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larkais's review
3.0
This was a fun jaunt, this novel was almost certainly style over substance. I liked the story that wrote a story through the use of word problems as a fun style. There was also a hilarious story that looked at what happens when you accidentally replied all to an email chain for a book club. The mortification was strong in that one. There were many reviews and those ones were great! Such as the one with the review on beards or the one that sound like the one liner book reviews for New York Times.
The ones that were longer form and took themselves seriously were just not as great.
The ones that were longer form and took themselves seriously were just not as great.
rocketiza's review
5.0
I really enjoyed this because of the imaginative range it had, yet still solidly tied together as a premise. The last couple of collections I've read (Pen Awards/O Henry being the worst offender) suffered from the curators putting style first over voice, so every story, even if written by female Chinese immigrant about her experiences or rich old white dude about his, sounded exactly the same, and was super boring.
That said, I was cautious going in about it being about experimenting with narrative form, which can quickly turn into something I don't enjoy, but there was only a single story that this bothered me in. The rest I really liked what they did with it.
Lastly,the opening essay in the book that sets it all up is a brilliant introduction, and made me enjoy all the stories even more.
That said, I was cautious going in about it being about experimenting with narrative form, which can quickly turn into something I don't enjoy, but there was only a single story that this bothered me in. The rest I really liked what they did with it.
Lastly,the opening essay in the book that sets it all up is a brilliant introduction, and made me enjoy all the stories even more.
gjmaupin's review
3.0
Many more good ones than bad ones. The trouble with the notion of an anthology is, of course, the element of surprise...
silenciadelumbrae's review
3.0
Honestly the tags say it all. This is a nerd book. This is a book you will enjoy if you are a nerd about language and the forms it can take. This is not a normal short-story book, but I enjoyed it anyway.
Now, when I say I enjoyed it, I mean for the most part. I found that a few of the stories took the joke and ran with it way too long, to the point where I had to skip to the end because it was just getting repetitive. Most of them, however, were just long enough to make their point and several were genuinely funny. By far my favourite piece was "The Dead Sister Handbook: A Guide for Sensitive Boys," which I am sure was playing on some piece of pop culture that I don't know anything about. But should that author ever wish to publish a full thesis/handbook on Dead Sisters, I would read it.
Anyway, three language-nerd stars!
Now, when I say I enjoyed it, I mean for the most part. I found that a few of the stories took the joke and ran with it way too long, to the point where I had to skip to the end because it was just getting repetitive. Most of them, however, were just long enough to make their point and several were genuinely funny. By far my favourite piece was "The Dead Sister Handbook: A Guide for Sensitive Boys," which I am sure was playing on some piece of pop culture that I don't know anything about. But should that author ever wish to publish a full thesis/handbook on Dead Sisters, I would read it.
Anyway, three language-nerd stars!
discomagpie's review
4.0
I rated this book 3.75/5 stars on InsatiableBooksluts.com. A review copy was provided by the publisher.
Review excerpt:
"This anthology caught my eye because of a review I read in the LARB (and by "read," I mostly mean skimmed). The concept of the book revolves around the "fraudulent artifacts" in the title; it reminds me of a cross among blogs like Letters of Note, which contains real artifacts giving us fascinating peeks at people and situations via correspondence, pieces from McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and fake Amazon reviews, the writing of which has become an art form unto itself. (The reviews for Looking For ... the Best by David Hasselhoff kept me entertained for literally hours. Also, the three wolf moon shirt.)
The "artifacts" in the anthology range from an irate letter from William Carlos Williams' "roommate" ("Will, you are a dick. You're goddamn right I was saving those plums for breakfast"), to an essay from Lorrie Moore on how to become a writer ("First, try to be something, anything, else"), to reviews of Chris Bachelder's beard, to a series of police reports that unfold a more personal story. Many of the stories have elements of humor, which is to be expected, given the playfulness of the idea of a false artifact; some of the stories also deeply move the reader. My breath caught more than once."
Read the full review at InsatiableBooksluts.com.
Review excerpt:
"This anthology caught my eye because of a review I read in the LARB (and by "read," I mostly mean skimmed). The concept of the book revolves around the "fraudulent artifacts" in the title; it reminds me of a cross among blogs like Letters of Note, which contains real artifacts giving us fascinating peeks at people and situations via correspondence, pieces from McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and fake Amazon reviews, the writing of which has become an art form unto itself. (The reviews for Looking For ... the Best by David Hasselhoff kept me entertained for literally hours. Also, the three wolf moon shirt.)
The "artifacts" in the anthology range from an irate letter from William Carlos Williams' "roommate" ("Will, you are a dick. You're goddamn right I was saving those plums for breakfast"), to an essay from Lorrie Moore on how to become a writer ("First, try to be something, anything, else"), to reviews of Chris Bachelder's beard, to a series of police reports that unfold a more personal story. Many of the stories have elements of humor, which is to be expected, given the playfulness of the idea of a false artifact; some of the stories also deeply move the reader. My breath caught more than once."
Read the full review at InsatiableBooksluts.com.
taratosaurus's review
3.0
I won this book in a first-reads giveaway.
This is an anthology of fake texts that take the form of letters, contracts, glossaries, police blotters, etc. Generally, you could call these texts short stories, with the authors playing around with various formats or mediums in which to tell the story. Most of the stories are funny and enjoyable; if you liked [b:Reality Hunger: A Manifesto|6712580|Reality Hunger A Manifesto|David Shields|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320471995s/6712580.jpg|6908447] you'll probably like Fakes.
This is an anthology of fake texts that take the form of letters, contracts, glossaries, police blotters, etc. Generally, you could call these texts short stories, with the authors playing around with various formats or mediums in which to tell the story. Most of the stories are funny and enjoyable; if you liked [b:Reality Hunger: A Manifesto|6712580|Reality Hunger A Manifesto|David Shields|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320471995s/6712580.jpg|6908447] you'll probably like Fakes.
whatdotheyknowaboutfriends's review
3.0
Great concept, passable execution. Some of these were highly enjoyable, either funny or sad, but a number of the pieces employed obscure, almost language-poetry style writing, or fell solidly in the writing-for-writers genre. Jonathan Safran Foer's piece, for example, is a subtle parody, but some pieces rely heavily on the tiring device of taking a familiar, often bureaucratic form, and stuffing it with nonsense and cries of guilt and loneliness from the speaker. Not good reads.
endocranium's review
3.0
Disclaimer: I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
I started off really intrigued by the format alone - it's an anthology of fake texts made up of a large variety of mediums, so it reads like a crime novel or something.
As for the writing, some of the stories were good and some meh. "Officer's Weep" was fantastic, as was "About the Typefaces Not Used in This Edition," which I would have read based on the name alone, in all honesty. If you're debating purchasing the book I might suggest looking for those stories on their own part, rather than buying the whole book, as a lot of the stories didn't really draw me in and felt a little bit ridiculous.
Overall, though, an interesting read especially if you're interested in creative writing and alternative formats for story anthologies.
I started off really intrigued by the format alone - it's an anthology of fake texts made up of a large variety of mediums, so it reads like a crime novel or something.
As for the writing, some of the stories were good and some meh. "Officer's Weep" was fantastic, as was "About the Typefaces Not Used in This Edition," which I would have read based on the name alone, in all honesty. If you're debating purchasing the book I might suggest looking for those stories on their own part, rather than buying the whole book, as a lot of the stories didn't really draw me in and felt a little bit ridiculous.
Overall, though, an interesting read especially if you're interested in creative writing and alternative formats for story anthologies.
komencanto's review
3.0
An incredibly mixed bag. Beyond that, a lot of the pieces don't really commit to their fake format... Which is fine when they stand on their own as short stories, but makes the weaker entries that much more unsatisfying. Still lots of good stuff, just requires some cherry picking.
pearseanderson's review
3.0
I have a deep well in my heart for artifact fiction, and this anthology, often considered one of the best collections of the genre (and I have a signed copy, no less) didn't hit the right notes for me consistently: some great pieces, like the ones by Charles Yu, George Saunders, Laura Jayne Martin, Charles McLeod, but a bunch of others were disappointing. Oh, great, I get to read about Jonathan Safran Foer discuss birds again, whoopee. The ToC here is studded with all-star writers, which I almost liked less than if it had been full of unexpected artifact authors and names I hadn't heard of. "Rick Moody makes a funny works cited" just doesn't fill me with passion to turn the page, but I can see this anthology generally being a good teaching tool. And it's a reprint anthology! Not sure if that makes it better or worse. Always good to see Lorrie Moore's characters write about a man and woman getting their lower torsos blown away with dynamite. 5/10 from me, folks.