Book Review: Trizophrenia by Jef Mallett (Boulder, CO: VeloPress, 2009)

Trizophrenia (How to Pronounce It: "TRIT suh FREE nee uh"), written by Jef Mallett (How to Pronounce It: "muh-LETT") has written a wonderful book about the joys of triathlon. Anyone who mentions Randy Wayne White, Paavo Nurmi, Nietzsche, and many other cool references is okay by me. While I wouldn’t necessarily give this book to someone THINKING of doing a triathlon, it’s definitely funny to the people who will get the inside jokes (I would suspect that triathlon can seem impenetrable to outsiders). I read his comic strip “Frazz” on almost a daily basis (only miss it if the newspaper has not yet arrived before I leave for work!) and feel a connection with his mindset. This book is definitely recommended for everyone except those who hate footnotes (I suggest that all the footnotes be moved into the body of the work in parentheses if need be). The beyond liberal use of footnotes and the pronunciation of the title (why not “try-suh FREE nee uh?”) are the only things I did not like about this book, so I’m hoping there are more on the way. Apparently Jef has also written a children’s book, which I hope to track down. For more info on Jef, visit his website and buy the book at VeloPress.