A review by scottjp
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft

4.0

This is a good collection of Lovecraft but not, I feel, a great one, due to a certain amount of sameness and formula in many of the stories. From what I understand editor Joshi put together three collections for Penguin, so no doubt he had some kind of organization in mind for each, but I would have preferred something that was just more varied. This one focuses largely on Cthulhu mythos tales and while that is a great contribution to literature, the stories themselves are not really my favorites. As is usual in my experience with this author, the longer stories seem to drag on and on and on. (The only longer work by Lovecraft that I think is nearly perfect is "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward," not included here.) I regret selecting this particular volume for my book club, as I don't think it is as new reader friendly as another might have been, and in fact it was not a raging success. The most positive thing that was said from anyone reading him for the first time (which was almost everyone) was that it was interesting to read something from the roots of the genre. But I don't think any of them really liked it. Perhaps [b:The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories|564318|The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories|H.P. Lovecraft|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327885492l/564318._SY75_.jpg|551435] would have been a better choice.