What do you think?
Rate this book
Bad Monkey
Utilizing luminous prose and scintillating imagery, Curtis Smith plunges his readers into the company of lovers and murderers, false prophets and mute believers, Russian mobsters and one very bad monkey. In these fourteen stories, Smith breathes life into a host of damaged hearts and then unflinchingly exposes the wonders and horrors lurking within each. Read BAD MONKEY and discover what makes Curtis Smith one of the most vital writers on today's literary scene.
170 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2009
2 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 9, 2009
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for LIterature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
As I've mentioned here many times before, I'm not much of a fan of story collections, and in fact don't particularly care for short fiction in general, mostly because of the wispy nature of the format to begin with; it seems in fact like every time I finally reach the point of getting emotionally invested in a short story, that's precisely when that short story ends, sending me zooming along to the next one without the previous one making any kind of lasting impression on me whatsoever. And that's what makes Curtis Smith's new story collection Bad Monkey problematic in my eyes, because although there's nothing specifically bad about it whatsoever, to me it seemed no different than any other collection of stories by some B-minus creative-writing student out at some midwestern college campus or nighttime community writing workshop -- you know, plaintive tales of noble hillbillies, Cheeveresque nightmares about the Big Bad Suburbs, the kind of stuff you just see over and over and over again in the endless amount of online literary journals that now exist. Like I said, none of it is bad for what it is, and people who naturally like these kinds of stories are bound to like this collection as well; I just question whether the world needs its officially one-millionth collection of unremarkable short fiction, or whether Smith's time would've been better spent working on a longer project with a much more unique idea at its core. Now that he's proven that he can write just as well as anyone else, I would highly encourage him to take the next step, and prove that he can write better than most others; that's the way to really make a mark in the literary world.
Out of 10: 7.3, or 8.3 for lovers of short fiction
As I've mentioned here many times before, I'm not much of a fan of story collections, and in fact don't particularly care for short fiction in general, mostly because of the wispy nature of the format to begin with; it seems in fact like every time I finally reach the point of getting emotionally invested in a short story, that's precisely when that short story ends, sending me zooming along to the next one without the previous one making any kind of lasting impression on me whatsoever. And that's what makes Curtis Smith's new story collection Bad Monkey problematic in my eyes, because although there's nothing specifically bad about it whatsoever, to me it seemed no different than any other collection of stories by some B-minus creative-writing student out at some midwestern college campus or nighttime community writing workshop -- you know, plaintive tales of noble hillbillies, Cheeveresque nightmares about the Big Bad Suburbs, the kind of stuff you just see over and over and over again in the endless amount of online literary journals that now exist. Like I said, none of it is bad for what it is, and people who naturally like these kinds of stories are bound to like this collection as well; I just question whether the world needs its officially one-millionth collection of unremarkable short fiction, or whether Smith's time would've been better spent working on a longer project with a much more unique idea at its core. Now that he's proven that he can write just as well as anyone else, I would highly encourage him to take the next step, and prove that he can write better than most others; that's the way to really make a mark in the literary world.
Out of 10: 7.3, or 8.3 for lovers of short fiction
September 14, 2009
Early on it seems to have a violent Little Odessa thing going for it, but that's not really what's happening here, yes, there is violence, but there is also pathos, sadness and triumph too. In fact, it took me a little while to see how these pieces hang together overall, but then it hit me, collectively these are stories about family, how we make them, how they implode and how no matter what we just want to hold onto them in some fashion despite what common sense ought to be telling us. I should add, that something else hit me as I read it as well, ultimately, the writing here just feels mature, mature like Alice Munro feels mature, or Tommy's ghost cousin Jimmy Keefe on Rescue Me seems so mature, all lived-in and rich and nuanced.
March 9, 2019
Dense and lyrical, full of concrete details and lush sensory descriptions. Many of these stories move through surprising arcs, which is both refreshing and riveting. A keeper collection.
February 4, 2010
"Bad Monkey, a 153-page collection of realist fiction, is Curtis Smith’s sixth book. From the outset, it’s evident that the author is skilled and experienced, because 'The Girl in the Halo,' a story about a missing person, is rich in specific detail, description, and narrative know-how. Interestingly, while the piece sets the somber tenor of the compilation, it’s also in second person. Is it an effective lead-in? Yes and no. Though it has many positive qualities, as mentioned above, if you’ve read Dan Chaon’s Among the Missing, it will seem familiar...."
Read the rest in the February 2010 issue of decomP .
Read the rest in the February 2010 issue of decomP .
December 23, 2009
This collection will go down as a favorite for me. Starting each new story by Smith is like getting on a carnival ride--you have that mix of excitement and anticipation and a bit of delicious fear about where the ride will take you. The opening story, "The Girl in the Halo," is one of the most subtly rendered, haunting stories I've ever read.
November 12, 2009
Just picked this up when I saw the author, Curtis Smith at a conference, but so far is is a great collection. "The Girl in the Halo" is an especially powerful story.
September 17, 2011
Truly terrible, i threw it in the bin half way through, woudln't even give it to the charity shop.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews