Customer Reviews

Pacifist Chicken and Other Largely Humorous Stories of Small Hopes

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I'm a big short story fan so I bought this book because this is a new author. I must say, I read the entire thing in one sitting. I laughed, moaned, contemplated and even wiped a few tears from my eyes. This writer captures the humor and pain of what it feels like to be human. I'll be looking for more books by the very talented Andrea Kampic.

Pacifist Chicken is an engaging collection of short stories that will interest just about anyone. I was looking for a quick read that I could enjoy every night before bed and I found it. Each story is better than the last.

You have to read this book!

"Pacifist Chicken and Other Largely Humorous Stories of Small Hopes" is a delightful collection of twenty-three short stories. Andrea Kampic's quirky, unique sense of humor shines through each brief, pungent tale. A whiff of Twain, a smidgen of Nash, and more than a dash of post -Ferlinghetti make for an unexpectedly tasty mix. An example of her appeal is the segment titled "Personal Expert," which contains 150 sphinx-like queries that reveal the utter absurdity of most of any reader's basic life assumptions. Fortunately Kampic leaves the reader laughing. Contemplating the void can be heavy going, but laughing at the nonsense of life is in a way a profound choice that Kampic deftly encourages us to make. It is a courageous effort, and also highly entertaining. I look forward to reading more of her work.

With its friendly orange cover, unassuming size, and scrupulously humble title, Andrea Kampic's debut volume makes no grand claims of depth, profundity, importance, or entertainment value. Which makes the reader's journey through these 23 beautifully written, charmingly odd, and bitingly insightful stories all the more delightfully surprising.

Kampic sets the tone with the first story, "My Dream Dog." The story's narrator, discouraged by "a series of terrible dates and short turbulent relationships," finds herself lonely and depressed, "about to give up on finding someone to spend my life with, maybe have children with, a companion." (You know the feeling, we've all been there.) Compared to the men in her life, her dog, Charlie, starts looking better and better. "He . . . was always interested in what I was doing and really listened when I talked about my day; was up for anything, at any time; . . . never complained; gratefully ate anything I fed him; . . . never drank or did drugs; . . . had no religious or political views that I disagreed with (I suspected he was a liberal like me after listening to so much NPR); missed me when I was at work, and was so happy to see me when I came home." Plus, he's cute. She begins to wish Charlie were a man--he'd be the perfect man, after all. The next half-dozen pages spin out an offbeat "be-careful-what-you-wish-for" tale about the difficulties involved in teaching Charlie the intricacies of human social etiquette, such as peeing in the toilet (rather than the bushes), using silverware, and "sitting on the couch with his legs, not his arms, on the floor." This doomed-from-the-start relationship story wraps up with a truly unexpected--and darkly hilarious--twist.

Other stories tell the tales of a group of strategically malicious bath toys, a man with a motley crew of imaginary friends, a post-utopian amusement park called "Industryland" that recalls the glory days of Gary, Indiana, and the title story, "Pacifist Chicken," about a cock who not only refuses to fight, but converts all the other roosters to pacifism. The stories have a surreal edge, yet seem absolutely grounded in a banal reality that makes even the most ridiculous scenarios weirdly believable. This is one of those rare books that made me laugh out loud in public--reading in on the "L," waiting for a friend to show up for an after-work drink--and that's always a good thing.

When I read a book that's a collection of short stories, I usually don't read the whole book. I find a couple of stories I like and then when I get to the ones I don't like, I stop reading. But that's not the case with Kampic's newest book, Pacifist Chicken. I couldn't put the book down! I read it cover to cover! If you're looking for a book that will make you laugh, cry and think about life, then read Pacifist Chicken.

You have to buy this book!