A Review of “Too Fat to Go to the Moon” by Rob McCleary

“Like any good satirist, McCleary directs a lot of his vitriol against the powers that be. He condemns the wealthy families and politicos that encouraged the country to give in to its worst impulses, and then fled into space when the inevitable decline set in.”

Introduction

Rob McCleary’s Too Fat to Go to the Moon is a forthcoming novel published by Zero
Books, an outlet famed for its support of progressive and eccentric authors. McCleary was best known for his short story “Nixon in Space,” which was featured in the Brooklyn Journal’s Recommended Reading list, and other short stories appearing in various compilations. Too Fat to Go to the Moon is his first published novel and will be available in April of this year.

Like other absurdist novels, describing the structure or plot of McCleary’s book is largely
a secondary task. The text is largely presented in short vignettes arranged in non-chronological order, except at the conclusion when the narrative—such as it is a narrative—wraps up. The book is more about satirical observation, wordplay, and philosophical observations delivered with a biting sense of humor and whimsical language.

The protagonist of the novel is Stanley van Krupp, a “little person” who is heir to the once immense Van Krupp family fortune. Stanley might as well be some kind of post-modern Tyrion Lannister, as he is prone to regarding his family with more than a slight
roll of the eyes. He lives in a near-future America, where garbage and trash has become such a problem that many of the country’s most famous monuments have been launched into space. Stanley is eventually elected President of the Remaining States of America, leading a country that is increasingly forced to sell off land and prestige to rivals like Japan and the United States.