Bored Of The Rings - The Harvard Lampoon

Bored of the Rings is, unsurprisingly, a parody of Lord of the Rings, by The Harvard Lampoon. (The authors later went on to establish National Lampoon). It's apparently been around in America for three decades and more, but has only fairly recently been widely available in the UK (off the back of the films' success, no doubt). I’m sure there are some Middle Earth fans who may view this book as tantamount to blasphemy, but quite frankly they should chill out. This isn’t satire at its absolute best, but it is done with a deep knowledge (and according to the preface, a deep love) of the great book itself. A neat little paperback weighing in a £6.99 ...

I have possessed this book for several years now without actually realising it wasn't available on these shores - until, of course, the huge brou-ha-ha about the film last autumn (and for the next two to come). The Harvard Lampoon as a body was always credited with the authorship, but in this volume we at last can read it was actually by some chaps by the names of Douglas C Kenney and Henry N Beard. Well, silly names are prevalent in fiction, both in characters and authors/actors. As you are advised above, in dooyou's introduction to the tome, all names here have been changed to protect the innocent. Therefore we are here concerned with ...