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Everyone's Just So So Special
A little boy who betrays his father to the mercies of Santa Claus. An assassin whose personality is so insipid he erases people with his very presence. This is the history of mankind as told through 21 tales of the comic and the macabre. This is the paperback edition.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2011
17 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
About the author
Robert Shearman
173 books226 followersRobert Shearman has worked as a writer for television, radio and the stage. He was appointed resident dramatist at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter and has received several international awards for his theatrical work, including the Sunday Times Playwriting Award, the World Drama Trust Award and the Guinness Award for Ingenuity in association with the Royal National Theatre. His plays have been regularly produced by Alan Ayckbourn, and on BBC Radio by Martin Jarvis. However, he is probably best known as a writer for Doctor Who, reintroducing the Daleks for its BAFTA winning first series, in an episode nominated for a Hugo Award.
His first collection of short stories, Tiny Deaths, was published by Comma Press in 2007. It won the World Fantasy Award for best collection, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and nominated for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize. One of the stories from it was selected by the National Library Board of Singapore as part of the annual Read! Singapore campaign. In 2008 his short story project for BBC7, The Chain Gang, won him a Sony Award, and he provided a second series for them in 2009.
He is now at work on his first novel.
His first collection of short stories, Tiny Deaths, was published by Comma Press in 2007. It won the World Fantasy Award for best collection, was shortlisted for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize and nominated for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize. One of the stories from it was selected by the National Library Board of Singapore as part of the annual Read! Singapore campaign. In 2008 his short story project for BBC7, The Chain Gang, won him a Sony Award, and he provided a second series for them in 2009.
He is now at work on his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 15, 2012
Robert Shearman returns with the follow-up to his British Fantasy Award-winning collection Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical, and once again, he’s put together a superb volume of stories. As before, he’s adept at combining the outlandishly fantastical with the minutiae of everyday life and relationships; but, whereas the main theme of his previous collection was love, here Shearman is broadly concerned with the relationship between individuals and the grand sweep of history.
Separating the main stories is a chart of dates, a “history of mediocrity, and futility, and human error”, to quote its unnamed compiler in one of his asides. The reasons behind this chronicle’s existence are revealed only gradually, as Shearman depicts a man who has been burnt by life, found that even the history he loved as a child now seems hollow, and he and his family have paid a heavy price. For this narrator, history has become nothing but “memories [and] interpretations”; a similar view is expressed by the protagonist of ‘A History of Broken Things’, who intersperses recollections of his past with reflections on his mother’s decline from dementia, whether history is nothing but our memories, and what that means if we forget or are forgotten.
One could take from this the view that individuals are insignificant in the face of history and loss, but that’s not the impression I gain from Everyone’s Just So So Special – at least, not entirely. It seems to me that individuals are central to many of these stories, even in some cases warping reality around themselves. For example, ‘Coming in to Land’ is presented as a flight attendant’s address to her passengers, insisting that they have to believe in Paris for it to be there when they land’; but it’s clear by story’s end that this is all about the attendant and her ex-lover. In ‘This Far, and No Further’, time literally stops from the strength of Polly’s desire to find her missing daughter – but there are a number of perceptual shifts which poignantly reveal her true state of mind.
Several other pieces in the collection also use a strange situation to illuminate character traits. The story ‘Dirt’ is a particularly striking example: Duncan Brown is a university lecturer having an affair with a student from another faculty, who calls herself Natasha and is obsessed with Russia (or her mental image of the place), and even keeps a bag of Russian soil under her pillow. Natasha’s fascination comes across as the rather eccentric fad of a teenager still shaping her own identity; it only takes the innocent action ofDuncansending her a postcard fromRussiato undermine what the country represents to her. But a neat narrative move at the end gives cause to question whether it’s Natasha or Duncan who has the more tenuous hold on reality.
One of the hallmarks of Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical for me was the way that Shearman often used the fantastic to facilitate equally satisfying literal and metaphorical readings of his stories. We can see a similar approach in some of the tales in the current volume. ‘Inkblots’, for example, quickly skates over the implausibility of there being such a thing as a “hospital tattooist” to produce a poignant reflection on declaring one’s feelings when they might change. Sam’s father and terminally-ill mother decide it’s time to get tattoos of each other’s names, and would like Sam to have one with both of their names; but he’s not keen on the permanence of a tattoo. Then Sam’s mother doesn’t die after all, and his parents drift apart; Shearman explores the ramifications of such a development in a situation where a tattoo effectively represents a declaration of undying love. In tandem with this, we see Sam’s own unease with the idea of love and commitment, represented by his squeamishness around tattoos.
However, it seems to me that the richest stories in Everyone’s Just So So Special go beyond straightforwardly metaphorical readings, into the deeper heart of fantasy. The protagonist of ‘Times Table’ literally sheds her skin with each new birthday, but the remains hang around as living puppets. The story portrays the protagonist at various stages in her life, from the fourteen-year-old girl taking her teenage insecurities out on the younger self who wasn’t the girl she now wishes she could have been; to the old, old woman surrounded by the ghosts of her past. To an extent, ‘Times Table’ is about who we are as people, and the changing nature of self; but the sheer range that it encompasses makes the story greater than the sum of its parts.
In ‘Restoration’, a figure known only as “the Curator” has conquered the universe, and each year of history is now a mural in his vast gallery. Andy gets a job at the gallery, and is particularly taken with both 1574 and his boss, Miriam – that’s the name she takes, anyway; she’s forgotten her own. And Miriam is not the forgetful one, as Andy too sometimes finds her slipping from his memory; but a new directive from the Curator forces the two of them to take drastic action. ‘Restoration’ is a slice of beautiful strangeness that works by remaining focused on the characters at its heart; even when the world we know has been utterly swept away, we can recognise the people.
So who actually is special, in the face of all that was, is, or might be? Perhaps the story ‘Acronyms’ offers a clue in its portraits of interlocking (though separate) lives, beginning with a café-owner who makes the finest BLT sandwich and heading towards an outlandish tale of spying. Everyone is special in their own stories, but those stories may be only tangential to each other. Shearman’s collection, however, certainly is special.
(This review also appears in issue 269 of Vector.)
Separating the main stories is a chart of dates, a “history of mediocrity, and futility, and human error”, to quote its unnamed compiler in one of his asides. The reasons behind this chronicle’s existence are revealed only gradually, as Shearman depicts a man who has been burnt by life, found that even the history he loved as a child now seems hollow, and he and his family have paid a heavy price. For this narrator, history has become nothing but “memories [and] interpretations”; a similar view is expressed by the protagonist of ‘A History of Broken Things’, who intersperses recollections of his past with reflections on his mother’s decline from dementia, whether history is nothing but our memories, and what that means if we forget or are forgotten.
One could take from this the view that individuals are insignificant in the face of history and loss, but that’s not the impression I gain from Everyone’s Just So So Special – at least, not entirely. It seems to me that individuals are central to many of these stories, even in some cases warping reality around themselves. For example, ‘Coming in to Land’ is presented as a flight attendant’s address to her passengers, insisting that they have to believe in Paris for it to be there when they land’; but it’s clear by story’s end that this is all about the attendant and her ex-lover. In ‘This Far, and No Further’, time literally stops from the strength of Polly’s desire to find her missing daughter – but there are a number of perceptual shifts which poignantly reveal her true state of mind.
Several other pieces in the collection also use a strange situation to illuminate character traits. The story ‘Dirt’ is a particularly striking example: Duncan Brown is a university lecturer having an affair with a student from another faculty, who calls herself Natasha and is obsessed with Russia (or her mental image of the place), and even keeps a bag of Russian soil under her pillow. Natasha’s fascination comes across as the rather eccentric fad of a teenager still shaping her own identity; it only takes the innocent action ofDuncansending her a postcard fromRussiato undermine what the country represents to her. But a neat narrative move at the end gives cause to question whether it’s Natasha or Duncan who has the more tenuous hold on reality.
One of the hallmarks of Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical for me was the way that Shearman often used the fantastic to facilitate equally satisfying literal and metaphorical readings of his stories. We can see a similar approach in some of the tales in the current volume. ‘Inkblots’, for example, quickly skates over the implausibility of there being such a thing as a “hospital tattooist” to produce a poignant reflection on declaring one’s feelings when they might change. Sam’s father and terminally-ill mother decide it’s time to get tattoos of each other’s names, and would like Sam to have one with both of their names; but he’s not keen on the permanence of a tattoo. Then Sam’s mother doesn’t die after all, and his parents drift apart; Shearman explores the ramifications of such a development in a situation where a tattoo effectively represents a declaration of undying love. In tandem with this, we see Sam’s own unease with the idea of love and commitment, represented by his squeamishness around tattoos.
However, it seems to me that the richest stories in Everyone’s Just So So Special go beyond straightforwardly metaphorical readings, into the deeper heart of fantasy. The protagonist of ‘Times Table’ literally sheds her skin with each new birthday, but the remains hang around as living puppets. The story portrays the protagonist at various stages in her life, from the fourteen-year-old girl taking her teenage insecurities out on the younger self who wasn’t the girl she now wishes she could have been; to the old, old woman surrounded by the ghosts of her past. To an extent, ‘Times Table’ is about who we are as people, and the changing nature of self; but the sheer range that it encompasses makes the story greater than the sum of its parts.
In ‘Restoration’, a figure known only as “the Curator” has conquered the universe, and each year of history is now a mural in his vast gallery. Andy gets a job at the gallery, and is particularly taken with both 1574 and his boss, Miriam – that’s the name she takes, anyway; she’s forgotten her own. And Miriam is not the forgetful one, as Andy too sometimes finds her slipping from his memory; but a new directive from the Curator forces the two of them to take drastic action. ‘Restoration’ is a slice of beautiful strangeness that works by remaining focused on the characters at its heart; even when the world we know has been utterly swept away, we can recognise the people.
So who actually is special, in the face of all that was, is, or might be? Perhaps the story ‘Acronyms’ offers a clue in its portraits of interlocking (though separate) lives, beginning with a café-owner who makes the finest BLT sandwich and heading towards an outlandish tale of spying. Everyone is special in their own stories, but those stories may be only tangential to each other. Shearman’s collection, however, certainly is special.
(This review also appears in issue 269 of Vector.)
December 28, 2021
This collection of short stories introduced me to what is now one of my favourite genres. The fact that Shearman also worked on Doctor Who is very much evident- these stories have a Doctor Who feel to them, just darker and more twisted. A well rounded and intense group of stories. Bravo.
February 11, 2013
Every story in here is excellently crafted. I especially liked Times Table which is a wonderful observation on aging.
August 17, 2025
A truly masterful collection of short stories by the greatest fantasy writer alive today. Each story is a gut-punch of wit and emotion, and the intelligence behind the overarching narrative makes the book worth instantly rereading. No two stories are remotely the same, and it feels as though the book touches on all elements of the human experience, through beautifully crafted metaphors, and horrifying concepts. There is such a soul to the message behind each story, and even the stories that total no more than six pages have such power. The highlight of the book for me was ‘This Far, and No Further’, a creepy tale of loss which contains such a beautiful message of acceptance. There is, in my opinion, no worst story as I did not come across one that disappointed or bored me; everything was just so so special. The pages documenting human history in insanely small font may be daunting to some readers, but it’s well worth reading as it tells one of the best stories of the book. Through this list of crazy stuff from the past, a hard-hitting story about the human memory and our relationship to history is told. I cannot recommend this book enough, and if you are a Rob Shearman fan through his Dr Who work then you’ll be taken aback by his unfiltered personal work.
February 9, 2021
I'm not sure I was the right audience for this book.
I've had it for well over a year and have only just picked it up because I couldn't face the teeny tiny writing. I couldn't read the finest print it was so small so I didn't try. Deceptively there aren't that many pages but the font is so small and dense that it is much bigger than you think.
I enjoyed some of the stories and some have stuck with me, but largely they've all just blurred into one. They were all the same miserable characters, miserable with life. The tone was the same. The writing style was the same. It just felt like one huge miserable tome to be honest.
Definitely look like the outlier in the ratings though so it may be it just missed its mark with me.
I've had it for well over a year and have only just picked it up because I couldn't face the teeny tiny writing. I couldn't read the finest print it was so small so I didn't try. Deceptively there aren't that many pages but the font is so small and dense that it is much bigger than you think.
I enjoyed some of the stories and some have stuck with me, but largely they've all just blurred into one. They were all the same miserable characters, miserable with life. The tone was the same. The writing style was the same. It just felt like one huge miserable tome to be honest.
Definitely look like the outlier in the ratings though so it may be it just missed its mark with me.
August 27, 2024
This is the first Shearman that I haven't outright loved. This took me almost 3 months to get through, largely due to the tiny font that surrounds each chapter, giving a history of humanity, with another story within. If you're going to read this thing, have a magnifying glass handy. I just couldn't face it.
The stories themselves all share a rather dour, miserable tone. Lots of unhappy marriages. There are a few good stories in here, particularly toward the beginning of the collection. I would recommend 'We All Hear Stories in the Dark' over this, any day.
The stories themselves all share a rather dour, miserable tone. Lots of unhappy marriages. There are a few good stories in here, particularly toward the beginning of the collection. I would recommend 'We All Hear Stories in the Dark' over this, any day.
February 9, 2025
I never knew what to expect while reading these stories and I think there's a beauty in that. It was chaotic, intense, yet somehow deeply emotional, like the kind of stuff that forces you to reflect either on wtf you just read or on your life.
August 21, 2020
History. Comedy. History. Tension. History. Love
I learnt some things as well...
I learnt some things as well...
March 18, 2023
Extraordinary.
November 20, 2024
Possibly my favorite Robert Shearman collection. I love the theme of history, and a lot of these stories are really meaningful and stick with you long after reading them.
November 10, 2012
Once again Robert Shearman has wowed me with his plausible wierdness, hilarious horror and the way he can make any normal situation insane. Loved this collection of short stories, my favourite possibly being the one about a little girl who makes a friendship with a threadbare and dying piece of sky. It baffles me that Shearman is not more famous but am glad to see that he rakes in the Hugos, Sci fi and fantasy book awards every year. He totally deserves them. And he's such a nice, friendly person, having gotten to meet him at the start of this year. I really hope that he gets around to writing his long-talked-about novel soon because I'd love to see what he could do with more space to play in.
April 4, 2012
Another wonderous, quirky, darkly humourous and, at times, utterly poignant collection from Rob Shearman, once of the finest short stories writers you'll ever come across. More ambitious than his last two collections, perhaps, with some stories that are truly masterpieces.
For a more in depth discussion of Everyone's Just So So Special, please listen to my podcast, The Writer and the Critic, episode 12.
For a more in depth discussion of Everyone's Just So So Special, please listen to my podcast, The Writer and the Critic, episode 12.
November 2, 2011
Wonderful! What else would you expect from Rob Shearman?!
This book has (at least) three levels and although it is a collection of short stories, they are all woven together by the "interludes" (no more info - you have to find out for yourself). Some of the topics keep cropping up again and again but never from the same angle.
This book has (at least) three levels and although it is a collection of short stories, they are all woven together by the "interludes" (no more info - you have to find out for yourself). Some of the topics keep cropping up again and again but never from the same angle.
October 1, 2020
It's an odd collection of stories, that's for sure.
I can't say that I liked them all at first. But the ideas lingered in my mind for quite some time. And the stories do pop up now and then when I least suspect it.
If you're looking for something different to read, give this collection a shot. It's well worth it.
I can't say that I liked them all at first. But the ideas lingered in my mind for quite some time. And the stories do pop up now and then when I least suspect it.
If you're looking for something different to read, give this collection a shot. It's well worth it.
November 16, 2012
Starkly funny, beautiful, dark, clever, quirky. Don't mind the fine print: it's worth the effort. This is the kind of book you only find once in a lifetime. It will dazzle you.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews