Please Do Not Touch: A Collection of Stories (Point) [Paperback]

Judith Gorog (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1995 | Series: Point

A nearby gallery highlights strange exhibits that warn visitors to look and not touch, and eleven violators are in for a creepy time as they are transported to strange and eerie locations. Reprint. AB.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gorog frames her 11 horror stories with an explicit (second-person) invitation to her audience, urging them to visit the art exhibit at the Gallery Pitu, where the paintings magically draw viewers into the worlds they portray. Included in this rather disparate assortment is a lesson in the laws of fate, set in ancient Damascus; a turn-of-the-century Halloween party where something goes very wrong with a mummy costume; and a coffee-maker that takes over the life of a children's book writer. In another story (narrated, like the framing device, in the second person) the reader is put in the shoes of a character who captures criminals with the help of his grandmother. As intriguing as the idea of Gorog's interactive picture gallery is, it never lives up to its potential. Many of the stories read like sketches, straining for plot twists and suffering from a lack of structure. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A strong premise and a dozen fine stories don't quite achieve the sum of their parts. The concept--the reader enters a picture gallery as onlooker, character, or fly on the wall--is intriguing, as are the stories relating to the paintings: a costume made from a magician's sheets takes possession of its wearer; a shy disc- jockey's thoughts are read by his listeners; an unappreciated boy is kidnapped by a shaft of moonlight and deposited in the home of a lonely child. In perhaps the best tale, a Native American boy must choose between his brothers and a sister who married a bear. The settings range through various historical epochs and other realms (mythic, supernatural); the tone is accessible yet sophisticated--Gorog raises such literary questions as the transgressive nature of looking at (or touching) other lives. It's the framing device that's underdeveloped; while the paintings are absorbing, the ``Gallery Pitu'' and its mysterious artist are only sketched. Still, these eerie tales will fascinate young readers. (Short stories. 10+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Point (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590466836
• ISBN-13: 978-0590466837
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,777,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The book people should try to read, April 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Please Do Not Touch: A Collection of Stories (Hardcover)

Do you like being in a strange place? If people like to experience a weird and wonderful world, then they should read a book that is called Please Do Not Touch, written by Judith Gorog. In this story, you can use a camera to observe the stories or go to the Gallery Pitu which is located in an ancient part of the town. In the Gallery Pitu, whatever you touch you could become part of the stories. A magician is lost in the world one night. There is a terrible house you could never imagine. An elder sister married a bear. A coffee pot which was like a human. There's a house you should never rent, and an old woman who was waiting at your window at nights. I like the book because it has different stories and I can see some of the meanings of them. In "Jemmy's Halloween," I feel miserable about the magician who disappeared one night and left all his stuff in the house. In "The Coffeepot," there was a writer who didn't know how to cook and she got a coffee pot from her colleagues. But then the terrible disaster happened. I feel very interesting that how the coffee pot made the writer so miserable. After each stories, you would see the consequences of what happened. Then you come back to the real life, and you would feel so amazed about some stories. People who want to have a strange and excited experiences, then they should read this book. It contains a lot of wonders and imagination. They would see how the artists described the stories in the pictures and the people lived in the weird world.

3.0 out of 5 stars If you like strange and scary stories, read this book, October 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Please Do Not Touch: A Collection of Stories (Hardcover)

We thought that this book was ok because there were so many different stories and some of them were hard to understand. Another reason why we didn't like this book that much was that it didn't really follow. We thought this book was good because some of the stories were easy to understand and scary. One of the easiest to understand was The Other Side Of The Moon. This chapter was about a boy who went to moon lake. Each night a new boy would come into the room until there were three boys. Then they left together.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I WISH THERE WAS SOME WAY TO GIVE THIS BOOK A 0 RATING!, February 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Please Do Not Touch: A Collection of Stories (Hardcover)

In my opinion, Judith Gorog hastily wrote a book to make some quick cash - it is a horrible, really terrible book! None of the stories are even vaguely frightening - she seems to have entirely run out of good ghost stories. Her book, "15 Baby-sitting Tales of Terror" had some 1st-rate stories in it, but this book is not even so bad it's amusing. It's just bad. I'm not usually negative about books, even if I don't like them, because I can usually come up with some reason, such as, "I didn't get it," "It wasn't my type," etc, but this book is really not a good read at all in my opinion. Don't waste your time.