Review by Shellie for: Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day ~ by Ben Loory
An intriguing book of very short literary stories with mostly horrific speculative twists. It has an unusual insight and quirkiness with unique and thought-provoking stories, and some that will leave you with a smirk.
This is author Ben Loory’s first book of odd tales, yet he has published many in literary magazines over the past several years. His new collection feels like modern and bizarre fables - a book for those looking for something a bit out of the ordinary.
The stories range from downright silly and funny to completely strange, while others will make your heart ache and more than a few may prevent you from sleeping. The stories in the book contain themes ranging from talking octopi who live on land rather than water and live like humans, to monsters of various kinds and much more. Definitely an adult book with some mature themes and not recommended for youngsters; it’s a book for “kids at heart”.
I read the book in it’s ARC/ebook format, but I have seen the paperback copy at our local indie book store. It is small, thin and easy to handle or to carry with you. Perhaps pick it up and read when there is a extra few minutes to fill, maybe before bed, or any time where one is interested in a mind altering, or potentially guffaw inducing “quickie” – each story will only take a few minutes to read. I give this collection a 3.5 stars and just love the interesting cover with the orange tentacle, UFO and blue water back ground.
Bio: Ben Loory was born in New Jersey and graduated from Harvard. He later attained his MFA from the American Film Institute and as a screenwriter. His fables and tales have appeared-or are upcoming-in such widely varied publications as The New Yorker, ESPN The Magazine, Space and Time and The Antioch Review. He lives in Los Angeles, in a house on top of a hill. http://www.benloory.com/; http://twitter.com/#!/benloory
I picked this copy up for review at Net Galley. It will be included in the Basics Challenge – where I explore speculative fiction.
Thanks for reading.
2 comments:
I had pretty much the same feelings about this one. I loved some of them and was okay with others. Overall definitely worth the read but probably just the one.
Yep Donna -
We are on the same page... some really made me think others I was thinking is this all there is...
But you have to admit the collection is unusual and very oddly creative.
I will be curious to see what he does next.
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