The Mangrullo: Absurd Encounters from the Lookout Tower

From fifteen feet up, humanity looks even funnier.

Beppe volunteered at the lookout tower for a year. He found a front-row seat to the absurd theater of daily life: private conversations—those impossible-to-ignore snippets of human comedy that begged to be listened to, a drone crash-landing in a wedding cake, a raccoon negotiating with pretzels, joggers locked in a silent war for lane dominance, and proposals so badly timed even the coyotes protested.

In The Mangrullo: Absurd Encounters from the Lookout Tower, Cecilia Anastos brings these sharp, witty, and true-to-life anecdotes to the page with a mix of sarcasm, warmth, and keen observation. Part humor essay, part memoir, this collection celebrates the ridiculousness of human behavior and the strange beauty of ordinary moments when viewed from above.

Perfect for fans of observational humor, satirical short stories, and essay collections that make you laugh out loud, The Mangrullo proves that people are funnier than the wildlife—and commas can be more dangerous than raccoons.

Absurd. Sarcastic. Ridiculously true.
Welcome to the view from the tower.