A review by jentang
Mere Anarchy by Woody Allen

3.0

In one of his movies, Woody Allen described himself as being boyish despite his age due to everlasting immaturity. This book reflects that accurately - not in a bad sense; it just happens to read overwhelmingly like the product of a high schooler who, priding themselves on possessing intellectual wit superior to that of their peers, is a little too outspoken in their AP Literature course for even their teacher's taste. From a different angle, Allen's collection of silly short stories is reminiscent of a book of fables or folktales, but if they were [largely] all about inferior shmucks caught in barrages of snark. Its serving size could probably generously be quantified as a short story a day. Read too many of them in one uninterrupted session, and they begin to seem like they're meant for a middle school reading level. The

"and as for me? Well..."

way in which he ends pretty much every story becomes uninspired and inexplicably irksome. I favored the stories that were even a touch different: Calisthenics, Poison Ivy, Final Cut; The Rejection; Above the Law Below the Box Spring (Amarillo, TX shoutout here..). This book is a testament to Allen's wit, yes, but it also demonstrates Allen's clear stronger ability to pull off stylistic repetition in his films over his non-visual media works. I would say, skip this book and just watch four Woody Allen films in a row for a much more satisfying time.