Red Monkey, Part 2

Joe Daly’s The Red Monkey Double Happiness Book contains two stories — the first is “The Leaking Cello Case” and the second is “John Wesley Harding,” which is about twice as long. In this case, shorter is better.

While “John Wesley Harding,” concerning the search for the missing eponymous capybara in the South African wetlands, has its moments of fun and humor, and maintains Daly’s clear lines, it doesn’t have the pace of the first story.

But it does have a great punchline. Dave, talking about his girlfriend, says: “Well, I’ll definitely have to break up with her now … seeing that I disintegrated her father and all.”

That pretty much makes it all worthwhile.