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A review by jsilber42
Sorry Please Thank You by Charles Yu
5.0
Good news - if you enjoyed Charles Yu's "How to Survive in a Science Fictional Universe" or "Interior Chinatown", and you like short stories, you'll enjoy "Sorry Please Thank You". All the characteristic bits of his writing style are on display here (though not in each story) - the metafiction, the clever Charlie Kaufman-esque mindbending ideas, the heart, the insight into the human condition, the loneliness, the humor. Some stories are more accessible than his novels; some are a bit more confusing or experimental, but many are brilliant, and nearly all are enjoyable (only a few were duds for me). Most of the stories are pretty short and the entire collection is only a couple hundred pages long, so it's a pretty brisk read.
Some standouts: the opener, "Standard Loneliness Package", was the strongest, longest, and most Charles Yu-ian story here, with the brilliant hook of a company that outsources negative experiences (via some sort of neural transfer tech) to underpaid grunt workers in a call center. "Troubleshooting" takes the form of a user manual for a mysterious tech device that translates your wishes, thoughts, desires into real-world effects, but not a boring regular manual. Rather, it's a philosophical manual that questions the reader with passages that reflect on the nature of loss, desire, and good. "Open" explores the masks we put on around others, when a couple in a struggling relationship discover a portal to an endless, dreamlike dinner party where they are always popular, happy, and "on". "Yeoman" is a darkly funny take on Star Trek in the vein of Scalzi's "Redshirts". "The Book of Categories" is a modern take on Borges' concepts of infinity and libraries. "Adult Contemporary" is sort of a cross between David Fincher's "The Game" and "The Truman Show" where a retiree discovers that the house he's buying is more than just a house, it's an experience.
The ones that I didn't care for: "Human for Beginners" is an excerpt from a sort of how-to manual for aliens living as humans that didn't really work for me (it didn't help that "Troubleshooting" did the instruction manual thing much much better). "Note to Self" was a clever concept (a person writing to versions of themself in alternate universes) that was amateurishly executed and disappointing. "Designer Emotion 67" takes the form of a speech from a pharmaceutical executive to shareholders, but fails to do much with the concept beyond some weak humor and broad satire.
Despite a few weak stories, this is a great overall collection. Highly recommended.
Some standouts: the opener, "Standard Loneliness Package", was the strongest, longest, and most Charles Yu-ian story here, with the brilliant hook of a company that outsources negative experiences (via some sort of neural transfer tech) to underpaid grunt workers in a call center. "Troubleshooting" takes the form of a user manual for a mysterious tech device that translates your wishes, thoughts, desires into real-world effects, but not a boring regular manual. Rather, it's a philosophical manual that questions the reader with passages that reflect on the nature of loss, desire, and good. "Open" explores the masks we put on around others, when a couple in a struggling relationship discover a portal to an endless, dreamlike dinner party where they are always popular, happy, and "on". "Yeoman" is a darkly funny take on Star Trek in the vein of Scalzi's "Redshirts". "The Book of Categories" is a modern take on Borges' concepts of infinity and libraries. "Adult Contemporary" is sort of a cross between David Fincher's "The Game" and "The Truman Show" where a retiree discovers that the house he's buying is more than just a house, it's an experience.
The ones that I didn't care for: "Human for Beginners" is an excerpt from a sort of how-to manual for aliens living as humans that didn't really work for me (it didn't help that "Troubleshooting" did the instruction manual thing much much better). "Note to Self" was a clever concept (a person writing to versions of themself in alternate universes) that was amateurishly executed and disappointing. "Designer Emotion 67" takes the form of a speech from a pharmaceutical executive to shareholders, but fails to do much with the concept beyond some weak humor and broad satire.
Despite a few weak stories, this is a great overall collection. Highly recommended.