Review: Livin' La Vida Papa by Louis Mack

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Being a father, I understand the parental duty. However, given the fact I’ve always had a job, I don’t have a clue what it would be like to be a stay-at-home dad.

And now here comes Louis Mack, in his hilariously real Livin’ La Vida Papa, to fill in those gaps.

This is a tight and amusing read, as the author—who is himself a rather well known horror novelist writing under a pseudonym—intersperses bits of his personal experience in raising his daughter and infant son between offering advice to young parents that is surprisingly sincere despite its mirth…or perhaps because of it.

Each personal anecdote is humorous and sometimes gag-inducing, while at the same time imparting a sort of innocence and sense of self-exploration that is refreshing. It’s a short read as well, one you can read in perhaps a couple hours. This briskness allows the words to pack an even greater punch than they would have if this was some four-hundred page magnum opus.

So yeah, Livin’ La Vida Papa is a darn good experience. I recommend it to young fathers, to writers who falsely assume that if they were just able to stay home all day they’d get that much more accomplished, and, well, just about everyone else. It’s funny and heartfelt, and no matter what, you’re guaranteed to come out of the experience with at least one story you can rest assured no one else will have heard of.

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Review: A Gnome Problem by Michael Crane

Rating: 3.3 out of 5

Michael Crane is an author with a wicked sense of humor. Just from reading his drabble collections (Lessons and Lessons II), you can easily see his sarcastic wit and ability to transform threatening, potentially harmful situations into a form of dark comedy. He’s gifted in turning a phrase and uses an economy of words to get his point across. In short, I think he’s brilliant.

When I purchased A Gnome Problem, his novelette, I expected much of the same, only in a wider format. And I wasn’t disappointed in that. The story follows the adventures of Pat, a pathetic down-and-outer, after he receives a panicked phone call from his buddy Spencer, who goes on to explain that he’s being tormented by gnomes. Garden gnomes. See? Already it’s hilarious.

Pat heads out to Spencer’s house, confronts his friend, thinks he’s just nuts, and then, when he discovers there really are gnomes attacking his friend, goes about trying to solve the problem.

That’s as much as I’ll give you for plot, since this is a short piece and revealing any more would be tantamount to full disclosure. And the story does work. It made me laugh multiple times, especially when Pat starts getting irritated when no one involved will listen to his advice.

And yet this is where I ran into problems with the tale. Pat, as a character, is a bit flat. Yes he’s funny, yes his quips are delivered with aplomb…but there doesn’t seem to be anything beyond that. The running plot about his girlfriend leaving him did nothing for me, and I couldn’t help but think that if the story had been written in third person instead of first, it might have come off much, much better. As it is, he’s an unreliable narrator in a tale that needs a reliable one.

Also, the ending really rubbed me the wrong way. When it finished I said, ”What…really?” Not that the conclusion is bad by any means. It isn’t. But it felt unsatisfying, as if the author had too many ideas in his head and couldn’t figure out how to use them all, so he used the simplest version he could think of. Not to be cruel, but that’s what the end felt like. A cop-out. There were so many different places the author could’ve taken it in either direction, darker or more hilarious. It demanded to be expanded upon, to be more fleshed out. But alas, it didn’t happen.

Now, of course, I can in no way state that this is a bad story. It’s not at all. I did genuinely enjoy myself, just not as much as I thought I should. Crane has oodles of ability, and I really enjoy reading his prose. If anything, the poor rating has more to do with my high opinion of his talent, with my expectation for what he produces, than anything. And I simply don’t think this tale stood as tall as it could have…ne, should have.

That being said, I would still recommend this novelette and not feel the slightest bit bad about doing so. You’ll end up laughing and cringing more than once, and by the end, I think you’ll want more more more. Because if A Gnome Problem does nothing else, it serves to demonstrate how well Crane can tell a story. He most certainly has the potential to be great. If you’re like me, you’re rooting for his next offering to fully deliver on that potential.

Plot - 8

Characters - 5

Voice - 9

Execution - 5

Personal Enjoyment – 6

Overall – 33/50 (3.3/5)

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Review: The Book of Biff 5: Split Personality by Chris Hallbeck

Rating: 4 out of 5

Well, here I am today taking a break from completely over- analyzing books in order to bring you a review of this oddity sent to me by author and illustrator Chris Hallbeck. Heck, I'm even going to eschew my normal rating system because, well, it doesn't work for this sort of product.

The Book of Biff 5: Split Personality is a compilation of one-panel comics with a complimentary line of text in the spirit of Gary Larson's The Far Side. Each panel stars Biff, the main character, who either has really long eyebrows or is some sort of human/alien/cockroach hybrid. The scenes paints different pictures of the things Biff does each day - everything from sleeping beside a giant air horn to his troubles landing a rocket ship.

The comics themselves are very well drawn, and are quite simple in design. But they work for what they're meant to do - entertain, humor, and every one in a while make you cringe.

There are 142 of these panels. Not every one of them worked for me, but that's to be expected. I don't think there's ever been a comic strip drawn that has captured every reader every time. What I might find "eh" someone else might think is brilliant. However, I did find a good 80% of them to be on the mark (and do what comic strips are best at, which is reflect society in a satirical way)

The only real problem I have with this, however, is the format. I was sent (and hence read) this collection on my Kindle. It seems like a strange choice. Out of curiosity, I downloaded the sample to my laptop, and sure enough, the illustrations are all originally in color. They are much sharper and tell a better story that way.

In fact, I feel this would be much better suited as a coffee table or bathroom (paper) book. Perhaps I'm simply pining for outdated conventions here, but it did seem a tad weird to me.

I can't hold that against the work, however, because it is good, and it is funny. Just a gripe on my own part.

It's still worth the money.

Buy the Kindle version now.