The Ungettable Joke
A disheartened math teacher and a NASA engineer are dragged by mysterious events into a hilarious hunt for the ultimate joke.

About...

 

About the Book:

A disheartened high school math teacher and a NASA engineer are dragged by mysterious events into a hilarious hunt for the ultimate joke.

Bill is a young high school math teacher, struggling with lack of inspiration. Dave is a journeyman NASA engineer, about to be married, and worried about losing his freedom. They don’t know each other, but both of them are being plagued by mysterious, whacky, reality-shattering events they cannot ignore. While seeking answers, they run into each other and decide to work together to find the source of the bizarre happenings.

When they are hospitalized after blacking out from unknown causes, they are chased by the FBI who suspects they might be involved in a cultist drug ring. After a narrow escape, they follow inexplicably provided clues that lead them to the Giant Sequoias National Park. There, a park ranger disappears in connection with the dangerous effects that now follow them wherever they go, and through a spectacular scene they are presented with a strange inscription that accelerates their search for answers. They encounter many strange characters, and discover one of three mysteriously powerful amulet pieces that seem to be the source of everything that is happening.

Now, Bill, Dave, and a crazy archaeologist are also the targets of cultist zealots who seek to possess and assemble all three pieces of the amulet, and wield the power within them -- and the cultists are willing to kill to get what they want. Bill and Dave must forget the possibility of normal life, evade the FBI, and prevent the cultists from gaining the power they seek.

About the Authors:

Bill Dargen and  Dave Squires are former college roommates who stayed in touch after college by exchanging humorous letters. Eventually they decided to try writing a book of jokes based on the quirky humorous style they seemed to share. The attempt led them to the ungettable joke concept and the idea that a humorous intellectual adventure story was waiting to be explored. The letters they exchanged became chapters and they formed them into The Ungettable Joke. Bill, as a High School math teacher and Dave as a NASA contract engineer infuse the book with some of the seemingly impossible, but nonetheless real, mysteries of math and physics which seem to reflect ungettability in the cosmos.

Comments from some of our test readers:
  • Female, 38, English Teacher: "I really enjoyed the interaction between Dave an Bill. The jokes were hilarious, even though I didn't understand many of them. But, that is what makes them funny, after all. Character dialogue was authentic and highly entertaining."
  • Male, 69, Engineer: "Very humorous and exciting. Very well written...I felt I was watching all of this take place. Very Entertaining because I could not ever predict what was goin to happen next... to tell the truth, I didn't find anything I did not like."
  • Female, 40, Teaching Assistant: (I liked best) The humor, the UJ, the mystery of the sequoias, the Golden Mean -- I've always been fascinated by it. I especially like the periods of grounding reality... I like the silliness overall, (and) the possibility that it all could have really happened.
  • Male, 75, Retired Retailer: "...not convinced about the sanity of hte authors." (Thanks Dad!)
  • Male, 21, College student: Thumbs up. (Not a big talker).
  • Male, ~45, Occupation unknown: "Congratulations to you both on the book!!  .... I enjoyed the book and I wish you both success.  Having read it I can say I approve of the idea for the cover photo."