I’m pretty sure I just read the future episodes of Black Mirror. ( )

Was disappointing, too bad. Probably well written, but far too similar to Confederacy of Dunces and Garp with those dialogues and that special characters. Didn't like the settings. Nice stories though: The Cross, (length is fine) Tenth of December (I didn't realize right away there were two narrators, Agreed with Gbill and ByardUS regarding this story), Victory Lap and Spiderhead, . Although those short sentences are quite fine. ( )

Over all, pretty disappointing. Even if a story or two was interesting, their flaccid endings almost always negated any ground gained. ( )

Perceptive, frequently hilarious, and sometimes quite moving, these stories are masterfully crafted and quite attention-grabbing. So much so that I finished the collection in just two days! Probably not the ideal way to read it; I felt some of the stories suffered a bit from the proximity in my brain to the previous ones I had just read. I might have to reread to fully appreciate some of them. That being said, I have already read my favorite story in the collection, "Sticks", several times -- easy to do, because it's only one page long! Bleak yet quite funny, it sketches a whole life story in a few brief strokes. A model of narrative economy. ( )

All the hype is real. Some amazing writing. Love the 1 1/2 page essay on the Dad. I did think a couple of the stories were not amazing, which is the strongest criticism I can come up with. ( )