then Robinson hears a Hoot!

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