Mortimer by M.W. Cedars, An Absurdist Comedy Novel

Mortimer: a 1920’s elephantine misanthrope who builds bottle boats, takes meticulous care of his lapel, and dallies on the fringe of reality and fantasy. Mortimer’s father, a philandering titan in the shipping business, has been murdered, leaving Mortimer as the unbefitting benefactor of the Centennial Shipping Line. However, Mortimer’s singular mission in life is to attain the title Admiral (issued by the Bottle Boat Club of Chicago) and remove himself from society. Throughout this absurdist comedy, Mortimer finds himself victim to a series of compromising situations: injustice at the hand of the United States Post Office, bamboozled by a speakeasy disguised as a church, arrested by the police, mayhem at the hands of his road-kill eating relatives, and thrust into match-making attempts by his nanny, Mrs. Dixon. A novel that straddles the juxtaposition between living a life planned out for you versus taking the risk of a life that embraces the fragility of human psychology.