Title: Puppet Shows
Author: Michael Frissore
Illustrator: Amy Frissore
Format: Paperback and eBook
Publisher: Writers AMuse Me Publishing
Pages: 122
ISBN: 978-1927044520
Source: Author
Genre: Short Story Collection
Stars: 5
Purchase Now: Amazon § Barnes & Noble
About the Book:
A kindly organ grinder and his performing monkey adopt a young boy after his father spontaneously combusts; a barber living inside a whiskey bottle confronts the neighborhood nuisance who wields a dead squirrel like a pair of nunchucks; and an unruly gang of sock puppets are born in a basement dojo. Welcome to Puppet Shows, thirteen outlandish stories from a writer Tucson Weekly called “a very funny weirdo.”
Watch a Trailer for the book at YouTube
Book Review:
These are some uncommonly twisted, irreverent and wholly amusing short stories, with the underlying thought being “just where did that idea COME from” running through my head.
While seemingly unconnected, these thirteen stories all manage to carry a singular solid thread throughout: Frissore’s ability to turn a phrase and make the mundane slightly absurd. There are certainly stories that will provide you with a new perspective on the everyday life adventures, and others that will have you wondering just where one could encounter these characters in your daily life. Particularly effective for me was the slightly more sarcastic responses and comments made by characters: we all have that interior voice that has a tinge of edge, his characters don’t hit their mute buttons.
Completely entertaining, this is not a book for the dour, the realist or people who can’t appreciate some offbeat moments of levity in their life. With sock puppet art, and some clever pen and ink (it appears) sketches appearing throughout the text, there is also visual interest that enhances, separates and even just gives a feeling of light-hearted fun to stories that are just that.
I received an eBook galley from the author for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
About the Author:
Michael Frissore is the author of two poetry chapbooks, Poetry is Dead (Coatlism Press, 2009) and Long Blue Boomerang (Heavy Hands Ink Press, 2011); and an online chapbook,
The Gingerbread Gang (Silkworms Ink, 2010). His ebook The Thief was published by Untreed Reads in 2011. His work has been published in nearly 100 publications in the U.S.,
Canada, and the U.K., and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Web anthology. Mike grew up in Massachusetts and lives in Oro Valley, Arizona with his wife and two children.
Follow Mike: Blog § Facebook § @TheMikeFrizz § Goodreads
I am, Indeed 