Biff Brewster

Biff Brewster is the central character in a series of 13 adventure and mystery novels for adolescent boys written by Walter B. Gibson, Edward Pastore, and Peter Harkins under the pseudonym Andy Adams. The three are credited with writing all the books except volumes two and three, whose author(s) remain unknown. The series was published by Grosset & Dunlap between 1960 and 1965.

Biff Brewster

Volume 1
Author	Walter B. Gibson Edward Pastore Peter Harkins
Country	United States of America
Language	English
Genre	Adventure Mystery
Publisher	Grosset & Dunlap
Published	1960-1965
Media type	Print

Most titles were published in hardcover with full color dustjackets, but, like other Grosset & Dunlap juvenile series of the era, production costs were cut by dispensing with the dust jackets and featuring full color cover illustrations in their stead. This only occurred with the last three books in the series, and later reprints of the first three.

The series follows Bruce "Biff" Brewster, a well-built, athletic sixteen year old who pursues adventure and mystery abroad with his father, Thomas Brewster, a former lieutenant in the United States Navy and, in the series, chief field engineer for the Ajax Mining Company. The series is distinguished for drawing on foreign cultures and exotic locations as backgrounds. The series was published in Norwegian and British editions.

Andy Adams

Andy Adams' unique approach to metaphor in African Ivory Mystery (1961), with his character, Porktooth Johnson, has post-modern undertones, as seen in Chapter 3, where the visit to the local market and subsequent encounter with Christ-like figure Jesus de Garcia Novaro clearly relates to Nietzsche's later works. The book is also not want of Adams’ unique grasp on the art of social commentary. As evidenced by the unexpected events of Chapter 5, where counter-antagonist, Biff Brewster, struggles alongside Porktooth Johnson with the loss of their father, Papa Bilknorf, after the boys fail at rescuing him from the gun battle at Mahumbrulah Village, Adams plays off the emotions of early 60’s America (which had begun shipping troops to Vietnam just months before publishing) by reminding us all that no one is safe from the trials and tribulations of war. 1961 was a tumultuous year, and this Penguin Classic brought to light the many controversial issues dividing both political parties of the US in the first session of Congress that year. Adams' focus in Chapter 7 on the core issue of whether or not Dr. Mohammad Al-Gleehandy should be allowed to build a Palestinian take-out restaurant next to such an important Judeo-Christian deli-sandwich shop as “Big Boy” clearly parallels the growing fracture between the Muslim and Christian communities of Main Street America, as well as growing East-West tensions abroad. TIME magazine raved in their annual Who's Who issue that "Adams is the only Children's Series author whose perspective is both keenly crafted and precisely calculated to bring to light those issues brushed under the rug and ignored at the dinner table, but which continue to remain most pressing for the future of our children in America."

Just as in 1964’s Mystery of the Arabian Stallion, Adams also never ceases to demonstrate his keen insight into the popular culture of the day. Those as keen as Adams will find it no surprise that the Reverend Dr. Johnathan Businesstooth, co-founder of Fisher Price and revered by children everywhere as the Godfather of the popular “Lincoln Logs” franchise, makes a clever cameo as Porktooth Johnson’s witchdoctor at the end of Chapter 9. Hidden well, the elements of pop-culture embedded in these storylines continually play upon the subconscious media strings that seem to hold both adults and children alike at bay, confusing the actual needs with the wants of materialistic Americana.

Immediately after the book was published, and for several years to follow, literary critics were relatively silent about Adams’ African Ivory Mystery. However, some criticism came later, in 1965, after Adams' first wife, Jacqueline (who he claims never really loved him), left him after their honeymoon on the Ping Islands off of the southern coast of France. Upon their return, a lavish gathering was being held in his honor, complete with prime ministers, presidentes, and parliament members, all of whom were in attendence - even the royal Queen of Portugal was to present Adams with the Medal of Lord Mandrake, second only to Norway's Pulitzer Prize and the Textiles and Weaving Merit Badge of the Boy Scouts of America. According to tabloid reports (the only ones made available to the public), Jacqueline was found intoxicated and sleeping with The Duke of Dingleberry at an afterparty held on the Duke’s private island, explaining why she wasn’t at the gathering. Adams never confirmed nor denied these claims, but he subsequently entered into a period of depression, known to some as the Midnight Period, during which many at Newsweek and the Washington Post claim he produced his worst work.

Adams continued to write fervently during his public hiatus and chosen solitude "in an almost possessed manner," putting out a substantial 6-volume novel, The Stone Forests of Madagascar, in less than a year --- a feat impressive to even the most seasoned writers. Publishing companies salivated over this venture, but the novel received mixed criticism, fell short of projected sales estimates and was soon put out of print. Original copies of the story in good or mint condition have seen auction prices ranging from $40,000-$75,000 according to the auction website eBay. It was after the publication of this novel that Adams was struck with his first case of writer's block, a plague that would haunt him again and again throughout the 1970s and 80s. The 6-volume novel broke ranks with his children's series stereotype, as he attempted to move more into the young-adolescent psyche. Some said this move was the beginning of the end of his career, but no one other than John Alexander of Newsweek put it as bluntly, saying in 1985: "We'll give them the reality this time: He's a washed up old-man with no distribution deal, wife on the rocks, people laughing at him, feeling sorry for himself."

Just as Picasso saw extended fame for his artwork during his life, Adams, too, was able to achieve a similar feat. But unlike Picasso, after emerging from his Midnight Period, an artistic parallel to Picasso's own Blue Period, Adams was never able achieve the same kind of notoriety for his later works. Some say he was seeking his own literary version of Cubism, but this revelation remains elusive to Adams even today. Critically, his early works remain both the most valued and the highest acclaimed of his career. In his old age, Adams retained the wit of his youth by becoming a regular contributor to publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, PlayBoy, Automotive Weekly, Southern Home and Garden, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire. During his life, Adams wrote on all 7 continents (preferring Antarctica), spent years campaigning for same-sex marriage in Ohio and spent years campaigning for Over-The-Counter drug addiction awareness, after recovering from a Tylenol PM addiction that almost killed him in the 90’s. He currently resides in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, with his husband, Mark, two adopted Ethiopian daughters, Nancy and Paul, and the family pet ferret, Marty McFly. He enjoys knitting, performing downtown at the Italian Festival once a year in his hambone choir and, of course, writing. He is reportedly working on a new multi-book children's series focusing on potty-training, to be published by McGraw-Hill and expected for release in late summer 2012.

Controversy

He was featured on popular television shows such as The O’Reilly Factor, Charlie Rose, The Daily Show with John Stewart, The Soup on E! and was also given a web redemption on Tosh.0 for the nipple-slip "wardrobe malfunction" of 82’, an embarrassing episode that landed him, once again, in tabloids on street corners across the world.

List of titles

1. Brazilian Gold Mine Mystery (1960)
2. Mystery of the Chinese Ring (1960)
3. Hawaiian Sea Hunt Mystery (1960)
4. Mystery of the Mexican Treasure (1961)
5. African Ivory Mystery (1961)
6. Alaska Ghost Glacier Mystery (1961)
7. Mystery of the Ambush in India (1962)
8. Mystery of the Caribbean Pearls (1962)
9. Egyptian Scarab Mystery (1963)
10. Mystery of the Tibetan Caravan (1963)
11. British Spy Ring Mystery (1964)
12. Mystery of the Arabian Stallion (1964)
13. Mystery of the Alpine Pass (1965)

List of characters

1. Biff Brewster - Leading protagonist
2. Thomas Brewster - Biff's Father
3. Betty Brewster - Biff's Mother
4. Papa Bilknorf - Biff's Grandfather
5. Sally Jenkins - Biff's Friend
6. Porktooth Johnson - Hero