Covid-19 House Arrest - Richard Plinke

Covid-19: House Arrest is Richard Plinke's fourth book, and like its forerunners, is an amusing romp through the prism of his unique perspective. The book is a compilation of 48 Facebook essays written during the stay-at-home confinement ordered by governors around the country to ostensibly help combat the coronavirus pandemic.

    That's not exactly the way Plinke saw it.

   His sometimes hysterical, sometimes poignant, sometimes acerbic take on the curious mix of contradictory medical information and Machiavellian political maneuvers offer fertile ground for his bare-to-the-bone, satirical writing style - a smorgasbord of material and inspiration that keeps his readers "thoroughly entertained" while "fully engaged and amused," as one reviewer puts it.

All the posts were accompanied by pictures of Plinke in various and sundry poses and costumes to amuse and delight and to help illustrate the theme of each piece. All but one of the pictures were taken with an iPhone, and all props and costumes came from the closet or basement, except for a couple of items bought at Target, a large corporation that sells everything that local, small businesses weren't allowed to sell during the lockdown.

As another reviewer describes Plinke's writings, "Witty, thought provoking, and a welcome relief during coronavirus quarantine 2020. I didn't always agree with [him], but he got me thinking about my thinking."

In the introduction, Plinke probably sums up best the book's basic message: "There's only one takeaway from all of this: I am the only person left you can trust (and I'm not so sure about me)."