Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
I lucked out getting the paperback of this with an actually good cover apparently (the inkblot/silhouette one) rather than the accursed monkey that is a lot more common.
Curse the podcast Just King Things!! They make me want to read the books even when they're dragging how bad they are. That said, while I don't think this is anywhere King's best short story collection, his short stories are largely still pretty interesting or absorbing on the whole so there's a few I'm like, eh they weren't AS bad as expected.
It was also kind of hilarious reading Mrs. Todd's Shortcut which you cannot tell me is not straight up the original to Joe Hill's kind of janky NOS4A2 rip off. Like yeah no wonder that one feels like a weird King proto novel, he took the premise from here 1000%. I can't believe they didn't talk about that at all.
Favorite would definitely be The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet which is like. Damn what a good story. What a fucked up little story that works completely in its goal.
I'll just do a 1-5 stars brief for the stories:
0 STARS these do not deserve mention or memory
-Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)
-Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game
1 STARS aka well he tried even though they're pretty crap
-Cain Rose Up
-Paranoid: A Chant
-For Owen
2 STARS not good but at least some kind of interesting
-The Monkey
-The Wedding Gig
-Word Processor of the Gods
-Uncle Otto's Truck
3 STARS good but not great
-Here There Be Tygers
-Nona
-The Reach
4 STARS actually quite good!!
-The Mist
-The Jaunt
-The Raft
-The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands
-Survivor Type
-Gramma
5 STARS really damn good/amazing
-Mrs. Todd's Shortcut
-Beachworld
-The Reaper's Image
-The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet
Curse the podcast Just King Things!! They make me want to read the books even when they're dragging how bad they are. That said, while I don't think this is anywhere King's best short story collection, his short stories are largely still pretty interesting or absorbing on the whole so there's a few I'm like, eh they weren't AS bad as expected.
It was also kind of hilarious reading Mrs. Todd's Shortcut which you cannot tell me is not straight up the original to Joe Hill's kind of janky NOS4A2 rip off. Like yeah no wonder that one feels like a weird King proto novel, he took the premise from here 1000%. I can't believe they didn't talk about that at all.
Favorite would definitely be The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet which is like. Damn what a good story. What a fucked up little story that works completely in its goal.
I'll just do a 1-5 stars brief for the stories:
0 STARS these do not deserve mention or memory
-Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1)
-Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game
1 STARS aka well he tried even though they're pretty crap
-Cain Rose Up
-Paranoid: A Chant
-For Owen
2 STARS not good but at least some kind of interesting
-The Monkey
-The Wedding Gig
-Word Processor of the Gods
-Uncle Otto's Truck
3 STARS good but not great
-Here There Be Tygers
-Nona
-The Reach
4 STARS actually quite good!!
-The Mist
-The Jaunt
-The Raft
-The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands
-Survivor Type
-Gramma
5 STARS really damn good/amazing
-Mrs. Todd's Shortcut
-Beachworld
-The Reaper's Image
-The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Mist, The Jaunt, and the Raft are highlights for me. The rest are fine, for some reason it was a real slog to get through most.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
As with all of SK's short story compilations, you get a mix of great, fine & crap. SC is mostly GREAT.
Highlights:
- The Mist
- Mrs Todds Shortcut
- The Jaunt
- Milkman #1 & #2
- Gramma
- The Reach
"Gramma" is probably the best.
Highlights:
- The Mist
- Mrs Todds Shortcut
- The Jaunt
- Milkman #1 & #2
- Gramma
- The Reach
"Gramma" is probably the best.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
The Mist 4.5 ⭐
Here They Be Tygers 3 ⭐
The Monkey 4 ⭐
Cain Rose Up 3 ⭐
Mrs Todd's Shortcut 4⭐
The Jaunt - 4.5 ⭐
The Wedding Gig 3.5 ⭐
Paranoid: A Chant 3 ⭐
The Raft 4 ⭐
Word Processor of the Gods 5 ⭐
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands 4.5 ⭐
Beachworld 2.5 ⭐
The Reaper's Image 4 ⭐
Nona 4 ⭐
For Owen 3 ⭐
Survivor Type 5⭐
Uncle Otto's Truck 5 ⭐
Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1) 3 ⭐
Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2)⭐
Gramma 5 ⭐
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet 4.5 ⭐
The Reach 3 ⭐
Here They Be Tygers 3 ⭐
The Monkey 4 ⭐
Cain Rose Up 3 ⭐
Mrs Todd's Shortcut 4⭐
The Jaunt - 4.5 ⭐
The Wedding Gig 3.5 ⭐
Paranoid: A Chant 3 ⭐
The Raft 4 ⭐
Word Processor of the Gods 5 ⭐
The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands 4.5 ⭐
Beachworld 2.5 ⭐
The Reaper's Image 4 ⭐
Nona 4 ⭐
For Owen 3 ⭐
Survivor Type 5⭐
Uncle Otto's Truck 5 ⭐
Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1) 3 ⭐
Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2)⭐
Gramma 5 ⭐
The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet 4.5 ⭐
The Reach 3 ⭐
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A