Mere Anarchy by Woody Allen Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Mere Anarchy
Book Review: Disappointing and just not funny
Summary: 2 Stars
or just merely boring? the latter, sadly, is the case when it comes to Woody Allen's new tome Mere Anarchy.
When I was in my late teens, early 20's, I read both Without Feathers and Side Effects with relish, and a side of laughter. Mere Anarchy, however, was ready with a lot of difficulty and at under 200 pages I had to force my way to the last line of the last short story before closing the book with a sigh of relief.
Allen writes in a style reminiscent of 1950's pulp detective side of the mouth fiction coupled with a schmeer of insecure Jew. Each and every short story is written in the same style and tone. More than once a story used the "main character attempts to flee scene stage right" trick in an obvious and supposedly humorous fashion (by the second time it's not). There's no change in voice, making it difficult to distinguish between stories and thus reducing each the ridiculous situation(s) Allen specializes in into yawnfests.
I found only two of the stories humorous. "Strung Out" is an Allen take on the infamous "Sex Life of an Electron" short story that's been floating around for eons. Actually, I don't know if Allen is aware of the story, but reading it I couldn't help but make a comparison. "Surprise Rocks Disney Trial" is a highly original piece (for this book, at least) in which Mickey Mouse is deposed at the Michael Ovitz termination bonus trial where Mickey reveals some scandalous and salacious gossip about his fellow Disney costars.
Book Review: Way Too Sardonic
Summary: 2 Stars
I once saw a Woody Allen movie and thought it was funny. Ever since, however, his movies have not hit it off with me, and neither did this book. It's too dry and labored, with too many weird words, though he does have a very good vocabulary. I'll not try anymore Woody Allen material.Book Review: Absurd To The Point of--Well--Absurdity
Summary: 4 Stars
The frustrations of being a writer, the possibilities of aromatic clothing, the subtleties of fine dining, the murderous possibilities of dentistry, the pitfalls of summer camp, the impossible costs of renovation--all these and other intriguing subjects are taken to the point of absurdity and far beyond in the latest collection of Woody Allen's stories. Ideas that would flit across an ordinary mortal's screen and vanish become the grist for Allen's creative mill.
The writing is dense, convoluted and complex, with long sentences, obscure words, more obscure words, absurd extrapolations, malapropisms and Yiddishisms thrown together with wild abandon. And that's all part of the humor. It's just Woody, playing with language and having fun.
This collection is not for everyone. If you like Woody Allen's cerebral type of humor you will enjoy it. If you had come across it when you were in college, you would have loved it. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
Book Review: Woody at his best
Summary: 4 Stars
Woody Allen is one of those writes that you love or hate. And this book is no exception. I found particularly funny the way he laughs at science in "Strung Out" and philosophy in "Thus ate Zarathustra". In this last essay he says "Spinoza dined sparingly because he believed that God existed in everything and it's intimidating to wolf down a knish if you think you're ladling mustard onto the First Cause of All Things". This is sample of what you can expect in this book.Book Review: Sempre engra?ado
Summary: 5 Stars
F?s de carteirinha de Woody Allen v?o se deliciar. Nesse "Fora de ?rbita", que chega agora ao Brasil, o humorista comprova sua habilidade tamb?m nas palavras. Mas, aten??o! ? primeira vista, soa um tanto estranho o vocabul?rio aparentemente rebuscado de determinadas frases. Tal qual um Anthony Burgess, Allen parece criar uma l?ngua pr?pria que, na verdade, encobre um humor fino e rebuscado, valorizado aqui pela competente tradu??o de Rubens Figueiredo. E todos aqueles personagens absurdos (um an?o que ainda n?o se assumiu, um homem que se desmaterializa), terrivelmente engra?ados, povoam as hist?rias. Imposs?vel eleger a melhor. Prepara-se para momentos de muitas gargalhadas.