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A review by topdragon
McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales by Michael Chabon
2.0
Well, this wasn’t what I was expecting at all. From the cover I was thinking this would be “all new tales” written today in the style and subject matter of the pulps from the old pulp magazines. Thrilling Publications produced some of the best pulp stories of the 1930s-50s in magazines such as “Startling Stories”, “Thrilling Wonder Stories”, “Thrilling Adventures”, “Captain Future”, “Masked Detective” and many more.
I should have read the fine print.
This is an anthology of supposedly big-name modern-day authors (in 2002 anyway) who have felt it their obligation to rescue the modern short story by recreating genre/pulp fiction. The results are mostly horrendous. Trying to put a literary bent on pulp fiction absolutely destroys any fun to be had from such stories. These tales are almost all convoluted pieces of crap that come from the uppity literati whose main purpose seems to be to try to impress readers with their “style”. I’ve read Michael Chabon’s “[b:The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay|3985|The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay|Michael Chabon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503806495l/3985._SY75_.jpg|2693329] and thought it a great work but here, acting as editor, he seems to have missed the boat. The best of the batch were from authors I have read before such as Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Elmore Leonard, Harlan Ellison, and Michael Moorcock but even those stories didn't really offer what I was looking for. Most of the collection were stories from authors I'd never heard of and, if I actually remember their names, I will be sure to avoid them in the future.
My favorites included here are limited to just two stories. Michael Crichton’s “Blood Doesn’t Come Out” was very well done. But the best story in the anthology comes from Chris Offutt who manages to provide a humorous tale while simultaneously skewering his prolific father (author Andrew Offutt).
The best thing about this collection were the illustrations at the beginning of each story which do a great job of reviving that old pulp magazine vibe. A short catch phrase accompanies them which also worked well to lure the reader in. Too bad the actual stories were such duds.
Sigh.
I should have read the fine print.
This is an anthology of supposedly big-name modern-day authors (in 2002 anyway) who have felt it their obligation to rescue the modern short story by recreating genre/pulp fiction. The results are mostly horrendous. Trying to put a literary bent on pulp fiction absolutely destroys any fun to be had from such stories. These tales are almost all convoluted pieces of crap that come from the uppity literati whose main purpose seems to be to try to impress readers with their “style”. I’ve read Michael Chabon’s “[b:The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay|3985|The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay|Michael Chabon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1503806495l/3985._SY75_.jpg|2693329] and thought it a great work but here, acting as editor, he seems to have missed the boat. The best of the batch were from authors I have read before such as Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Elmore Leonard, Harlan Ellison, and Michael Moorcock but even those stories didn't really offer what I was looking for. Most of the collection were stories from authors I'd never heard of and, if I actually remember their names, I will be sure to avoid them in the future.
My favorites included here are limited to just two stories. Michael Crichton’s “Blood Doesn’t Come Out” was very well done. But the best story in the anthology comes from Chris Offutt who manages to provide a humorous tale while simultaneously skewering his prolific father (author Andrew Offutt).
The best thing about this collection were the illustrations at the beginning of each story which do a great job of reviving that old pulp magazine vibe. A short catch phrase accompanies them which also worked well to lure the reader in. Too bad the actual stories were such duds.
Sigh.