Bored of the Rings, by The Harvard Lampoon

It probably goes without saying that writing good parody is very difficult.  How closely do you follow the source material?  Should the humor reference the original, or should the parody be humorous and entertaining on its own merits?  And what's the point anyway?

Bored of the Rings, first published in the late 1960s, takes on one of the most popular and beloved works of fiction in the English language, J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings trilogy.  The Harvard Lampoon authors stick close to the original story, compressing it while squeezing in lots of silliness.  I was reminded of the old Mad magazine parodies I used to read (although those were done in comic book format).  The final product is sometimes funny, but comes across as a bit stale and dated.  I think Bored will best be enjoyed by fans of the Tolkein's books and the movies, probably not so much by those readers not familiar with the original story.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!