Customer Reviews

Shelf Monkey

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

 

 

When I picked up Corey Redekop's SHELF MONKEY, I was going through a bit of a slump. Hadn't really read much in a week or two. Hadn't yet finished a book this year. I'm not sure what prompted me to pick this one up. Maybe the design similarities to Matt Ruff's manic BAD MONKEYS. In any event, it was a good move, because this odd little novel is great fun, engagingly written throughout, stoking my guttering enthusiasm into its usual bibliophilic blaze. It also quickly became clear that the author's taste in books is complementary to mine; while reading this novel my already daunting to-read pile grew alarmingly. So perhaps it wasn't such a great idea to read SHELF MONKEY after all.

Except it was! It was a blast, a page-turner. Unputdownable! Riveting! Amusing! Arousing! Inspiring!

Anyway.

Will this charming little novel still be remembered 50 years from now? I doubt it, but in the meantime, do the book-lover in you a favor and take a chance on it. I for one am eagerly awaiting whatever comes next from Mr. Redekop.

This is a quirky story about an exlawyer who gets a job at a megabook store and hooks up with others who hate all the trash that people are reading. Their mission to rid the world of crappy books becomes focused on a sleazy talk show host whose book club promotes the worst of the worst books--and then things get a bit out of hand.

If there were half points, I would have given this a 4.5--points off only because I got pretty grossed out at the end. Otherwise, the writing is great, the humor is clever, and the story is completely engrossing. Can't to see what Redekop comes out with next.

Who would believe terrorism could be this much fun?

Of course, in this case, the "terrorists" are a cadre of bibliophiles who are revolted by how the corporate mentality has infected the book trade like an insidious virus, contaminating the printed word with hype, money and the herd mentality. No sacred cows are left unskinned and Mr. Redekop has a terrific eye for snappy dialogue and witty turns of phrase. Fans of Chuck Palahniuk and Craig Clevenger will LOVE this guy. Much of Canadian fiction is a wasteland these days but every so often one encounters a book that gives you hope that this country is still capable of producing innovative, convention-busting artists. Corey Redekop...remember that name. He's going to be around, pricking sensibilities and tickling funny bones, for a long time to come.

Shelf Monkey is an entertaining and iconoclastic look at the world of books.

It's a little like Catch-22, but instead of bombers and Italian prostitutes there are big box book stores and people eating pizza. The role of Yossarian is played by a confirmed and inveterate book nerd (named Thomas).

Thomas has recently quit his career as a lawyer, and decided to work at a book store, because he loves book. At least, he THOUGHT he loved books. Turns out, he only likes good books. And working at a big-box-book store, Thomas discovers that not everyone has the same (good) taste. Especially when the execrable predilections of the wildly popular Munroe Purvis encourage the great unwashed to buy books of dubious value.

Unlike Yossarian, Redekop's protagonist is actually able to accomplish something. Something weird, a bit dangerous, and even anarchic -- burning books. Not all books, just the overhyped, the unredeemably bad, the dreck of the literary world.

Part Chuck Palahniuk, part readers guide to great literature, Shelf Monkey is a must for anyone with pretensions to being a bibliophile. You'll love it. For those of you who are okay with not reading every great book in the history of literature, you may find the continual literary references a bit tiring, but there's still lots to love.

Redekop's book is witty, and dare I say, aflame with excellent satire. (Yes, I dare.)

Witty at every turn. I liked all the book and author references, although I wasn't familiar with a lot of them. (And I thought *I* was a bookworm!) I didn't really believe the main characters' actions at the climax, but it was still an enjoyable enough read.