A review by rebeccabateman
The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: 14 Amazing Authors Tell the Tales by Chris Van Allsburg

4.0

A creative exercise with expert writers producing a wonderful collection of short stories. A few were lackluster or slightly contrived, but many were profound and touching.

Some notes:

Another Place, Another Time, by [a:Cory Doctorow|12581|Cory Doctorow|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1212526024p2/12581.jpg], is thought-provoking and tender (and made me eager to research dimension and Time-Space Continuum theory).
The Seven Chairs, [a:Lois Lowry|2493|Lois Lowry|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1348162077p2/2493.jpg], is a simplistic yet fantastical tale that left me asking more questions than it answered.
Just Desert, [a:M.T. Anderson|31688|M.T. Anderson|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1247706514p2/31688.jpg], is an wonderful amalgamation of science fiction and psychology, which I nearly missed because of the fury (fury.) I felt reading the title and hoping it was an attempt at making a play on the phrase "just desserts." The beginning of the second paragraph misspells the phrase a second time. (Seriously. Who is editing this?) There is some clarification towards the end of the story, but the effort here to use the word "desert" in place of "dessert" was poorly executed and sloppy. I got over it in the end.
Captain Tory, [a:Louis Sachar|6569|Louis Sachar|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1215290291p2/6569.jpg], is haunting and lovely.
Oscar and Alphonse, [a:Chris Van Allsburg|9685|Chris Van Allsburg|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1264399536p2/9685.jpg], is humorous with a wonderful touch of irony.




*These images remind me of one of my favorite card games, which is becoming more and more popular, Dixit. The images on these cards could also be the stimulus for an exercise in story writing by those who want to write, including those who are less expert.