Haynes Dodo Manual

Title: Haynes Dodo Manual

Author: not known 

Publisher: Haynes

Source book: The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #7)

Anyone who has ever taken apart a Volkswagen van with the aid of a Haynes Manual, and surprised themselves by putting it all back together again (importantly with no parts left over), will understand that a Haynes Manual to help you build your kitchen sink Dodo is essential.

Obviously this isn’t me. I would for sure fail to put all the parts back in the right places. And there would definitely be bits left over. I can’t even iron three pillow cases in a row and fold them up the same way. However, my husband has taken engines apart, and put them back together again successfully (more than once), so perhaps he would be able to build me a Dodo. If kits were available in our universe that is.

Self-build Dodos are a major plot point in the Thursday Next books. Her own self-built Dodo, Pickwick, is an early model, has no wings, and morphs from extremely dim to surprisingly bright. Pickwick has a son, Alan, (also a dodo, obviously) who lives with Hamlet in his play. I’m not sure what Shakespeare would have thought about a bird he’d never heard of invading his play, but you know, maybe it wouldn’t have bothered him.

Somewhere in the multiverse there’s probably a book called Dodos for Dummies. Don’t you think?

Thanks to The Atlantic