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Title: the 3rd or 4th worst writer of his generation
Review: The most appealing thing about this book is the candy on the cover. These stories are, in a word, dull. No memorable characters. No gripping--or even mildly interesting--plots.One editorial review in praise of this book is telling. It calls the collection "finely crafted" which I suppose is roughly equivalent to praising a movie for its cinematography: it's fine if you're in to that sort of thing, but don't expect too much in the way of entertainment.In my opinion, it's Rick Moody's "style" that is largely to blame for the crappiness of this book. A guy in a chicken suit crashing a wedding ought to be interesting. But in Rick Moody's meandering, digressive prose, even this quirky scenario manages to become quite tiresome.If you enjoy overblown language and slim plots, you may enjoy this book. I give it two stars because it's mediocre and forgettable rather than offensively bad.
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