Customer Reviews

The Short Book: Tall Stories, Freakish Facts, and the Long and Short of Being Small in a Great Big World.

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I DUG this book! I myself am a gangly giantess, but I picked this up because I thought it would be a fun gift for my little nephew. It is! It's full of fun stories and neat facts, really a great present for our small but great loved ones. And it teaches us tallies a little humility!

This was a terrific book, both funny and heartfelt. I got it as a gift for my uncle who is a short man, and he says the book has meant a lot to him. My wife and I were able to enjoy it even though we are both of average height for our country (the United States). Beat the Christmas rush and buy this book in October!

When I saw the book The Short Book: Tall Stories, Freakish Facts, and the Long and Short of Being Small in a Great Big World by Zachary Kanin, I figured it was a must-read for me. Being a statuesque 5' 4", I would say I resemble this title. Short Book is a fun read that has plenty of laughs while also pointing out that being six feet tall is not a prerequisite for success in today's society.

Contents:

Forward; Shortspective; Smallotry; Profiles in Shortage; Suppshort; A Neat Little Package

This is one of those books that is a mix of off-beat humor, facts, and outright fiction that doesn't give any indicator of where the author might go next. For instance, the reason you're short is that your parents didn't love you and would do anything to make sure you weren't happy in life (fiction!). Job interviews are far different if you're short than if you're tall (humor). There are actual surgical procedures to make you taller (fact), but it doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun to have your legs broken and continually stretched as new bone forms. I'll take my current height, thank you very much... Profiles in Shortage is probably one of the more interesting chapters, where Kanin lists a number of people from various walks of life who are aren't known for their vertical superiority. All in all (which isn't much at our height), you'll find that "being short" is far more normal than the common view that the media leads you to believe.

Other than for the fun of reading the book, this might be a nice choice for someone who is overly fixated on their height. While it doesn't bother me now, I know it was difficult growing up as the shortest person at school. This book wouldn't have changed that, but it would have gone far to give me role models to look up to (or over at)... Then when you finally grow up (or just get old), you can choose to ignore all those giant freaks of nature. :)