Reviews

John Jodzio’nun öyküleri kısa ve akılda kalıcı. Dili ise oldukça yalın, söz oyunlarına, süslü betimlemelere ya da iddialı fikirlere girişmeden, karakterlerini ve onların başına gelenleri sakince anlatıyor. Okuması kolay olduğu kadar eğlenceli de. Karakterleri de sıradan kişiler değil, ya alkolik, ya bağımlılar; adi suçlular ya da engelliler. Hep kaybedenler, başarısız olanlar. Bu da onları daha enteresan kılıyor. Bu enteresanlıkları da sade bir dille bütünleştirince Jodzio, ortaya etkili kısa öyküler çıkarmayı başarmış.

Yeraltı edebiyatına dahil edilebilecek bu öykülerde, açıkçası yeraltı edebiyatı yazarlarının ukalalığı ve benhayatıçözdümcülüğü yok. Öyküler naif ve iddiasız, bu da onları daha samimi ve inandırıcı kılmış. Bu yönünü bir hayli sevdim. İddiasız olarak iddialı olmak: Gerçek coolluk budur!

Bazı öyküler durum, bazıları olay öyküsü. Bazı öykülerde hiçbir şey olmuyor ama hissettirdikleri çok iyi. Bazı öykülerde ise durumlar bir hayli sıradışı.

I hadn’t thought about it much before, but it really made me start to wonder—was she was happier with Chet than she was with me? Was Chet a better husband? A better lover? It’s hard to compete with a dead man because all of the jackass things he did that have been washed away by time and all the jackass things I do keep on happening every day.

littlefemur's review

Go to review page

4.0

Strange, funny, and dark. I'm trying not to read too many books by white men this year but this book was worth breaking that rule

pearseanderson's review

Go to review page

4.0

I have twenty pages left in this collection, but I'm definitely going to finish it sometime today. And although it's an anthology, I know how it will end. Because every story ends this way: weird Americans doing a small thing like buying frozen pizza, finding a flashlight, or standing in their living room fully nude, that are symbols/summaries for their experience as a whole. A lot in this book repeats. Panties are stolen like 3 times. Dart leagues mentioned that many times too. The whole end-on-nude-standing thing twice. Anytime a weird sexy woman is introduced I'm 100% convinced they're gonna fuck the street-smart fucked-up protagonist. Honestly some of these characters are a third of a crank too wacky. The woman who hid a chicken taco in the folds of her boobies just wasn't sticking with me. The shorter pieces of flash fiction ranged in quality from stellar ("Knockout," "Ackerman is Selling His Sex Chair for Ten Bucks," "The Piss Test Place") to nothing too special ("Cannonball," "Chet," "Inside Work"). So many of these stories were great! "Duplex" was craaaazy! The entire collection showed someone on the upswing: funny, talented, smart enough to get the subtleties. But I think this'll still be 8/10. If the last two dramatically change my opinion I'll go back and work these notes.

EDIT: Yeah, everyone thinks about their ex-wives in this anthology. So. Many. Stories.

radballen's review

Go to review page

4.0

Pretty damn good short stories.

etigs's review

Go to review page

dark funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

saparson's review

Go to review page

3.0

Fun to read, when a little acerbic perversity is needed to cut the cloying contemporary literary fiction flogged by the editorial gatekeepers and tastemakers struggling to get a headlock on slippery readers.

I read Jodzio's stories trying to anticipate when the marginally normal characters would skew off into abnormality, forging it into a new normalcy. He makes you believe it. The characters in these various stories start out on firm ground then walk off the end of convention's pier, and I'm marching right along with them.

A collection of stories you can binge read.

More...