Fake Mustache

Or, How Jodie O' Rodeo and Her Wonder Horse (and Some Nerdy Kid) Saved the U.S. Presidential Election from a Mad Genius

By: Tom Angleberger

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross, Jessica Almasy

Tom Angleberger scored two critical and popular hits with his Star Wars-inspired The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and Darth Paper Strikes Back. In the hilarious Fake Mustache, young Lenny Flem Jr.’s friend Casper disguises himself with a shockingly convincing handlebar mustache and begins robbing banks, quickly amassing a fortune. Setting his sights on the presidency, Casper is working on plans for world domination—and only Lenny stands in his way.

©2012 Tom Angleberger (P)2012 Recorded Books

This is THE BEST book ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Super funny and keeps readers on their toes the whole book. Sadly, there isn’t a sequel. Super good book. Hopefully you like it as much as I did.

I loved this!

This was great for me as a kid. I thought that it had a great plot. It's worth the money!

love

We have listened several times and laugh every time. We have recommended it to friends.

Narrations

I didn’t like the unnecessary drama it wasn’t cool at all and i need a fifteen word minimum

Kept the kids listening on a long road trip

I have a 6 year old and 10 year old. Neither of them loved this book but they both found it interesting enough to listen to it all the way through. For the 6 year old that’s saying something. It was funny and I didn’t mind listening to it either.

Hilariously Twisted

Lenny and Casper are just your average nerdy 7th graders living in Hairsprinkle, USA. One day, Casper decides to spend his birthday money on a small man-about-town suit and the Heidelberg Handlebar #7, the Rolls Royce of novelty fake mustaches. All of a sudden, people are treating Casper with much more respect than they'd normally give a kid, and Lenny detects something sinister about Casper's plans for the fake mustache. Before long, Lenny is caught in the middle of one of the most nefarious schemes in all of history.

This book is undoubtedly one of the silliest things I've ever listened to. The logic of the story world is unapologetically zany, with things like Herbert Hoover action figures, armies of mimes, and mysterious Belgians being among the more normal fare you'll find inside.

The story is split into three parts, with Jonathan Todd Ross narrating parts one and three as everyboy Lenny, and Jessica Almasy handling part two, as Jodie O'Rodeo, former preteen cowgirl TV star. Ross brings a sense of confused longing to the lead role of Lenny which is certain to be familiar to any 7th graders. He gives major characters their own, often hilarious, voices. Also, his minutes-long yodeling session toward the middle of the book is a real highlight. Almasy plays a convincing star-crossed teenager in the process of falling in love.

Overall, this audiobook is a hilarious listen, with an unusual thriller plot with twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end.

love

listen on repeat. kids love it and always request it! even entertaining for adults. we dont mind😄

very fun book for a 13 year old. I loved it

What did you like best about this story?

It was one of strangest books I have read

What does Jonathan Todd Ross and Jessica Almasy bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

the people came to life with the great readers.

Any additional comments?

very funny book I have read almost all of tom's books and i think this is one of hes best books

Retro & Contemporary - blends nostalgic with hip

If you are looking for a little break from the seriousness of life . . . this could be one option.

People of a certain age might recall a cartoon series called Rocky and Bullwinkle, which was a cartoon for the kids, but any adults watching the show would readily recognize sly references to adult matters - maybe political, or sociological, or historical references that the kids wouldn't care about but that adults would find amusing.

This wacky story reminded me of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. The story is in short fast-moving segments and the author is very good at describing scenes so that a vivid picture can be seen in the mind's eye. At first I thought this was going to be a nostalgic folksy tale with elements of novelty shops, trolleys, and handlebar mustasches. But the story quickly became contemporary and deftly blended nostalgic elements with references to twitter, facebook, emails, and the use of a smartphone. The issues that came up throughout the story are easily recognizable by adults aware of today's society with issues of political power plays, rapid changes due to technology, media's influence and how media is influenced.

There were enough moments that caused me to break out into actual laughter that I found this a worthwhile experience. Sometimes I just smiled. Sometimes it was enjoyable to be led into imagining the scenes the author described. Which is good. I think our human brains are getting atrophied in the vivid imagination department. Images are spoon fed to us via movies or television and a little flexing of the imagination and visualization brain cells is good for us. The author makes this exercise fun.

I was looking for light and silly humor, nothing dark or dirty, and this fit the bill.