A review by libraphile
Coulrophobia & Fata Morgana by Jacob M. Appel

5.0

This is an entertaining collection of stories, enjoyable enough to read on the beach and then toss aside, but they are also something more than that. We empathize with these characters; we recognize parts of them in friends, acquaintances and in, yes, in ourselves. And that is unsettling. Many of these characters are lovable, human and understandable. Yet, as we discover their faults, their neuroses, their petty viciousness, and their crimes, can we still admit to identifying with them? Perhaps it is the honesty of these stories that, ironically, cause us to turn our shoulder and pretend we don’t know them.