You can read my review of this book at The New York Journal of Books here: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/sad-monsters-growling-outside-crying-insi... ( )

A humorous look at life's problems through the unique perspective of different monsters. Some are sad with their misunderstood and lonely existence, while some thrive. Many of the stories touch on relationship issues, though the book runs the gamut from politics to racism. It is a quick read, with 40 short stories packed into fewer than 200 pages. For people who liked David Sedaris' "Squirrel Seeks Chimpunk," this book has a similar feel you will likely enjoy.

Kristen Z. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

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ORIGINALLY POSTED: https://bibliomantics.com/2017/03/12/my-year-in-reading-cassie-las-february-2017...

Former The Colbert Report writer Frank Lesser takes on monsters great and small with his satirical short stories ranging from Godzilla’s diary entries to a class-action lawsuit against King Kong, a racist Bigfoot and a Gremlin owner’s manual. Even though not every story is successful, this collection’s strength lies in its creativity. ( )

A collection of essays by or about monsters with problems. A vampire tries to smooth over the girl he dumped because he doesn't like her enough to make her immortal, there's a glowing reference from a cryptozoological researcher trying to help The Abominable Snowman land a job at Vogue, a note from the roommate of Dorian Gray asking him to remove the hideous portrait from the dining room and stop requesting a three-way with the guy's girlfriend. Also, the scientist from "The Fly" teaches Introductory Physics using much of his personal experience.

"Yes, you in the front row, a question? Ah, yes, you're wondering about my right arm, which I have as yet failed to mention. I should apologize for this oversight, but you see, I often forget that my right arm is also the arm of a fly, because I GET DISTRACTED BY MY GIANT FLY HEAD."

Lesser is a writer for "The Colbert Report" so it's no surprise that this is so quirky. ( )

This book consists of forty brief vignettes about various monsters, some of whom are, as the title implies, sad. Not every monster cries himself to sleep at night, though; some quite enjoy their lives of monstrosity. Most of them have romantic problems. It's not easy to be a monster on the prowl in the dating sense, what with also prowling in the nomming sense

It may interest you to know that the author, Frank Lesser, writes for The Colbert Report. This sets some pretty high standards for the book to follow. Thankfully, Sad Monsters was just what I hoped it would be. Puns and irony abound, along with some cute postmodernism (ain't that reevaluation of that monster and his secret pain just precious?).

You get a really wide range of monsters in here. Lesser definitely isn't sticking only to the most popular (zombies, werewolves, vampires). Some of my favorite vignettes were Godzilla wondering what the point of all the stomping is (also, did you know that Godzilla likes M*A*S*H as much as I do?), formerly people-munching diets going vegan or carb-free, peaceful zombies being chased by humans, unsuccessful monsters like Count Macula (who just might work at my office) and Igor's résumé. Pretty much each of the little stories will make you bust out laughing, snort, groan or teehee.

Reading Sad Monsters takes somewhere around an hour. This is an estimate, since I read multiple books at one time; suffice it to say that it is quite short. I feel like this is an excellent book to pull out to amuse your friends with or to buy quirky friends for Christmas (don't know what to get them but know they love Colbert style humor?). Plus, how cute is that monster on the cover!?! ( )