The Bisquit Principle

About the Book

Humor is the quality that appeals to the sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous. Humor is not conforming, but it can be absurd and unreasonable, combining fun with tears, laughter with sadness; it can appear foolish or wise; it can ridicule the pompous and strip the emperor of his clothes. Bisquit, the hero of our story, is a humorous character; therefore, he is both funny and sad, foolish and wise—he is a jester; he himself becomes the victim of evildoers because when evil is ridiculed, it seeks revenge. Bisquit bears some similarity to Don Quixote de la Mancha, the fearless knight of old, and some of Bisquit’s friends carry the names of the knight’s entourage. Don Quixote wanted to become a knight errant “to redress all kinds of grievances and exposing himself to perils and dangers that he would overcome and thus gain eternal fame and renown.” We laugh at the antics of Don Quixote because of his delusions. There is something humorous and pathetic about his madness. Bisquit, on the other hand, is not delusionary; he responds with naiveté and apparent seriousness to devious criminals and innocent victims of the twenty-first century. The first chapter in this book deals with the adventures of Bisquit as he tries to find the true value of science and art. In subsequent chapters, Bisquit mocks both the innocent and the guilty with his Bisquit Principle. He makes his appearance as a senator from Washington, as the savior of a big corrupt corporation, as a scientific worker in a medical research laboratory, as an arbiter in the fight for salmon between Indians and special-interest groups, and as the sponsor of an alcoholic housewife. He would finally fall victim to those who would ruin our environment. Bisquit may appear funny, but he is deadly serious.

About the Author

Richard J. Bing was born in Bavaria. He is a retired professor of Medicine and a composer of music. His scientific career took him among others to the Rockefeller and Johns Hopkins Universities and the Huntington Medical Research Institutes. He has honorary degrees in Science from Johns Hopkins University; the University of Bologna, Italy; and the University of Dusseldorf, Germany. He is a retired Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army and has published several novels and books on cardiology. His musical compositions have been performed in the U.S.A. and in Europe. He began to write short stories several years ago and presently resides in La Cañada, California.