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erinmp's review against another edition
The stories were definitely not up to McSweeney's ususal standard, but the artwork (most of it, anyway) is amazing. I actually am trying to figure out how to tear the book apart so that I can frame some of the pieces; and then get another copy of the book.
Suggestions?
Suggestions?
leebass7's review against another edition
3.0
I seemed to have a different experience than other reviewers to this book, as out of the 14 stories I only enjoyed about 6 (including the novel excerpt, which is the best thing here).
Stories that made me excited about short stories:
Elsewhere - Roderick White
The strange frame tale taking place in heaven and the central mystery of who is killing the poets got me interested, while the excellent writing kept me reading, although the ending leaves a little to be desired.
Mate - Aaron Gwyn
A harrowing snapshot of one man's stay in prison. Well thought out characters, I liked how the protagonist slowly reveals himself to be not is harmless as he first suggests. A convincing glimpse of prison life; routine, boredom, friendship, fear, violence.
The King's Book - Sam Miller
A man responsible for the suffering of thousands refuses to feel guilty after being captured. A perfect short story.
Stories that were fine:
Statement of Purpose - A love story about imperfection.
Loess - An interesting story about the rise and fall of a civilisation as prophesied by one man telling another.
The best thing here is Chris Adrian's excerpt from his novel 'The Children's Hospital'. A surreal story about a children's hospital that is saved from the apocalypse by angels. It is funny, I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times, and the writing is inventive with plenty of interesting turns of phrase. The characters are also well rounded and came across believable in their actions.
All the other stories either left me bored and had no plot or had nothing interesting about them whatsoever. This is more like a 3 and a half stars. Without the novel insert it would've been a 2.
(Oh yeah and the illustrations are nice and varied, which is a nice touch. You'll no doubt like a bunch of them while hating others.)
Stories that made me excited about short stories:
Elsewhere - Roderick White
The strange frame tale taking place in heaven and the central mystery of who is killing the poets got me interested, while the excellent writing kept me reading, although the ending leaves a little to be desired.
Mate - Aaron Gwyn
A harrowing snapshot of one man's stay in prison. Well thought out characters, I liked how the protagonist slowly reveals himself to be not is harmless as he first suggests. A convincing glimpse of prison life; routine, boredom, friendship, fear, violence.
The King's Book - Sam Miller
A man responsible for the suffering of thousands refuses to feel guilty after being captured. A perfect short story.
Stories that were fine:
Statement of Purpose - A love story about imperfection.
Loess - An interesting story about the rise and fall of a civilisation as prophesied by one man telling another.
The best thing here is Chris Adrian's excerpt from his novel 'The Children's Hospital'. A surreal story about a children's hospital that is saved from the apocalypse by angels. It is funny, I found myself laughing out loud more than a few times, and the writing is inventive with plenty of interesting turns of phrase. The characters are also well rounded and came across believable in their actions.
All the other stories either left me bored and had no plot or had nothing interesting about them whatsoever. This is more like a 3 and a half stars. Without the novel insert it would've been a 2.
(Oh yeah and the illustrations are nice and varied, which is a nice touch. You'll no doubt like a bunch of them while hating others.)
moxiedoll's review against another edition
1.0
By far my least favorite McSweeney's so far - it was almost painful to force myself to finish it.
dohertys17's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Likes:
- Really enjoyed the form of this book (i.e. interspersed artwork throughout, very different short stories)
- Favorite stories were: "The Man Who Married a Tree" by Tony D'Souza and "The Big Dud" by Jack Pendarvis
- Really enjoyed flipping to a new page and getting a piece of artwork every other time. While it could be distracting from the story it was quite nice and I felt that it encouraged me to keep on reading
Dislikes:
- I didn't jive with all of the stories presented here (but at least they are all short and all are so different that you know you'll get something new soon)
- Some of the stories I really did not even understand. Seemed like they were just trying to be cool and "different"
- In general I am not a big fan of short stories. I also found that many of these stories are emotionally detached which is something else I do not much care for when I am reading.
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