You Will Behave: a novella with added goodies (Paperback)

~ Matt Getty (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

You Will Behave is told from the perspective of an angry mother chastising her son for raping his sister's Barbie Doll with Darth Vader's light-saber. She reprimands him for the crime of playroom passion and then goes on to tell him his entire life story. The result is a dark and uproarious tale of love, violence, and what little difference there is between the two.

Product Details

• Paperback: 68 pages
• Publisher: Suckerpunch Press (April 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977418618
• ISBN-13: 978-0977418619
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,012,876 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Impressive display of narrative control, June 8, 2006

By	David W. Kikuchi - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Matt Getty's novella is written in the second person future tense, a structural decision that would end in a trainwreck for most writers. However, he remains faithful to his character's desires rather than his own and manages to pull of a cuttingly funny yet insightful story about how what we know about ourselves affects who we are. The "added goodies" are also in the second person and very funny: one is an advice guide for action figures. The whole book can be read in a few hours - the pieces in it definitely toe the line between novella and short story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short Story Version is Terrific, June 21, 2008

By	Jason Makansi (St. Louis, MO United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The short story version of "You Will Behave," which preceded this novella, published in Rainbow Curve, Fall 2004, is to this day one of my favorite stories of all time. It is a challenge to write in the second person, but to have a mother "lecture" her son about all these sexually soaked topics, well, that's a true feat of literary creation. This reader's interest, indeed fascination, with the main character's life is artfully held throughout the story, which by the way, spans an entire ilfetime. That's almost impossible to achieve effectively in a short story but Getty does it.