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Men And Cartoons
Stories
by Jonathan Lethem


7.0

based on 15 reviews
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based on 2 votes
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Official Publisher Site

This volume collects nine diverse stories by the acclaimed author of The Fortress of Solitude.

Doubleday, 176 pages
11/02/2004
$19.95

ISBN: 0385512163

Fiction
Short Stories

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Chicago Tribune Alan Cheuse

[A] brilliant collection.

Publishers Weekly

Stylistically varied, inventive, accessible, Lethem's stories offer a fine appetizer for fans hungry for his next big thing. [25 Oct 2004, p.28]

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Ken Babstock

Slim, distilled and affecting, Lethem's Men and Cartoons... brilliantly traces the lines of what we are and what we imagine ourselves to be. [13 Nov 2004, p.D4]

Kirkus Reviews

No story is less than intelligent, though the author's fans will miss the deeper explorations he makes in his longer works. [1 Aug 2004, p.708]

Library Journal Tania Barnes

Lethem is undoubtedly a writer of many and great talents--not least of which the ability to make us laugh even when we're not really sure what's going on--but sometimes his stories veer too far into the esoteric and threaten to lose us. [15 Sep 2004, p.52]

Los Angeles Times Mark Essig

These nine stories... constitute a Lethem FunPak, showcasing the author's mastery of tone across a remarkable range of genres. [5 Nov 2004]

The Onion A.V. Club Noel Murray

Contains a little of the earnest urban angst of his recent bestseller The Fortress Of Solitude and a little of the flipped-over fantasy of his earlier work.

Village Voice Chris Tamarri

Consider this a Lethem primer.

Daily Telegraph Lucy Daniel

Lethem's writerly hallucinations and metafictional devices can be too knowing and, yes, a little nerdy. But his appeal comes not just from a sense of outsidership. He is fun to read, and his unerringly genial voice preserves its authenticity across an array of genres.

The Guardian Alfred Hickling

This quirky, frequently hilarious collection has all the makings of a cult classic.

Booklist Ray Olson

So is Lethem forging ahead in the mainstream or crossing back to genre ground? In these nine stories, both. [1 Sep 2004, p.62]

USA Today Christopher Theokas

The stories read like a literary demo tape, more a collection of ideas, experiments and exercises than stories.

The New York Times Book Review Jay McInerney

In the better stories, the high-concept ideas can turn in unexpected and sometimes dangerous directions, but in the lesser ones they act only in the service of a punch line.

Entertainment Weekly Mark Harris

There's more filler here than a short book should contain... but the best of these stories offer potent little distillations of Lethem's considerable imagination.

PopMatters Zachary Houle

It's just absolutely mind-boggling to watch one of the best living authors in the world seemingly offering up half-assed apologies or would-be explanations about his past, as he does so pervasively in his most recent work.

The average user rating for this book is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Michael K gave it a7:
Like a lot of short story collections, some entries are excellent, while others left me a little cold. This is unsurprising given the breadth of Lethem's writings, which runs from fairly straightforward literary fiction to sci-fi. This collection probably doesn't need to be added to your permanent collection, but check it out from the library and read the first story (I forget the title) and "Super Goat Man."

Walker S gave it a7:
This is my first Lethem encounter, and it's definately encouraging. Very approachable stories, one or two of which you're bound to love. I'd check it out if you're at all interested in the author's ouevre.

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Men And Cartoons Stories by Jonathan Lethem

Men And Cartoons
Stories
by Jonathan Lethem