If there’s a Theater of the Absurd, of which Waiting for Godot is one of the prime examples, then these three novels would make a similar claim to be literary works that revel in the absurd and ridiculous, to our reading joy.

"Futility" by Nuzo Onoh

A Nigerian-British author who has received the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement, Onoh is hailed as the Queen of African Horror, and this is her latest. Playing gleefully and in a demented manner on the themes of female retribution and punishment, we find two women as the central characters of the storyline. First, there is Chia, a woman who runs a highly regarded restaurant in Abuja, Nigeria. Their best-selling dish, a hot pepper meat soup, has a secret ingredient that would qualify as body horror. Then there is Claire, a 50-year-old white woman/diplomat who similarly resides in Abuja, but with Kolade, her Nigerian boy toy, and his beautiful young cousin Shadé. And back in the village where Chia hails from, there’s her mother, Obidibo, an imperious force who wields a lot of juju magic and can still make Chia quake in her stilettos.

African folklore spirits and depraved dark humor populate the narrative. There’s a trickster spirit, Oke-Mmuo, who wreaks havoc on the life of Chia, while body-swapping is what befalls Claire. Onoh pushes all the right buttons in upping the stakes of her dual-strand narrative, and when the two strands intersect, it’s mayhem galore. There’s Chia’s lifelong quest for a British visa, while Claire’s body swap is as silly/funny as that from the film "Trading Places." An interlude set in London is Nigerian Black magic set loose in Knightsbridge and Mayfair hotels. And throughout all the horror and chilling comedy, there’s the underlying message of how men treat women, how women react, and how women treat their fellow women. Onoh may be an acquired taste, but she’s evidently the pioneer for younger writers like Oyinkan Braithwaite, who wrote "My Sister, the Serial Killer."

"Big Time" by Jordan Prosser

A noted screenplay writer from Australia, this is Prosser’s first novel, and it’s one energetic storyline that blends SciFi with social commentary and a unique take on time travel. Set in a near-future Australia where the eastern states have become an autocracy. Pop music is propaganda, Science is considered the enemy, and moral indecency is punished with indefinite detention. Our main protagonist would be Julian Ferryman, bass player for The Acceptables. He arrives in Melbourne from South America to reconnect with the band and work on their second album. Ash, singer-composer, has taken on the mantle of sole band leader in Julian’s absence, and has even begun a relationship with Oriana, Julian’s ex. Also at the story’s core is a new designer drug that’s simply called F, and allows one to hallucinate one’s own future.

A second narrative strand has to do with a pandemic of extreme coincidences, like the same football match being played 60 years apart with a different set of players, but exactly the same result, and the goals being scored at the exact same times. It’s a Vonnegut time loop, and watch out for when the different strands intersect in the name of scientific Discovery and Research. The FREA (Federal Republic of Eastern Australia) is just one aspect of this dystopian Australia Prosser-universe, and what a mind-blowing psychedelic road trip it turns out to be. Against all expectations, the FREA sponsors an academic symposium on the Anomaly, and the narrative strands interact when the band members meet the scientists at a Botany hotel. The novel does go off tangent at times, but you admire the ambition and scope - and the smart and funny tone of this contemplative adventure. 

"Humdinger" by Rick Mason

The art cover alone will tell you what you can expect from this woolly tale of a novel. It’s Trump America, in all its brazen and shameless glory. Ronald Humdinger is dead, having expired while enjoying the services of a dwarf dominatrix in a brothel in the border city of Tijuana, the "Gateway to Mexico." A mean misanthrope, Humdinger is also a popular cult-like one-term politician and owns a business conglomerate. There’s a TV game show, plus an enterprise of turning abandoned shipping containers into homes for the homeless. Humdinger Habitats has now hired private detective Alex (Ace) Bancroft to ascertain if there was foul play and uncover the true circumstances of Ronald’s death. This leads to a hilarious and highly educational chapter, when Ace interviews the dominatrix, and we’re treated to the sordid details of an S&M session.

A mass of walking contradictions, Humdinger is described like a small town version of the Donald we know from news reports. Ace is both our narrator and tour guide to this Baja California city that lies just south of San Diego, and he soon suspects there is more than what meets the eye with Humdinger’s demise. But of course, that’s not what Humdinger Habitats’ management really wants to hear. The colorful characters that populate this novel help make it a highly entertaining read. It’s Crime Fiction that’s not the usual polished product we’re offered, but a satirical mystery that has both wit and humor. On the cover, we have the subheading of how the book is about politics, death, and debauchery. If we’re talking about how business and economics are often entwined with politics, then this novel corroborates that notion, with a bunch of laughs along the way.