The Amazing Snox Box

by Brian Gage; illustrated by Tom Ellsworth with color by Robert Park

Soft Skull, 36 pp., $20

The pint-sized media consumer in the family in need of some ungluing from the TV would do well to flip through this new picture book from Soft Skull, the small press/rebel outfit made infamous a couple of years back with their publication of the controversial George W. Bush biography, Fortunate Son. Penned by political satirist Brian Gage in a cheeky, singsong voice, The Amazing Snox Box relates the tale of a ruthless despot, King Locke of Planet Zanic, whose iron fist incites a revolt from his diamond-mining slaves. Enter Sammy Sopkins, intergalactic salesman, pushing his TV-like Snox Box, “a marvelous, foolproof, ingenious invention — eliminates unrest and civil dissention!” Sure enough, the Snox Box pacifies the insurgents right quick; who needs citizen rights when there’s so much to watch and — even better — so much to buy? The book’s novelty runs a bit thin by book’s end (the message — kill your TV, before it kills you — could have been condensed to haiku-length, really); but it’s a colorful kiddie primer to the evils of media manipulation.

This article appears in August 8 • 2003.

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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...