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A review by wacie
Instruction Manual for Swallowing by Adam Marek
4.0
I received this book through Goodreads's First Reads program.
In this book are fourteen (sixteen, if you count the bonus stories in the back) of the most inventive, disturbing, and entertaining short stories I've ever read. Many of the stories are simply bizarre: a man, shopping for a new pet, finds himself in a shop where the owner sorts the animals by volume. A group of men hunt the flesh of humans to feed to the patrons of their zombie restaurant. A little boy finds a splinter in his toe; upon extraction, it turns out to be an entire fork. Other stories add the uncertainties and comedies of everyday human life into the mix: a new father struggles to find meaning and direction in parenthood after his wife gives birth to 37 babies. Another man, after learning that he has testicular cancer, brawls with a giant lizard monster rampaging through the city. Yet another man is annoyed to find there's a wasp nest in his backyard, only this is a world where the insects are all robotic.
The stories are all very fun to read and very imaginative without being so weird that the reader gains nothing from reading them. Each story balances the fantastic, grotesque, and strangely hilarious with the dullness and drama of everyday life, creating a rich and unique experience for every reader.
I loved it. Thanks for the book!
In this book are fourteen (sixteen, if you count the bonus stories in the back) of the most inventive, disturbing, and entertaining short stories I've ever read. Many of the stories are simply bizarre: a man, shopping for a new pet, finds himself in a shop where the owner sorts the animals by volume. A group of men hunt the flesh of humans to feed to the patrons of their zombie restaurant. A little boy finds a splinter in his toe; upon extraction, it turns out to be an entire fork. Other stories add the uncertainties and comedies of everyday human life into the mix: a new father struggles to find meaning and direction in parenthood after his wife gives birth to 37 babies. Another man, after learning that he has testicular cancer, brawls with a giant lizard monster rampaging through the city. Yet another man is annoyed to find there's a wasp nest in his backyard, only this is a world where the insects are all robotic.
The stories are all very fun to read and very imaginative without being so weird that the reader gains nothing from reading them. Each story balances the fantastic, grotesque, and strangely hilarious with the dullness and drama of everyday life, creating a rich and unique experience for every reader.
I loved it. Thanks for the book!