Customer Reviews

Captive Audience: Stories

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a great collection of short stories! Very well written, each story leaves you wanting to know what happens to the characters after the story is over. Dave Reidy takes you into each character's thoughts and souls so you see exactly what makes them tick and leads you to empathize with each one. I personally can't wait for more to come out of Dave Reidy!

Did you ever want to know what it's like to be a genius screen printer? A former NBA star? To play on stage with R.E.M.? To be Abe Vigoda? (Yes, that Abe Vigoda.) Dave Reidy takes you to all these places and more in his new book, Captive Audience. This collection of stories is one of the most diverse, sensitive, and creative I've read in a long time. He lets you feel the isolation and exultation of a Bob-Newhart-obsessed shut in; the pain of freshman-year high school love; the odd contemplation of mortality of an aging actor. This book contains one of my favorite first lines, "Kyle woke up to a terrifying realization; he would start high school in two weeks and he had yet to find a thing," and one of my favorite endings---the closing paragraph of "Dancing Man" is as close to sublime as writing gets anymore. During the title story, my favorite of the collection, at some points I forgot I was reading---that rarely happens to me. These stories are well written, original, and above all, totally entertaining. Do yourself a favor and buy this book.

This collection of short stories from Dave Reidy takes an engaging look at several artists, through their various motivations and fears that inspire and motivate their work. Each character is detailed with emotional precision, including a thorough picture of the relevant craft of the performer, giving the impression that each story could be expanded into novels of their own. The stories are lengthy enough for the reader to develop a relationship with the material without the story beginning to wander, surely no small task for a young writer.

I found "The Regular" and the title story to be particularly rewarding, perhaps because of my affinity for the subject matter (karaoke and stand-up comedy, respectively), but the entire book showcases Mr. Reidy's appreciation for artists and their crafts, as well as the talent we can hope to continue reading in the near future. Well done!