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Ratticus
One Man. One Rat. One Of Them MUST Die!
The true story of one family, one critter, and one month's worth of problems.
A comedic look at the travails of being a homeowner and dealing with the occasional uninvited house guest.
Check out our interactive blog website where you can weigh in on the story, see actual pictures of the “critter” in question, and leave your own “Critter Gone Wild” stories.
First sales proceeds to be "donated" to our local appliance store since our critter ATE our dishwasher. You've GOT to see those pictures - unbelievable!
The true story of one family, one critter, and one month's worth of problems.
A comedic look at the travails of being a homeowner and dealing with the occasional uninvited house guest.
Check out our interactive blog website where you can weigh in on the story, see actual pictures of the “critter” in question, and leave your own “Critter Gone Wild” stories.
First sales proceeds to be "donated" to our local appliance store since our critter ATE our dishwasher. You've GOT to see those pictures - unbelievable!
Kindle Edition
First published April 14, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 13, 2011
RATTICUS
By Raymond Birdsell
Congratulations as this is my first book review online, so if I violate some time-honored code of reviewing books (as some are starting to emerge) please forgive. Here goes…something:
Title: Ratticus
ISBN: None
Number of Words: 5,700
Date Published: April 14, 2011
Genre: Non-fiction.
Main characters: The Narrator and his wife, his young daughter, and a few engineer friends, and an exterminator or two.
Plot: This very brief novella chronicles the battle that ensues between an invading pest and an engineer home owner. As I think it is probably evident from the title, the audience should have some suspicions as to what type of pest plagues our plucky protagonist.
Critique: I will begin with a few negatives, just to get them out of the way.
1. One of the most important drawbacks to this novel is the author does not give specific names of some characters, businesses, etc. I loved the fact that he named some movies throughout the novella to kind of ground us in our Earth, but I would have liked to see the names of pets, the name of his wife, and the name of his daughter (these don’t have to be their real names, and you don’t have to be Raymond, but people who are important need names). Naming the pets, for instance, might be a wonderful opportunity for irony as well, as the pets may, or may not, live up to their names. You don’t have to use real names, and you can make some really good jokes here. Yes, this may take the ‘truth’ out a little, but really the story is what is important. Likewise, with the name of the company where the author works should have been mentioned (again, changing the name to protect the company and the author from litigation).
2. A bit more description should have been used for people. What color hair do people have? What did the pest people look like; were they fat or thin, and do they wear glasses, etc.? Perhaps you remember the awesome exterminator character from Arachnophobia? What does the wife look like? From where do these people come? It is mentioned that both the narrator and his wife are from the ‘country,’ but what does that mean exactly? I don’t recall reading specifically where people were from, even though they came from an hour away to help the author out.
That having been said:
I really did enjoy the read. It took me about an hour, and I really never felt like putting the book down. The story flows along very easily, and with quite a bit of dry humor woven in. The author maintains an ironic tone throughout, bringing it quite a few movie references which are easily recognized by any serious film buffs. Admittedly, it plays out like a journal or maybe even a magazine article (and probably could be submitted as such somewhere), but it was an easy and quite fun read. I actually laughed out loud quite a few times throughout, particularly at the wording and tone the author sets throughout the story. He maintains this tone through the entire story.
The brevity of the chapters also encouraged me to continue reading on, and the timing of the chapters are well done. I particularly liked how he set the situation up and the hook in the first chapter. The story has a rewarding, pleasant arc to it over all.
I would almost recommend making a children’s book out of it if the author could find or become an illustrator and draw some humorous cartoons to accentuate the story. Of course, the author does a good job making me see what goes on in his mind. Having had some experience with critters invading the home before, and having myself grown up in the suburbs of a small town in Alabama, I definitely understand what this author has dealt with. I would say make a children’s book, but unfortunately, a lot of children would think the rat some kind of cute, hero figure rather than the pest they are. And, in light of Ratatouille coming out recently, hmmmm.
Overall Rating: ****/*****
By Raymond Birdsell
Congratulations as this is my first book review online, so if I violate some time-honored code of reviewing books (as some are starting to emerge) please forgive. Here goes…something:
Title: Ratticus
ISBN: None
Number of Words: 5,700
Date Published: April 14, 2011
Genre: Non-fiction.
Main characters: The Narrator and his wife, his young daughter, and a few engineer friends, and an exterminator or two.
Plot: This very brief novella chronicles the battle that ensues between an invading pest and an engineer home owner. As I think it is probably evident from the title, the audience should have some suspicions as to what type of pest plagues our plucky protagonist.
Critique: I will begin with a few negatives, just to get them out of the way.
1. One of the most important drawbacks to this novel is the author does not give specific names of some characters, businesses, etc. I loved the fact that he named some movies throughout the novella to kind of ground us in our Earth, but I would have liked to see the names of pets, the name of his wife, and the name of his daughter (these don’t have to be their real names, and you don’t have to be Raymond, but people who are important need names). Naming the pets, for instance, might be a wonderful opportunity for irony as well, as the pets may, or may not, live up to their names. You don’t have to use real names, and you can make some really good jokes here. Yes, this may take the ‘truth’ out a little, but really the story is what is important. Likewise, with the name of the company where the author works should have been mentioned (again, changing the name to protect the company and the author from litigation).
2. A bit more description should have been used for people. What color hair do people have? What did the pest people look like; were they fat or thin, and do they wear glasses, etc.? Perhaps you remember the awesome exterminator character from Arachnophobia? What does the wife look like? From where do these people come? It is mentioned that both the narrator and his wife are from the ‘country,’ but what does that mean exactly? I don’t recall reading specifically where people were from, even though they came from an hour away to help the author out.
That having been said:
I really did enjoy the read. It took me about an hour, and I really never felt like putting the book down. The story flows along very easily, and with quite a bit of dry humor woven in. The author maintains an ironic tone throughout, bringing it quite a few movie references which are easily recognized by any serious film buffs. Admittedly, it plays out like a journal or maybe even a magazine article (and probably could be submitted as such somewhere), but it was an easy and quite fun read. I actually laughed out loud quite a few times throughout, particularly at the wording and tone the author sets throughout the story. He maintains this tone through the entire story.
The brevity of the chapters also encouraged me to continue reading on, and the timing of the chapters are well done. I particularly liked how he set the situation up and the hook in the first chapter. The story has a rewarding, pleasant arc to it over all.
I would almost recommend making a children’s book out of it if the author could find or become an illustrator and draw some humorous cartoons to accentuate the story. Of course, the author does a good job making me see what goes on in his mind. Having had some experience with critters invading the home before, and having myself grown up in the suburbs of a small town in Alabama, I definitely understand what this author has dealt with. I would say make a children’s book, but unfortunately, a lot of children would think the rat some kind of cute, hero figure rather than the pest they are. And, in light of Ratatouille coming out recently, hmmmm.
Overall Rating: ****/*****
May 15, 2011
This book was well written and quite a fast read. It made me laugh and cringe at the things that happened to this family. The story wasn't too long so I read it in one night. This is a true story of how a couple's washing machine, dryer and other electrical equipment was destroyed by some sort of critter that chewed the rubber hoses and caused their house to flood. This went on for months, but they couldn't find the cause at first. Nor could they catch whatever was eating the rubber. It was a worry to them as they had a young child, and knowing there was something prowling around at night would be quite scary. The author is a great writer and has a way with words.
I don't want to spoil the ending, so I won't say much more, but if you want a bit of a laugh, or have ever had your home invaded by creatures of the night, you should read this story.
Maybe the author could even use this tale and turn it into a fictitious children's story as well. It would sure scare them and make them laugh.
As I live in a rural area, surrounded by forest, our house is also invaded sometimes with weird little critters. I love using these experiences and turning them into children's books. Some older kids would probably like this true tale too. They would be checking all the rubber pipes in the house for sure, not to mention their own electrical equipment. A great read for all.
I don't want to spoil the ending, so I won't say much more, but if you want a bit of a laugh, or have ever had your home invaded by creatures of the night, you should read this story.
Maybe the author could even use this tale and turn it into a fictitious children's story as well. It would sure scare them and make them laugh.
As I live in a rural area, surrounded by forest, our house is also invaded sometimes with weird little critters. I love using these experiences and turning them into children's books. Some older kids would probably like this true tale too. They would be checking all the rubber pipes in the house for sure, not to mention their own electrical equipment. A great read for all.
May 16, 2011
Hey, Mr. Birdsell, when will this colander be on the market? LOL! This was a humorous short story, the kind you'd expect to find in Reader's Digest, cleverly written and full of rat perils. Of all the rats that had to inhabit Mr. Birdsell's house, he got the ironman rocket-scientist rat, the size of a small dog, who seemed to know how to evade every trick and trap Mr. Birdsell used to plot Mr. Rat's demise. Add to that the expensive cost of replacing appliances and rat-proofing his house, makes for a humorous and yet financially tragic read.
June 2, 2011
This was a very fun short story where I found myself enjoying laughing the whole way through. I loved the exasperated yet humorous sarcasm Birdsell put in. It provided a very enjoyable short story that I will be reading again on a particurly dreary day. If only to remind me that someone has always got it worse. :) Thanks Birdsell!
August 10, 2011
I bought Ratticus on Amazon for my Kindle. It took me awhile to get around to reading but when I did I found it to be a quick, funny read. No, it's not some great literary work and if I could be so bold as to suggest that the author doesn't intend it to be. He wanted to share a humorous short story that could happen to all of us. Those darn rodents!
Props to the author for penning a genuinely funny true story of one man vs. pesky rat. Nice touch by adding pictures of the conquest at his website too. If you write humor and want to tell a true story this is a good example. Sure, there are some technical nitpicks like not using names for all the characters but the story is otherwise sound. Thank you for a fun read, Raymond Birdsell!
Props to the author for penning a genuinely funny true story of one man vs. pesky rat. Nice touch by adding pictures of the conquest at his website too. If you write humor and want to tell a true story this is a good example. Sure, there are some technical nitpicks like not using names for all the characters but the story is otherwise sound. Thank you for a fun read, Raymond Birdsell!
August 15, 2012
Rats are my all time worst fear and I almost skipped over this one because of it. I am so glad I did not though! What a rollercoaster of humor this was! I had to feel for the poor family and what they went through, but it's nice to know the author has a sense of humor and can look back on it and laugh-because it really is just too funny for him not have have shared with us readers. Quick, easy read that will have you scratching your head and wondering exactly how smart rats actually are. I now look under my bed for rats, not the boogyman!
February 11, 2012
A funny account of one household's vermin house invasion.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews