The Muffin Fiend

by Daniel Pinkwater

Book Overview

Wolfgang Amadeus Mazart helps Inspector LeChat catch the thief who is stealing all the muffins of Europe.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688042759
• ISBN13: 9780688042752
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

WE HAVE TO STOP THIS MONSTER!!!!!

"The Muffin Fiend" is a great nonsensical tale in which LeChat, a French policeman, asks Mozart (yes, the composer) to help solve the mystery of Vienna's disappearing muffins. The "Muffin Fiend" must be stopped! Mozart happily accepts the challenge, claiming that "After composing great works of music, solving mysteries is my favorite activity." When he asks Constanze to bring some refreshments she informs him that there is not a muffin to be had in all of Vienna. "Now I see why you are so anxious to stop this monster!" Mozart exclaims. The story continues as the crime fighting duo visit the Municipal Muffin Bakery of Vienna (the "Weinstadtsmunicipalisches Bakerei"), the Wienerwald (Vienna Woods), and ultimately the Muffin Fiend himself. Mozart suspects that the fiend is "not of this world", but what happened to all of those muffins? Mozart uses his knowledge of Viennese jiujitsu to help apprehend the fiend (well, why not?), and ultimately to solve Vienna's horrific muffin problem. Illustrations that look right off the screen of an old Mac Classic computer accompany the text. It's anyone's guess what the publisher thought of these. Experimental? Whimsical? Innovative (the book was published in 1986)? Though not technically impressive now (the intention was surely not technical prowess), the drawings add boatloads of character to the story. Pinkwater somehow manages to siphon humor and personality from the scrawled and heavily pixellated lines. The effect succeeds brilliantly. Adults and kids alike will enjoy this bizarre tale of almost pure nonsense.

the muffins of Europe are being stolen!

A stranger comes to visit Mozart. The stranger asks Mozart to help him solve a mystery. It seems that all the muffins in Vienna are being stolen! Indeed, the stranger reveals himself as Inspector LeChat, from France, and tells us that Paris is now muffinless as well! In fact, the Mozart household is without a single muffin! Oh my.There is even a Municipal Bakery, where those unable to own ovens of their own (or the means with which to buy muffins) can bake their own, for a pittance. There a group of bakers opens the hot ovens, only to find the muffins gone! The muffin fiend steals from the poor as well!Inspector LeChat and Mozart solve the mystery. Yes, one individual is stealing the muffins. No, he's not eating them. Great Pinkwater-ish humor is on display throughout this book. The copy I read was 44 pages, half of which are illustrated. This was about a 20 minute read for me. It's probably perfect for children ages 6-10 who like silly humor. Then again, i'm 33, and I liked it quite a bit.ken32