Lost in the Funhouse

This book is without a doubt very clever and well-written. I tend to read “genre” books, but I'm branching out by reading a number of American literature pieces. This collection of short stories is one of the pieces I picked (by recommendation of an iTunesU course).

Most of the stories are related to one another. One of my favorites is the first: “Night-Sea Journey”. At first glance it seems to be the story of a fish, but reading it again, you'll find it is about something else entirely.

Another favorite was “Anonymiad”, which was actively entertaining, whereas other stories were more enlightening than entertaining.

I think the author intends to really have the reader question literature: what makes a story, how a story is told, and how we perceive stories. “Menelaiad” is an incredibly complex story that tells a story within a story within a story, and so on. It is a short story that required a long time to read with a lot of concentration.

If you like really thinking about the philosophy of storytelling mixed with experimental metafiction, you will likely enjoy this book. However, if you prefer swashbuckling adventure, leave this on the shelf.