18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sock Monkey Dreams Is Unique, Smart, Satisfying, November 24, 2006
This review is from: Sock Monkey Dreams: Daily Life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter (Hardcover)
The premise is deceptively simple: sock monkeys aren't just sitting idly on shelves waiting for human beings to notice and interact with them. They are in fact leading rich, sometimes complex inner lives.
Reading SOCK MONKEY DREAMS is much like peering through window after window of a doll's house (in this case, a turreted red Victorian two-story dubbed the Red Heel Monkey Shelter) to witness the scenes inside actually in motion, the characters fully fleshed and engaged in matters of interest and concern to them, whether we are observing them or not.
The reader is prepared for this shift in perspective by the opening chapters, in which, respectively, sock monkeys Folio and Benny Hathaway provide the history of the origin and development of their simian kind (including a fascinating series of photos illustrating the physical evolution of the species), and explain the impetus behind Benny's decision to gather stories of the Shelter's citizens.
Benny clarifies early: "Before we go any further, I think that we should get one thing straight. The way the monkeys at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter look at life is not necessarily the way all sock monkeys look at the world around them... Not all sock monkeys are self-centered, crazy, infused with magical powers, or convinced they are royalty or ex-movie stars. Not all monkeys have their own TV shows, join rock bands, or run little secondhand shops. As far as I know. But some of the monkeys here do these things." (SMD, p. 16)
The majority of the book provides glimpses into the lives of these monkeys, through snippets of interviews and articles from The Monkey Ape Vine, as well as sidebars that explain Cool Girls slang or the rules of games like Slug Bug and Slickety Wicket.
But the clever, often funny and sometimes poignant writing is only half of the delight of SOCK MONKEY DREAMS. Numerous gorgeous, full-page photographs of sock monkeys in action, using satisfyingly detailed sets, provide the reader with a visual feast. They also provoke not a few 'how did they DO that?'s. The Minibabies garden, GAGA OSME circus scene, and Zippy's surreal birthday party are particular favorites.
The vignette style of SOCK MONKEY DREAMS makes it possible to read the book beginning at any point (dreams, after all, being non-linear). It succeeds in operating on multiple story-telling levels to appeal to a range of ages and temperaments. It is both simple and sophisticated, clever and straightforward. It is by turns sweet and sardonic, laugh provoking and insightful. The characters into whose lives we glimpse are shown clearly to be as prone to foibles and follies, to hold hopes (or delusions) as strongly, to love and disdain and provoke and ignore each other as completely as any human beings.
SOCK MONKEY DREAMS is the sort of book that will stimulate all but the dullest or most jaded imaginations, and I recommend it most highly.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Witty and Creative!, November 11, 2006
This review is from: Sock Monkey Dreams: Daily Life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter (Hardcover)
Sock Monkey Dreams has a something for everyone. The authors provide a glimpse into the daily lives of sock monkeys, an imaginative world that both children and adults will find entertaining. Woven throughout the book is trivia and history about this truly American folk art.
The photography is stunning. Great care was taken in creating a visual world as rich and ingenious as the text. This book manages to be hip and outsider enough for your artsy cousin while paying homage to the creativity of generations of thrifty, doting grandmothers.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More Fun Than a Barrel of Monkeys, September 22, 2006
This review is from: Sock Monkey Dreams: Daily Life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter (Hardcover)
It's a weird and beautiful book. I've shared it with my 30-something friends, and my 6-something nephew, and they all found it fun. And it is fun--well-written, beautifully photographed FUN.
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