Customer Reviews

Sock Monkey Dreams: Daily Life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I had no interest in the monkey business of sock toys but upon seeing this eye-popping publication (the photos really sock it to ya) I went totally bananas for it. More fun than a barrel of other books. Not only colorful and artistically presented, but a fun, whimsical, and historically important slice of awesome American creative culture.

Get one for Granny, two for yourself (I already loaned mine out) and unless your youngsters really love to share, one for every kid in the house. Nothing better to stuff a stocking that Sock Monkey Dreams.

This book is fantastic!! It's hilarious, cheeky, and well put together. The stories are so great, I have read them over and over. This is a book for those who are true sock monkey fans. It really does make you feel like there is a special sock monkey world---so creative!!!It is a must-have for all those who embrace "the way of the sock."

This is a great book if you like to laugh. What a hoot!

Got the product -- a book -- on time and it was in excellent condition. Would purchase another product from this seller.

SOCK MONKEY DREAMS: Daily Life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter by Whitney Shroyer and Letitia Walker with Photography by Michael Traister is a beautifully illustrated treasurery of imagination and fun. Within its pages you'll learn from Newsmonkey Benny Hathaway and socktographer Link Ray the daily lives and antics of the beloved red heeled friends so many of us have loved for several generations. Have you ever wondered what your sock monkey does while you're asleep? Did you guess he has a life of his own with other sock monkeys and that when they are outgrown, shabby, or cast away, these monkeys gather at the Red Heel Shelter to console each other and tell tales and news of the other sock monkeys out there! You'll learn about weddings, history, lore, quirks, foibles, and tales of the religion, education, entertainment, commerce of the sockciety, which reflect those antics and everday happenings of their owners. The authors live with 150 sock monkeys in Asheville, NC. A delightful book for sock monkey owners

This is a book that all ages will enjoy. Young kids will like the pictures and adults will enjoy the humor. It will bring back memories for those that had a sock monkey doll when they were growing up. Sock Monkey Dreams portrays life for all those at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter and you will be able to relate to some of their experiences.

Whitney Shroyer and Letitia Walker, Sock Monkey Dreams: Daily Life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter (Viking, 2006)

All the sudden there's a sock monkey revolution out there. I'm not entirely sure why, but the odd-looking, slightly ominous little dolls are all the rage again. Viking are the latest company to capitalize on the trend with Shroyer and Walker's Sock Monkey Dreams, an odd little photography book that purports to be about the lives of some sentient sock monkeys.

Okay, once the trauma of that image is out of your head, away we'll go with the review.

The basic idea behind the book was this: construct a scene, add some sock moneys, take a picture, write some text to go with the picture. Not out of the ordinary for a book of photography. This is a lot more than just captions, though. Shroyer and Walker have created an entire sock monkey civilization, replete with politics, a pecking order, the bad side of the tracks, you name it. The stories intertwine to give a complete (as far as we know) picture of life at the Red Heel Monkey Shelter. It's exceptionally clever, and well carried-out. The pictures are taken with an eye to composition, though that shouldn't be surprising given their artificial nature.

It's quite the flight of fancy, and if sock monkeys don't terrify you, you'll probably love it. *** ½