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nxtapipedream's review against another edition
4.0
Overall i really enjoyed this anthology of short stories and the accompanying illustrations Harris Burdick has intrigued me since we did a writing exercise with his illustrations in middle school. Like all anthologies, there were some I didn't love, but overall I think it's one of my favorite anthologies so far.
the_dragon_starback's review against another edition
5.0
Short stories are often what stick in my head. So reading this for the second time was like turning a light on in my mind.
Caterpillars that do math.
Metal that invades houses.
Ships in Venice.
Fake pumpkins.
These stories and pictures will randomly pop into my head, and often I have no idea where they are from. Now I do.
My favourite stories are "Missing in Venice" by Gregory Maguire, "Just Desert" by M. T. Anderson, and "The House in Maple Street" by Stephen King. But I also really love "The Seven Chairs" by Lois Lowry and "Oscar and Alphonse" by Chris Van Allsburg. And all the other stories. And the introduction by Lemony Snicket. So yeah, I really love this book.
Caterpillars that do math.
Metal that invades houses.
Ships in Venice.
Fake pumpkins.
These stories and pictures will randomly pop into my head, and often I have no idea where they are from. Now I do.
My favourite stories are "Missing in Venice" by Gregory Maguire, "Just Desert" by M. T. Anderson, and "The House in Maple Street" by Stephen King. But I also really love "The Seven Chairs" by Lois Lowry and "Oscar and Alphonse" by Chris Van Allsburg. And all the other stories. And the introduction by Lemony Snicket. So yeah, I really love this book.
just_fighting_censorship's review against another edition
4.0
Love the concept of these writters putting together a short story based on the wonderful illustations of Chris Van Allsburg.
The best story hands down has to be M. T. Anderson's 'Just Desert', a masterpiece of short erie fiction. I think I will buy this book for my own collection based solely on this well written, gripping tale.
I also really enjoyed 'A strange day in July', 'The third-floor bedroom', and 'Another Place, Another time'
However there were a few stories that were a complete miss for me such as Jules Feiffer's 'Uninvited guests' which to me shouldn't even count as a story since there is no narrative arc whatsoever. I was also extremely dissapointed in Stephen King's piece which I found to be long, boring, and quite unimaginative.
Aside from these duds, a great collection of odd tales.
The best story hands down has to be M. T. Anderson's 'Just Desert', a masterpiece of short erie fiction. I think I will buy this book for my own collection based solely on this well written, gripping tale.
I also really enjoyed 'A strange day in July', 'The third-floor bedroom', and 'Another Place, Another time'
However there were a few stories that were a complete miss for me such as Jules Feiffer's 'Uninvited guests' which to me shouldn't even count as a story since there is no narrative arc whatsoever. I was also extremely dissapointed in Stephen King's piece which I found to be long, boring, and quite unimaginative.
Aside from these duds, a great collection of odd tales.
mlindner's review against another edition
3.0
Alright, I guess. Sara checked it out from the public library so I decided to read it. Being that the stories are from 14 different authors they are variable.
esquetee's review against another edition
4.0
Found on Powell's Staff Favorites list - lots of great authors providing stories for the illustrations;
Loved this collection of short stories, tied to strange illustrations with short captions. A range of authors here, from Stephen King to Sherman Alexie to Cory Doctorow. The stories all have a touch of the fantastic to them, with specks of humor here and there. Each one is a very different little vignette and I enjoyed them all.
Loved this collection of short stories, tied to strange illustrations with short captions. A range of authors here, from Stephen King to Sherman Alexie to Cory Doctorow. The stories all have a touch of the fantastic to them, with specks of humor here and there. Each one is a very different little vignette and I enjoyed them all.
hezann73's review against another edition
4.0
I generally have a hard time with short stories, but I really enjoyed the majority of these.
ozshark's review against another edition
2.0
I was really disappointed in this book. I love some of these authors dearly & I love 'The Mysteries of Harris Burdick' immensely - but I just found too many of the stories to be 'meh'. I bought this with the plan of reading them to my students, showing them examples of where these prompts can take you, but haven't found them sufficiently inspiring to do so. Oh well, I haven't had too many "misses" in the books I use with my students so the occasional one is to be expected.
syebba's review against another edition
Important note about "The Chronicles of Harris Burdick": don't even try to read it beginning to end. As a book approached that way, it rather stinks. On the other hand, as a book of short stories, read over multiple sittings, multiple checkouts, I think it probably has a lot more potential/value.
The Introduction by Lemony Snicket is hilarious--really. All two pages of it make me want to go back and read the Series of Unfortunate Events. The dark tongue-in-cheek humor and speculation is a hoot.
Archie Smith, Boy Wonder by Tabitha King... I'm still not certain about the point of it. It seems like she took the challenge very literally: write a story with this title and use this line of text somewhere in it. OK, done and dusted, but it lacked almost everything else that would make it an interesting or quality short story.
Under the Rug by John Scieszka is absolute comic brilliance--the narrator recounts all the maxims his grandmother recites to him, one of them being not to sweep anything under the rug. He does, of course, and it grows and his grandmother's maxims become prophecies. Ultimately, "don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today" becomes the catalyst for the narrator feeding his grandmother to the thing that's growing under the rug. Dark? Yes. But way funny.
A Strange Day in July by Sherman Alexie was rather non-Alexie-esque, really. It is the story of fraternal brother/sister twins that are a little creepy and psychotic in their devotion to one another and then ultimately their "triplet"--the third that they will into being by carrying around an empty dress. Eventually, when they tire of their "sister," they try to drown her by throwing rocks on the dress in a lake. Being that this angers her, ultimately, she starts throwing rocks back and the nearly sociopathic twins are suddenly in danger and afraid realize all too late that they have screwed up.
Missing in Venice by Gregory Maguire is the story of a young boy left in the care of his golddigging stepmother when his father dies. While the child's grief is not immediate or dramatic, his dislike of his stepmother's attorney is palpable, as he reads the man for being a treasureseeker himself. While looking after himself, left to his own devices, he goes with an impulse to steal a ring that belongs to a woman closely associated with gingerbread. How it all comes together is vague, but the old woman, the stepmother and the boy end up in a gandola and the boy essentially wills back the ship that is leaving with the attorney, his family's jewels and the ring he took from the gingerbread woman. Venice literally bends around the ship, and the ship begins to shrink until ultimately it slides into a glass jar, taking the attorney with it. The jewels are returned to the stepmother, and the boy relinqueshes them to her willingly, having realized that he has considerably more power that he is able to wield.
Another Place, Another Time by Cory Doctorow
More to come when I pick up the book and read more of it. I think I will finish it at some point, but this is a collection best spread out over time.
The Introduction by Lemony Snicket is hilarious--really. All two pages of it make me want to go back and read the Series of Unfortunate Events. The dark tongue-in-cheek humor and speculation is a hoot.
Archie Smith, Boy Wonder by Tabitha King... I'm still not certain about the point of it. It seems like she took the challenge very literally: write a story with this title and use this line of text somewhere in it. OK, done and dusted, but it lacked almost everything else that would make it an interesting or quality short story.
Under the Rug by John Scieszka is absolute comic brilliance--the narrator recounts all the maxims his grandmother recites to him, one of them being not to sweep anything under the rug. He does, of course, and it grows and his grandmother's maxims become prophecies. Ultimately, "don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today" becomes the catalyst for the narrator feeding his grandmother to the thing that's growing under the rug. Dark? Yes. But way funny.
A Strange Day in July by Sherman Alexie was rather non-Alexie-esque, really. It is the story of fraternal brother/sister twins that are a little creepy and psychotic in their devotion to one another and then ultimately their "triplet"--the third that they will into being by carrying around an empty dress. Eventually, when they tire of their "sister," they try to drown her by throwing rocks on the dress in a lake. Being that this angers her, ultimately, she starts throwing rocks back and the nearly sociopathic twins are suddenly in danger and afraid realize all too late that they have screwed up.
Missing in Venice by Gregory Maguire is the story of a young boy left in the care of his golddigging stepmother when his father dies. While the child's grief is not immediate or dramatic, his dislike of his stepmother's attorney is palpable, as he reads the man for being a treasureseeker himself. While looking after himself, left to his own devices, he goes with an impulse to steal a ring that belongs to a woman closely associated with gingerbread. How it all comes together is vague, but the old woman, the stepmother and the boy end up in a gandola and the boy essentially wills back the ship that is leaving with the attorney, his family's jewels and the ring he took from the gingerbread woman. Venice literally bends around the ship, and the ship begins to shrink until ultimately it slides into a glass jar, taking the attorney with it. The jewels are returned to the stepmother, and the boy relinqueshes them to her willingly, having realized that he has considerably more power that he is able to wield.
Another Place, Another Time by Cory Doctorow
More to come when I pick up the book and read more of it. I think I will finish it at some point, but this is a collection best spread out over time.
lindseycrouch's review against another edition
3.0
Most of the stories were kind of disappointing. So many were about the sub-human variety of naughty children--blah. But several stories were pretty good, with Stephen King's being the standout for me. The Lois Lowry one was good too.
paper_queen's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
These stories were all kind of crazy, some more than others... *cough*Just Deserts*cough*... But some I found really entertaining and thought-provoking.
Archie Smith, Boy Wonder - 2.5/5
It was a cute, kinda strange little story...what exactly were those little voices talking...? There was also a lot of baseball lingo I didn't understand.
Under the Rug - 1/5
There were a couple stories that I just found out right creepy and this was one of them. It was just plain scary. What even?!
A Strange Day in July - 1/5
Man I hate those kids...I found myself thinking ?!?!?! a lot.
Missing in Venice - 2/5
I really had no idea what was going on...so yeah...
Another Place, Another Time - 3/5
I really loved the writing style! The characters were good too, but the ending was a bit abrupt. I guess that kind of adds to the mystery.
Uninvited Guests - 1/5
So um...this was another creepy one...
The Harp - 5/5
YES! Loved this one! I loved how it all tied together at the end and for once there was a <u>happy ending</u> people, is that so hard?! Anyway... Really clever and fun.
Mr. Linden's Library - 3.5/5
I found this interesting...but then the ending kind of just left me like 'okay, so...huh? What now?' I still liked it though.
The Seven Chairs - 3/5
Interesting...MK is a feisty little character, which is both a good and a bad thing. Nevertheless, this was a fun read.
The Third-Floor - 5/5
No surprise this was written by Kate DiCamillo and it was one of my favorite ones. This was SO SWEET! I absolutely loved the brother-sister relationship with Pearlie and Martin. So good!
Just Desert - .5/5
I have no words. This was literally the most disturbing, creepy out of them all. Just...no words.
Captain Tory - 5/5
I really liked this one! Super intriguing and very well written. Also, just the right amount of mystery to suit me. ;)
Oscar and Alphonse - 3.5/5
This was slightly odd, but super funny and sweet. I'm just thinking of what's going to happen after someone finds out about something...yeesh.
The House on Maple Street - 3/5
The longest story in this book, it was perhaps the oddest out of them all. And not so much in a bad way as a thought-provoking way.
All in all, this was an interesting read that kept my attention, (in good ways and bad). If you're looking for a fun little set of short stories, I would recommend this book. Harris Burdick would be proud. Not that I know him personally or anything, but...
Archie Smith, Boy Wonder - 2.5/5
It was a cute, kinda strange little story...what exactly were those little voices talking...? There was also a lot of baseball lingo I didn't understand.
Under the Rug - 1/5
There were a couple stories that I just found out right creepy and this was one of them. It was just plain scary. What even?!
A Strange Day in July - 1/5
Man I hate those kids...I found myself thinking ?!?!?! a lot.
Missing in Venice - 2/5
I really had no idea what was going on...so yeah...
Another Place, Another Time - 3/5
I really loved the writing style! The characters were good too, but the ending was a bit abrupt. I guess that kind of adds to the mystery.
Uninvited Guests - 1/5
So um...this was another creepy one...
The Harp - 5/5
YES! Loved this one! I loved how it all tied together at the end and for once there was a <u>happy ending</u> people, is that so hard?! Anyway... Really clever and fun.
Mr. Linden's Library - 3.5/5
I found this interesting...but then the ending kind of just left me like 'okay, so...huh? What now?' I still liked it though.
The Seven Chairs - 3/5
Interesting...MK is a feisty little character, which is both a good and a bad thing. Nevertheless, this was a fun read.
The Third-Floor - 5/5
No surprise this was written by Kate DiCamillo and it was one of my favorite ones. This was SO SWEET! I absolutely loved the brother-sister relationship with Pearlie and Martin. So good!
Just Desert - .5/5
I have no words. This was literally the most disturbing, creepy out of them all. Just...no words.
Captain Tory - 5/5
I really liked this one! Super intriguing and very well written. Also, just the right amount of mystery to suit me. ;)
Oscar and Alphonse - 3.5/5
This was slightly odd, but super funny and sweet. I'm just thinking of what's going to happen after someone finds out about something...yeesh.
The House on Maple Street - 3/5
The longest story in this book, it was perhaps the oddest out of them all. And not so much in a bad way as a thought-provoking way.
All in all, this was an interesting read that kept my attention, (in good ways and bad). If you're looking for a fun little set of short stories, I would recommend this book. Harris Burdick would be proud. Not that I know him personally or anything, but...