Bob Defendi appears in this book as the source of its epigrammatic chapter headings (“Please. Not another chapter quote.” — Bob Defendi) and also as its protagonist, Bob Damico. For good measure, Death by Cliché features his character sheet and thumbnail drawing as an annex. Bob also appears in every humor-soaked line.
The point of this book is not the story, which throws Shakespeare into convulsive fits in his grave by beginning with the protagonist’s death and ending with the same protagonist’s wedding (okay, his making out) (and hoping that his partner in smooching is not being played by a man). The point of the book, as Defendi disarmingly says up front, is different:
You see, this book isn’t a murder mystery. It’s not a heartwarming tale of overcoming massive brain trauma. It’s about gamers.
True to his title, Defendi then packs in every cliché, reversed cliché, cliché turned inside out, and joke about gamers he can into this slim volume. In lesser hands, this might get tired. In the impish stylings of Bob Defendi, it’s comic gold.
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