Purpel Pickel

James "Kibo" Parry is among my favorite living writers, if only because even I can sometimes understand his extremely obscure references.

I suddenly have a powerful craving for Japanese pickles.

Does this mean I'm pregnant, Japanese, and purple?

(The purple pickles are the best flavor. What did Don Ruffcorn have
against them, and why did he try to brainwash millions of children
into thinking that eating five purple pickle would cause you to say
"BURP!" in the world's blockiest font?)

He's referring to an Atari 2600 game I've never played but I know about from a review in a video game magazine I read many years ago. It made me further think about how video game magazines may have been the first examples of expository writing I was exposed to, and how they had such a profound influence on my very young mind that I still remember snippets of them. I remember that this game was a reflex contest where you controlled a munching mouth and had to catch foods as they fell, but not catch too many purple pickles, lest you see the BURP! message that ends the game. The reviewer noted that this is not necessarily a read as a negative effect, especially if you've Indian table manners. I thought that was great.

So, yes, you should all buy my book.