There are not enough good things I can say about this collection of short stories by Dr. Appel. The title alone contains the most appropriate word - Amazing! I enjoyed every single one of these tales even though several of the characters were quite unlikable. All of the stories had the ability to draw me into the scenario and make me think and, after all, isn’t that hat a good writer does? I will most definitely be following Dr. Appel and continuing with more of his work. My highest recommendation! ( )

The Children’s Lottery
My favorite story of the collection, disturbing and thought-provoking. *****

Jury of Matrons
My least favorite story of the collection - this simply wasn't my cup of tea. *

Gable’s Whiskers
Simple, yet sentimental and sad. ***

Burrowing in Exile
It's a little bit funny...but then not too much. **

Tracking Harold Lloyd
OK, but not very memorable to me. **

Next of Kith
Another sad piece about the ephemeral ways of life. ***

Right of Way
Kind of a coming-of-age story. ***

A Change of Plumage
Hilarious. ***

The Desecration at Lemming Bay
Another story I read but forgot about almost immediately after. **

The Amazing Mr. Morality
Now that was a great story again! *****

Overall, this was an interesting collection, different from my usual genres. Due to the fact that the author reused most of the names repeatedly in the different stories, I got the impression everything was connected, but it also added a certain level of confusion. While most stories already start to blur in my memory, I will definitely remember the first and last piece, which make reading this collection worthwhile.

(Thanks to LibraryThing and the author for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own) ( )

I have read a few of mr Appel's books, and they're all very well written. Same goes for this one. I didn't like all of the stories the same, as a non native english speaker i find that some have too many words i don't know what they mean, and i never get all the flower references either. Apart from that, they're enjoyable stories. ( )

Once again great stories in this book. Every book I read of his has different themes and really makes you look at things differently. Below is my review for each story:

The Children's Lottery - Probably one of the most disturbing stories I have yet read from Mr. Appel. Basically, in the future they have created a pedophile camp where pedophiles can choose one child in a lottery. This made child abductions/kidnappings nonexistent. Crazy idea and story. Sad ending.

Jury of Matrons - So-so story about a boy who thinks his cousin is his mother. Very detailed about his family history. Not one of my favorites.

Gable's Whiskers - Cute story about a barber who is torn about getting rid of his employee who has bad tremors. When a catastrophe happens, things happen without him and the stories continue on. Good ending.

Burrowing in Exile - Different kind of story about a woodchuck who is driving the father nuts and the mother wants the woodchuck to stay. He sends the woodchuck off to some kind of retreat and he starts getting tons of letters from the woodchuck that the varmint wants to come back home. Interesting concept and ending was sad.

Tracking Harold Lloyd - Story about an elderly woman having her neighbors mom and daughter find her dog named Harold Lloyd. Cute story and of course a sad ending.

Next of Kith - Story about a retired doctor, a girl interviewing her and a neighbor on his deathbed who she somehow visits and takes care of. I liked the story and the ending was sad.

Right of Way - Really good story about a son who's father is fighting with a neighbor about switching out the street name. The son gets to hang out with a girl crush but she is a troublemaker. I liked the characters and the ending was awesome.

A Change of Plumage - A man pretending to be a expert in songbirds to get a nice big check does a lecture and cheats on his wife. Karma gets him in the end. Superb story.

The Desecration at Lemming Bay - At first it was a wee bit tedious, but to me it ended okay. A man's wife died and he fell in love with the doctor who took care of her. He took her away on vacation to propose to her but things don't always work out as they should. Meh not one of my favorites.

The Amazing Mr. Morality - Great great story and wonderful characters. A doctor writes an etchical column to get closer to his crush from high school. Competition rears its ugly head and someone does come out winning in the end... but who wins in the race? Awesome ending. ( )

The Amazing Mr. Morality is a collection of short stories from Jacob Appel. I have been reading through many of his books recently and he has gradually become one of my go-to writers for short fiction.

These stories will likely get under your skin, whether because it offers some new insight or because you are disturbed by something in the story. Don't give up, no shock is without a purpose and that purpose is, broadly speaking, understanding how and why we think, act, and believe as we do. Whether the set-up is fantastical or common place the essence of the story will come down to how humans engage with the world and how we then live with and/or rationalize that engagement to ourselves and others. You may not like every protagonist but you will likely find something about each which will spark some kind of recognition and empathy. And, hopefully, thought and reflection.

I would recommend this, as well as all of his books I have so far read, to any readers who like to be challenged to get into another "regular" person's head and understand a situation from that perspective before stepping back outside and thinking about how you might like to think you would have reacted.

I have received a couple books from the author and I have purchased a couple and I frankly don't remember which category this one falls into, so... ( )