Wigfield: The Can Do Town that Just May Not is the 2003 literary brainchild of Second City alums Amy Sedaris, Paul Dinello, and Stephen Colbert. After two mildly successful runs at cable television together -- with a sketch show, Exit 57, and a series, Strangers With Candy, both cancelled by Comedy Central -- they turned their collective attention toward print. Of course, Colbert is now infamous for his bloviating pundit character on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. But, fans of his recent work would be shocked at his work in Wigfield.
Narrator Russell Hokes is an ambitious, albeit lazy and incompetent, journalist looking for an idea for a book. A shot in the dark lands him with an advance, a deadline for 50,000 words, and a vague idea about dying small towns. He finds the inspiration he needs in the town of Wigfield -- a quarter-mile stretch of highway dotted with shady shops and strip joints. It turns out the government is threatening to tear down the Bulkwaller Dam and flood the town to drive out its constituency of transients and misfits. So, Hokes interviews each of the residents of the self-described town, letting them tell their stories themselves, and finds himself involved in the campaign to save their home.
The writing is as sharp as one would expect from this trio. The characters are surprisingly developed and completely original and believable. That’s probably because the town and the people in it are loosely based on a town that Colbert visited while filming a story for The Daily Show. The highlight is the interaction of Wigfield’s three self-declared mayors, one of which is a mentally handicapped man with a briefcase full of fudge. The conflict and history between the characters just keeps unfolding as Hokes makes his way through town, and he slowly learns who these people really are and what they’re really doing in Wigfield.
The book seems to have been written as an audio book recording and then transcribed to a book, which is why the audio book is so superb. The authors really bring the characters to life, using different accents for each one. One should not only read the book or only listen to the audio book, but should enjoy both versions. The last chapter where all the characters come together in a courtroom is particularly funny in the audio book version.
One reason the book is completely necessary is due to the photos of the Wigfieldians, portrayed by the authors in full costume and make up. Designer Todd Oldham did all the styling and photography. The picture of Stephen Colbert as Raven, the big-boned stripper at the "Twat Shop,” clad in nothing but fishnet pantyhose and a bejeweled g-string, is worth the $13.95 alone. And Amy Sedaris appears unrecognizable as Mayor Halstead, who really likes fudge, and Mae Ella Padgett and Dottie Fore, the two 40-something women competing for the title of the oldest person in town. But each resident has their own hilarious and detailed portrait.
Wigfield is as silly as silly gets, but only on the surface. The humor is dark, the story is serious, and the characters are ridiculous. Fans of the Strangers With Candy series would be familiar with the irreverent tone, and would embrace these unlovable ruffians. And, really, the illiterate could even enjoy this underrated cult-hit novel.
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