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randrenfrow's review against another edition
4.0
I read this thing so fast. Yes most of the stories are short and similarly structured, but they are brilliant. Auslander just has it, I don't know, that thing that makes his writing hilarious, but oh so sadly too true. It's like Woody Allen-ish goofiness, but with the sharpest and most poignant wit ever. This is some of the best religious and upper-middle class satire I've ever read. After Vonnegut of course. No one can touch that guy.
slipperbunny's review against another edition
3.0
I got this as a birthday gift last year, not sure why. Maybe I had this on my wishlist. The stories were funny and some of them were kind of sad. I liked the funnier stories more.
aneides's review against another edition
4.0
3.5
You don't have to be a lapsed Orthodox Jew to understand and appreciate this book, but I'd imagine it helps. Even the "mostly secular Jew" thing I have going on helps a bit.
I first encountered the work of S. Auslander on This American Life, mostly enjoying his autobiographical stuff, but also (I believe) the story about God being a chicken that appears in this petite volume. Maybe also the one about the hamsters.
This book is much smaller than I had expected, literally: as tall as a mass market paperback, about as wide as a trade, with the larger typeface and margins of a trade. That is to say- it is a very short book. The book comprises fourteen very short stories, many of which read like fables. Or parables. Not a lot of hidden depth there, it's all out in the open. Each story is a hit-and-run, leaving the reader both amused and uncomfortable, but knowing exactly what the discomfort is about. No need to ruminate too much. It's a quick read.
You don't have to be a lapsed Orthodox Jew to understand and appreciate this book, but I'd imagine it helps. Even the "mostly secular Jew" thing I have going on helps a bit.
I first encountered the work of S. Auslander on This American Life, mostly enjoying his autobiographical stuff, but also (I believe) the story about God being a chicken that appears in this petite volume. Maybe also the one about the hamsters.
This book is much smaller than I had expected, literally: as tall as a mass market paperback, about as wide as a trade, with the larger typeface and margins of a trade. That is to say- it is a very short book. The book comprises fourteen very short stories, many of which read like fables. Or parables. Not a lot of hidden depth there, it's all out in the open. Each story is a hit-and-run, leaving the reader both amused and uncomfortable, but knowing exactly what the discomfort is about. No need to ruminate too much. It's a quick read.
mindy_allen's review against another edition
4.0
Hilarious! But likely offensive if you're religious. I love the short story about Danish and Donut, 2 hamsters waiting for their owner Joe to come home and feed them.
mcfarlandclan's review against another edition
3.0
The stories are very uneven. Some are funny. Some are just odd. Nowhere near as laugh-out-loud as his memoir.
suzyqhf's review against another edition
I found these stories a little too weird and off color for my taste and stopped about a quarter of the way through
giantarms's review against another edition
4.0
These stories are razors. There is one about what happens to you if you discover new information about the holiest of Books. There is one about what happens when fundamentalism comes to Charlie Brown's neighborhood. There is one in which consciousness is bestowed upon a chimpanzee and all he gets out of it is poop. There is one that portrays God as a put-upon balancer of life and another one that portrays God as a chicken (not as in "yellow," but as in "buck-buck-ba-caw").
Auslander's head is damaged, scary place, but I found it full of cunning, moving allegory.
Don't listen to the people who say you can't get this book if you aren't Jewish. I'm not Jewish. I got a lot out of it. What's more, the writing is crisp and smooth without seeming like he's trying too hard. Auslander clearly builds from his upbringing, but he is his own author. I read the whole book in a day and I don't even care that much for short stories.
It's the next day and I'm already a quarter through [b:Foreskin's Lament|50902|Foreskin's Lament|Shalom Auslander|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266459769s/50902.jpg|610736]. You can see they are related. I imagine these are the stories he keeps deleting in the latter book.
Auslander's head is damaged, scary place, but I found it full of cunning, moving allegory.
Don't listen to the people who say you can't get this book if you aren't Jewish. I'm not Jewish. I got a lot out of it. What's more, the writing is crisp and smooth without seeming like he's trying too hard. Auslander clearly builds from his upbringing, but he is his own author. I read the whole book in a day and I don't even care that much for short stories.
It's the next day and I'm already a quarter through [b:Foreskin's Lament|50902|Foreskin's Lament|Shalom Auslander|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1266459769s/50902.jpg|610736]. You can see they are related. I imagine these are the stories he keeps deleting in the latter book.
ecstaticlistening's review against another edition
3.0
Some of the reviews here seemed to think that if you're not Jewish, particularly Orthodox, you wouldn't appreciate these stories, but I don't think that's true at all. It helps to be familiar with those cultures and the Old Testament, though.