The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

This books starts off as a very entertaining read - the image of the old man, trapped in the dreary routine of a seniors residence, climbing out the window and escaping, is a delightfully capricious image.  The chain of crazy improbabilities that make the story unfold is also quite entertaining.  And the collection of misfits that form.  And the main character's stumblings into the main political events fo the 20th century.  The author's nonchalant tone in the recounting of all these events adds to the humour.
So far so good up to about the introduction of the elephant.  After that, the chain of improbabilities becomes a bit repetitious, the lack of direction in the story becomes rather obvious, and the links to historical events become just too tenuous.
With the author's attempts to link the main character to the political history of the 20th century, this books reminds me of "Any Human Heart" by William Boyd and its connections to the main figures of the 20th century art world.  But unfortunately, a less successful book...