Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely

Existential angst is tough enough when you’re human. When you’re a purple giraffe in a comic strip, you know you’re being watched, and none of your friends believe you, it’s even harder. A Locus Recommended Reading selection, “Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely” also appeared in Year’s Best Fantasy #5.

“Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely,” a short story, is also available as part of Space Magic, an award-winning collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by David D. Levine.

Praise for Charlie the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely:

“There are plenty of cute touches, but the story turns oddly and effectively darker as none of the other characters believe Charlie. … Recommended.” —Locus

“The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle in the late 50s and early 60s included a cast of characters and a narrator who were very much aware of their presence in a cartoon. David D. Levine creates comic book character Charles the Purple Giraffe in ‘Charles the Purple Giraffe Was Acting Strangely’ and allows him the same type of self-awareness. Unlike Bullwinkle, however, Charles is the only one in his world aware of the reader, with a resulting existential crisis. Although the story would appear to have humor, it really doesn’t beyond the humor of the absurd. Given the plays of Samuel Beckett, perhaps the humor of the absurd is the only kind of humor which can really encapsulate existential quandaries.” —Tangent Online