Customer Reviews

Stories from a Moron: Real Stories Rejected by Real Magazines

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

 

 

Review By Nick Evangelista:

I was one of "Ed Broth's" editorial contactees for this book (FENCERS QUARTERLY MAGAZINE). From day one, I just thought this individual was a raving looney. He kept submitting stories to me about his underwear and shorty pajamas, which really had nothing at all to do with the type of magazine I publish. My greatest fear was that "Ed" would show up unannounced on my front porch dressed in said shortie pajamas. The guy seemed kind of obsessed about his p.j.'s. It was a great relief to find out that his submissions were actually part of a book.

With that said, "Stories from a Moron" is very funny. In fact, it gets funnier on subsequent readings (I think). "Ed Broth's" unflagging literary assaults on reality, pushing his stuff energetically at the wrongest of wrong magazine markets, over and over and over again, made me laugh so hard, my wife, who is a nurse, thought I was choking on food.

"Stories from Moron" is the funniest book I've read in a long time.

I don't know if its Jerry Seinfeld or somebody else writing this, but it definitely is written by the same person who wrote the Letters from a Nut books. The writing style is a dead giveaway. Although this book is funny, I grew tired of it after a while. The crazy stories that the "author" sends grew too repetitive and thus boring. Perhaps if the "author" had created a few more stories to alternate between it would have held my attention better. If you are a fan of the Letters books, you will probably like this book too.

I guess I was just spoiled by letters from a nut, because although this book was funny and fresh, it just didn't grab me and make me laugh outloud like the letters books did. I would have given it 3.5 if possible. I really enjoyed reading the review by Anita Evangelista above, who was peppered with multiple letters. These were some of the best in the book. The problem with the book is there is so much build up having to read these 3 or 4 incoherent pages of stories, and the response is often little more than standard "thanks but no thanks". In "Nut" You got instant pay off, and the people responding HAD to be nice, because they were in a customer service role, where in "Moron" they could basically tell him to take a hike. Regardless, it is entertaining, I did laugh outloud a few times, but I am such a fan of the Letters from a nut books, that I let my expectations run too high.

STORIES FROM A MORON, like the LETTERS FROM A NUT books, is a series of letters to various magazines, submitting all sorts of wacky and just plain odd stories to them. Stories that are clearly not worthy of publication and especially not worthy of publication in the type of magazine it is being submitted to.

At times, it is very funny. Especially the writer's dealings with Fencing Quarterly. He submits a story that has nothing to do with fencing, gets a polite reply, then adds all sorts of fencing references to a still not fencing relating story and resubmits it. Very funny stuff.

Although, my main problem with the book is that the focus is more on the stories that are submitted than on the replies (which are funnier). Plus, we don't get to read the query letters that were sent with the stories. Just the story, and then later in the chapter, some of the replies.

It is worth reading, but it just isn't up to the LETTERS FROM A NUT series.

The best thing about it is the stories inetrtwine. You'll be reading one, not sure if the guy is totally on drugs, and a few chapters later something will come up that causes tears to well up from laughter.

A perscription to cure depression and bad moods.

I read "Stories from a Moron" recently, and I laughed so hard at times that I couldn't catch my breath. If you like absurd humor - you'll love this book. If you think that "Letters From A Nut" is funny, you haven't seen anything yet.

Its great to hear one of the people who actually had correspondence with Ed respond.

This is by far one of the best books that Jerry Seinfeld wrote (aka Ted L. Nancy, Ed Broth). I own the complete "Letters From A Nut" series and still laugh out loud every time I read it.

Whether its "Conjugal Cal" or Ed's "possessed" shorty pajamas this book has it all with such submissions to odd magazines such as "Steamboat Magazine," "Muzzle Blasts," and "Sandlapper Magazine" surely ensue hilarity.

This is a must read for anyone! Those who have read "Letters From A Nut" will find it even funnier with all the past references (Sandlapper, George Harrison Meatloaf)

I read this book when it first came out and thought it was hilarious. Since it came out on Kindle I thought I would see how the comedy held up and I was once again laughing so hard (I love Teeny and Teeny) that I had to stop reading for a while to get some air!!! If you have ever tried to write a story and submit it to a magazine or if you love silly stories, this is for YOU!

This is the funniest book I have read in years! My side hurt because I was laughing so hard.

It's been a rough year for me and I really needed a book like this! Thanks Ed Broth and Jerry Seinfeld!

Please keep writing books like this.

When I ordered "Stories From A Moron", I was very excited because I've enjoyed the Letters from a Nut series so much. I expected a similar experience. While the book is not a total loss, I did not feel like it lived up to the Letters series of books.

The premise of the book is that Ed Broth is crafting these silly stories and sending them in for review by publishers. The book is composed of the stories and the exchanges sent back and forth regarding the stories. It's a humorous premise but the execution was lacking. The stories are short, rarely more than 2 pages, but they, as you work through the book, become a bore to work through. It seemed like every story had the same set of themes. So, each new story that is presented is like re-reading the same thing over again. This goes on throughout the book. Of course, one can skim the stories and just read the replies. Sadly, the replies received are rarely more than just form letters. Editors probably receive plenty of terrible stories like the ones in this book all the time and so few bother to respond with a personal remark.

So that left me with the fact that I was reading these terrible stories and the payoff of a humorous response never came from the editor. In contrast, Letters from a Nut works because Seinfeld is writing to customer service depts that have to deal with each request separately. In this book, he's just sending the same question [Will you publish this?] over and over again. The response is always going to be no so there's nothing to really laugh about in the responses.

There are a few bits in the book that made me laugh and at the bargain price I got it for from Amazon, I'm not terribly upset with the book, I would have just preferred another volume in the Letters series.

sincerely,
R.C.