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whackboy's review against another edition
5.0
thus far, i've read the first short story and i'm so amazingly impressed. this was loaned to me by a co-worker and i'm really happy to be exposed to it! updates forthcoming.
done. this was a great read. i'm intrigued by ray's ability to convey so many tangled emotions/states of being into small stories. surreal, serious, absurd, funny, loathsome, endearing, obtuse, insane, intelligent. if you've ever been interested in surrealist or dada art, this is the science fiction/literary equivalent. highly recommended!
done. this was a great read. i'm intrigued by ray's ability to convey so many tangled emotions/states of being into small stories. surreal, serious, absurd, funny, loathsome, endearing, obtuse, insane, intelligent. if you've ever been interested in surrealist or dada art, this is the science fiction/literary equivalent. highly recommended!
saevers's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed these stories, but not as much as I hoped I would. With surreal literature it's a little difficult to describe exactly what was off, but it may have something to do with the fact that the author reused the same names throughout the collection, which eventually became distracting. There were also a lot of abrupt shifts in language and story, making things difficult to follow and understand at times, although sometimes this really worked. The first story in the collection was a work of art, but I felt that the lack of cohesive narrative and the repetition made the rest of the book fall short of its opening. If partial stars were available, I would give this one 3.5.
roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
2.0
DNF@64%
I usually quit reading books I can't stand while I'm ahead, but this is a short story collection and I kept hoping the next one would be better. And, well, it's not that long.
"Meet Me in the Moon Room" is excellently written, stylistically. In fact, whenever I read a book from Small Beer Press, I assume it's beautiful. The problem here being that it's not much else.
The stories follow a certain pattern: you get something impossible happening - something surreal. People react in one way or another. Not much else happens. For example, "By the Time We Get to Uranus" is about people turning into astronauts and floating into space - a guy's wife leaves that way, and then he turns into an astronaut and gets propulsion to maybe eventually reach her. That's it.
Taken individually, each short story is strange, surreal, unique. Put together, there's something that's missing.
There's another story in which there's a huge monster in a village. It grows bananas. It's a girl who the main character used to be friends with and who turned into a monster and then they all forgot about her. That's all.
I mean, it's not bad. It's definitely strange and interesting, but...
There's a story about a guy who makes his family wear paper bags on their heads to not see the approaching comet and then, by quantum stuff, it would disappear. There's a story in which a guy gets lost in a sweater which becomes a cave and his wife gets lost under the table, which becomes a world of its own. There's a story about a guy who comes home to find his wife wearing a bag over her head and he pus one on, too, and gets lost in it.
...but there's a bit too much repetition. Too many stories that have no solutions, the elements get repeated. There's body horror, people turning into things, cockroaches in nostrils, flesh falling, bodies being destroyed.
Individually, each story *works*. Together, they become a bit too much, too repetitive, too odd-for-odd's-sake.
I usually quit reading books I can't stand while I'm ahead, but this is a short story collection and I kept hoping the next one would be better. And, well, it's not that long.
"Meet Me in the Moon Room" is excellently written, stylistically. In fact, whenever I read a book from Small Beer Press, I assume it's beautiful. The problem here being that it's not much else.
The stories follow a certain pattern: you get something impossible happening - something surreal. People react in one way or another. Not much else happens. For example, "By the Time We Get to Uranus" is about people turning into astronauts and floating into space - a guy's wife leaves that way, and then he turns into an astronaut and gets propulsion to maybe eventually reach her. That's it.
Taken individually, each short story is strange, surreal, unique. Put together, there's something that's missing.
There's another story in which there's a huge monster in a village. It grows bananas. It's a girl who the main character used to be friends with and who turned into a monster and then they all forgot about her. That's all.
I mean, it's not bad. It's definitely strange and interesting, but...
There's a story about a guy who makes his family wear paper bags on their heads to not see the approaching comet and then, by quantum stuff, it would disappear. There's a story in which a guy gets lost in a sweater which becomes a cave and his wife gets lost under the table, which becomes a world of its own. There's a story about a guy who comes home to find his wife wearing a bag over her head and he pus one on, too, and gets lost in it.
...but there's a bit too much repetition. Too many stories that have no solutions, the elements get repeated. There's body horror, people turning into things, cockroaches in nostrils, flesh falling, bodies being destroyed.
Individually, each story *works*. Together, they become a bit too much, too repetitive, too odd-for-odd's-sake.
dedeisded's review
stories starting feeling a bit bland…might pick up again later…
sabrinahughes's review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 48%
This book is fine I just can’t get into stories this short
This book is fine I just can’t get into stories this short
nobodyatall's review against another edition
3.0
Some really inventive and unusual stories. Overall a decent, enjoyable collection of bizarre fantasy/SciFi with some great, original ideas.
For the most part I didn't find much emotional connection, the tales were mostly about stuff happening and the exploration of quirky ideas. If there had been some more emotion or feeling or humanity them I would have given more stars.
For the most part I didn't find much emotional connection, the tales were mostly about stuff happening and the exploration of quirky ideas. If there had been some more emotion or feeling or humanity them I would have given more stars.
donfoolery's review against another edition
5.0
I returned my library copy when I ordered my own from the publisher; I just had to have it. I only give it five stars, because I can't give it six.
Folks might get scared off by the collection's description of being "surreal," but it's still very accessible--the cover illustration is definitely appropos. There were two stories that might have been a little on the too-surreal side, but the "The Finger" more than made up for them both. The best story of them all, "White Guys in Space" is absolutely brilliant as a multi-layered cultural commentary that's thinly disguised as a piece of mysogynistic 50s sci-fi pulp shlock.
I was drawn to it because of the brevity of the stories, but I noticed that these were different from the tightly-written-to-the-point-of-breaking microfiction/flash fiction stories I've been reading lately. These were short, short stories that really were precisely as long as they needed to be.
Folks might get scared off by the collection's description of being "surreal," but it's still very accessible--the cover illustration is definitely appropos. There were two stories that might have been a little on the too-surreal side, but the "The Finger" more than made up for them both. The best story of them all, "White Guys in Space" is absolutely brilliant as a multi-layered cultural commentary that's thinly disguised as a piece of mysogynistic 50s sci-fi pulp shlock.
I was drawn to it because of the brevity of the stories, but I noticed that these were different from the tightly-written-to-the-point-of-breaking microfiction/flash fiction stories I've been reading lately. These were short, short stories that really were precisely as long as they needed to be.
tuff517's review against another edition
4.0
Surrealistic at times, maybe semi-dystopian (cat-throwing?). Interesting group of short-stories that enfold symbolism into four to twelve page bites of semi-reality. My first toe-dip into the pool of the science-fiction/fantasy genre and I loved it!
gremlinjane's review against another edition
4.0
Quirky and spectacular and surreal. Each short story is freshly unexpected and turns in directions you hadn't anticipated - while still being extremely matter-of-fact and accessible. I love this book.
(And simultaneously, I love pretty much anything that comes out from Small Beer Press - they have never steered me wrong! And this was the book that began the love affair).
(And simultaneously, I love pretty much anything that comes out from Small Beer Press - they have never steered me wrong! And this was the book that began the love affair).
tdstorm's review
5.0
Vukcevich's experimentation is not an experimentation with form. He has pretty narrative-driven stories and very little postmodern self-consciousness. But the content of the stories--the characters and events--are really, really weird. His brand of surrealism is sometimes allegory, sometimes philosophical lit, sometimes fabulist, but mostly about human relationships.