Makes you realize what you read in the ENQUIRER is only the tip of the iceberg (so to speak). Most of the people who are in the story live pretty ordinary lives (or lived, until they died on the TITANIC and ended up in someone's waterbed). I think it was easy to identify with most of them. I had no problem with the 9 year old hit man, although the one with a space alien lover was a little harder.
Short Stories - Boy Born with Tatoo of Elvis, Titanic Victim Speaks Through Waters, Woman Uses Glass Eye to Spy on Philadering Husband, and JFK Secretly Attends Jackie Auction, among others.
As with most collections of short stories, the contents actually vary from 5-star to *meh* ... I also recognize that the stars could vary from one reader to another -- one person's *meh* is another's solid gold ...
This collection, with its clever starting point of stories ripped from the headlines of America's finest supermarket checkout tabloids, contains one of my very favorite short stories, "Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot." Like a masterclass in the creative use of Point of View, it's a must for any writer who wants tips on how POV can help shape your character, and your narrative. (I used this story repeatedly in my Creative Writing class ...) Watching as the consciousness of the Jealous Husband drifts away from the human he once was (and, indeed, the jealous human he once was ...) and become more and more birdlike, is just brilliant -- hilarious and sad, and very vivid. I hadn't read it for almost 10 years, so I was delighted to discover that it lived up to my very fond recollections of it.
My other two favorites were the opening and closing stories which -- no spoiler, I think -- are linked. (The "Titanic Victim ..." and "Titanic Survivors ..." in the titles might be a bit of a giveaway ...) I thought Butler gave in to the temptation to be a bit too, hmmm ... lyrical, which he resisted in "Jealous Husband," but even so, separately, they are lovely stories, and together they bring everything to a satisfying conclusion. Also found "JFK Secretly Attends Jackie Auction" very touching.
I wasn't blown away by any of the other stories, and (sadly) the conceit of the tabloid headlines began to feel forced. Again, thinking about the use of POV, Butler interpreted his grand design to mean that all of the stories are 1st person, and not all of the characters seem as engaging and sympathetic as the two from the Titanic stories, and the Jealous Husband. Perhaps it would have been better if he'd allowed himself some leeway in his interpretation of the headlines.
This collection, with its clever starting point of stories ripped from the headlines of America's finest supermarket checkout tabloids, contains one of my very favorite short stories, "Jealous Husband Returns in Form of Parrot." Like a masterclass in the creative use of Point of View, it's a must for any writer who wants tips on how POV can help shape your character, and your narrative. (I used this story repeatedly in my Creative Writing class ...) Watching as the consciousness of the Jealous Husband drifts away from the human he once was (and, indeed, the jealous human he once was ...) and become more and more birdlike, is just brilliant -- hilarious and sad, and very vivid. I hadn't read it for almost 10 years, so I was delighted to discover that it lived up to my very fond recollections of it.
My other two favorites were the opening and closing stories which -- no spoiler, I think -- are linked. (The "Titanic Victim ..." and "Titanic Survivors ..." in the titles might be a bit of a giveaway ...) I thought Butler gave in to the temptation to be a bit too, hmmm ... lyrical, which he resisted in "Jealous Husband," but even so, separately, they are lovely stories, and together they bring everything to a satisfying conclusion. Also found "JFK Secretly Attends Jackie Auction" very touching.
I wasn't blown away by any of the other stories, and (sadly) the conceit of the tabloid headlines began to feel forced. Again, thinking about the use of POV, Butler interpreted his grand design to mean that all of the stories are 1st person, and not all of the characters seem as engaging and sympathetic as the two from the Titanic stories, and the Jealous Husband. Perhaps it would have been better if he'd allowed himself some leeway in his interpretation of the headlines.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In his first collection since the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, Robert Olen Butler dazzles anew with his mastery of the short-story form and his true empathy for the denizens of the less-well-explored corners of the human condition. Though his mirthful and appropriately absurd story titles - "Boy Born with Tattoo of Elvis," "Titanic Victim Speaks Through Waterbed," "Woman Uses Glass Eye to Spy on Philandering Husband," and "JFK Secretly Attends Jackie Auction," among others - reflect Butler's genuine fondness for the outsized fancies of tabloid readers' and writers' imaginations, his ambitions are not so lighthearted or ephemeral. Once again he explores the enduring issues of cultural exile, loss, aspiration, and the search for the self. Employing a seamless mixture of high and low culture, of the surreal, the sordid, and the sad, Butler has created a frequently hilarious, always deeply moving, and profoundly American book.
In his first collection since the Pulitzer Prize-winning A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, Robert Olen Butler dazzles anew with his mastery of the short-story form and his true empathy for the denizens of the less-well-explored corners of the human condition. Though his mirthful and appropriately absurd story titles - "Boy Born with Tattoo of Elvis," "Titanic Victim Speaks Through Waterbed," "Woman Uses Glass Eye to Spy on Philandering Husband," and "JFK Secretly Attends Jackie Auction," among others - reflect Butler's genuine fondness for the outsized fancies of tabloid readers' and writers' imaginations, his ambitions are not so lighthearted or ephemeral. Once again he explores the enduring issues of cultural exile, loss, aspiration, and the search for the self. Employing a seamless mixture of high and low culture, of the surreal, the sordid, and the sad, Butler has created a frequently hilarious, always deeply moving, and profoundly American book.
Very funny book. Check out the parrot story.
