Collection of short stories that vary considerably in both length and quality. The better ones were the longer ones such as Launderama (author sees ghost in a launderette) and When I Met Michel Foucault (extended dream sequence involving the French philosopher). The rest of the 18 stories were mostly forgettable albeit well written. As this was his first release (releasing title in an alphabetical order) and having read a couple more by the author I'm still looking forward to sampling more of his works (which is a good job as I still have a couple more sat on the tbr shelves). ( )

When the stories in this short collection are good, they are very very good.
But when they are not, then the stories are very indifferent. ( )

Very odd. Not bad...just...odd. ( )

I'm probably twice as old as the author so maybe it's my age, but I found these short stories shallow and bitty. All the characters live lives just on the surface, concerned only with what people look like or what they buy. Like a series of "Fast Show" sketches, they leave the reader dissatisfied.

The title of this book was the best thing about it, along with the idea that in the staff's hierarchy of dishes in wagamamas, ramens are at the bottom. ( )

Painfully dull at times, I can't recall many of these short stories at all, and the ones I can remember make me glad of my poor memory. What a waste! And with such a promising surname! ( )