Jez Burrows

Burrows takes example sentences from dictionaries and weaves them into found stories. Let me say at the beginning that this is an interesting concept that is difficult to execute well, and he does a good job at it.
My rating ("I didn't like it") is because the stories don't work as a collection, at all. The idea is exciting. The first few stories are as well, interesting in their humor or form or unexpectedness or conveyance of a subtlety. The author suggests in the introduction that you could open to a page at random, and this is what I mean: the first few stories you read, chosen from anywhere, in order or not, are exciting. After that though, the form becomes more apparent. There's no unifying theme, no authorial voice, no direction, no truth, and the effect of a literary trick accumulates. By being about anything and everything, they end up being about nothing at all.
One story would be amazing to run across in an article or journal or somewhere online. I would probably clamor for more like anyone else. They would be inspiring to read one at a time, over time. But realistically, the one best of all these stories should be incorporated into an actual collection of writing, where it could shine on its own. Instead the sheer bulk of them reduces it all to a parlor trick.… (altro)

Dictionary Stories, by Jez Burrows might not be a book to sit down and read straight through, but read in short bursts it is sheer delight. Being a fan of dictionaries myself, I found the the very idea of it fascinating. It was tempting to dive into a dictionary to try my hand at composing dictionary stories of my own. In the introduction, Burrows explains the rules he set himself and what small edits he allowed. Some of the stories are intriguing and mysterious. Some are laugh out-loud funny. Some leave you wanting much more—a whole novel perhaps. The book is quirky and highly original, a sumptuous banquet for lovers of language.… (altro)

From the introduction:

"Open this book on a random page and you could find yourself reading a noir thriller, a fantasy epic, a sci-fi romance, a family melodrama, a locker-room pep talk, a eulogy, a recipe, or a drawing-room murder mystery. Some stories take place over decades, while others are over in seconds. There are at least three talking animals, two sinister cults, and one headless ex-boyfriend. But while the subjects and forms of these stories are decidedly disparate, the stories themselves are unified by one constraint: each is composed entirely of example sentences taken from the dictionary. Twelve different dictionaries, to be precise."

I love this concept. This was an ER book. The dictionaries have a lot of variety - e.g. two are for British and American slang - and the sentences often are colorful and surprising. Some are taken from existing literature. Burrows has done an awesome job of cobbling together the stories. The technique creates often startling combinations, and occasionally reads like a game of Mad Libs.

Here's: The Lord's Prayer, From Memory

Heavenly Father,
What a great guy.
Keep up the good work.
Magic, supernatural powers, and the like.
I beg forgiveness.
I swear by all I hold dear that I had nothing to do with it.
Deliver us from evil.
Or point me in the right direction.
Let's all get the hell out of here.
Amen to that.

In "All You Can Eat", the protagonist at a restaurant orders a staggering amount of deliciously described food (along with some weird menu items), and then is relieved to hear that the restaurant always has five ambulances at the ready. In "Creatures of the Atlantic Ocean Commentary Take 3" we find out that:

"Living in the digital age can be fiercely expensive, but fish of the Atlantic coast have devious ways of making money They enjoy playing cards, and they play basketball, although on different teams. They don't like to trust their money to anyone outside the family, like crabs and other shelled creatures."

So, it contains a lot of fun material, and it may be of particular interest to writers - I could see this approach as a writing prompt. Having said that, it probably would've benefited from being shorter - for me, the parade of oddball stories got a little long. And I couldn't read it straight through - I'd go read something else and come back. If you're looking for something different, this sure fits the bill.… (altro)