What do you think?
Rate this book
The TV
Free online fiction from the New Yorker.
Short story about a man who watches himself on television…
Short story about a man who watches himself on television…
- GenresShort Stories
6 pages, ebook
First published April 12, 2010
About the author
Ben Loory
4 books737 followersBen Loory's first book, Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day, was a selection of the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program, and was named one of the 10 Best Fiction Books of the Year by Hudson Booksellers. His second collection, Tales of Falling and Flying, was named a Favorite Book of 2017 by the staff of the Paris Review, and one of the 50 Best Fantasy Books of All Time by Esquire Magazine. Loory's fables and tales have appeared in The New Yorker, Fairy Tale Review, Electric Literature, and BOMB Magazine, and been heard on This American Life and Selected Shorts. He is also the author of a picture book for children, The Baseball Player and the Walrus.
"This guy can write!" –Ray Bradbury
"This guy can write!" –Ray Bradbury
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 28, 2015
I hate being the first person to give a book a one star review.
It makes me feel so bad. It also makes me feel as though I’m missing out on something, especially when – like this one – most other people are giving said book four and five stars. Am I missing out on something? Did we read the same thing? Is my brain wired incorrectly thus resulting in my inability to see something great? Did I fail to read everything? Am I too stupid to understand what the book is getting at? There are so many questions and yet I feel as though I may have the answer in this case…
This simply isn’t my cup of tea.
We have all had those moments when we start reading something and within moments we realise it is not something we are going to enjoy. Nine times out of ten, unless we feel like being truly masochistic, we will put the story aside and pick up something else. In this situation, I felt as though putting it aside was a rather silly option. It is so short! It takes mere minutes to read! I may as well finish it! With such thoughts in my mind, I went on.
My reading of it went a little something like this:
-Okay, this is somewhat strange.
-Oh look, the deep message.
-Huh, we seem to be moving away from the message to look at how strange things are.
-Oh no, message is back.
-Yep, strange again.
-Ahh, I’m thinking about the deep meaning again.
-Nope, it is strange.
-Wait deep meaning.
-Stran-
-Dee-
-Str-
-De-
-Okay, done.
Don’t get me wrong, I like odd stories. I simply couldn’t bring myself to enjoy this one. Perhaps if it had been more fleshed out rather than a little snippet, I would have enjoyed it more… but I somehow doubt that. Like I said, not my usual cup of tea.
Oh well, it was a quick read. It’s not as though I’m going to lose sleep over this one. Not unless I sit hating myself for giving the first one star, something that may well happen.
It makes me feel so bad. It also makes me feel as though I’m missing out on something, especially when – like this one – most other people are giving said book four and five stars. Am I missing out on something? Did we read the same thing? Is my brain wired incorrectly thus resulting in my inability to see something great? Did I fail to read everything? Am I too stupid to understand what the book is getting at? There are so many questions and yet I feel as though I may have the answer in this case…
This simply isn’t my cup of tea.
We have all had those moments when we start reading something and within moments we realise it is not something we are going to enjoy. Nine times out of ten, unless we feel like being truly masochistic, we will put the story aside and pick up something else. In this situation, I felt as though putting it aside was a rather silly option. It is so short! It takes mere minutes to read! I may as well finish it! With such thoughts in my mind, I went on.
My reading of it went a little something like this:
-Okay, this is somewhat strange.
-Oh look, the deep message.
-Huh, we seem to be moving away from the message to look at how strange things are.
-Oh no, message is back.
-Yep, strange again.
-Ahh, I’m thinking about the deep meaning again.
-Nope, it is strange.
-Wait deep meaning.
-Stran-
-Dee-
-Str-
-De-
-Okay, done.
Don’t get me wrong, I like odd stories. I simply couldn’t bring myself to enjoy this one. Perhaps if it had been more fleshed out rather than a little snippet, I would have enjoyed it more… but I somehow doubt that. Like I said, not my usual cup of tea.
Oh well, it was a quick read. It’s not as though I’m going to lose sleep over this one. Not unless I sit hating myself for giving the first one star, something that may well happen.
August 15, 2013
Beautiful story. wonder what it'd be like to watch yourself.. And that writing - simply superb:
"Eventually the man comes to see that he has a mind, and that his mind is like a fist, wrapped tightly around a single thought. He cannot open the fist to look at the thought, for fear that it will fly away, but he knows that it is very important and that he must hang on to it, no matter the cost."
"Eventually the man comes to see that he has a mind, and that his mind is like a fist, wrapped tightly around a single thought. He cannot open the fist to look at the thought, for fear that it will fly away, but he knows that it is very important and that he must hang on to it, no matter the cost."
December 4, 2014
This is the short story I've been waiting for. Loved, loved, loved it!
July 25, 2019
Twilight Zone come to mind. That's a compliment of course.
And the multiple versions of the man in the programs he's watching made me think of the film, Primer.
What, I wonder, do the ads for the shows he's watching look like?
"Eventually the man comes to see that he has a mind, and that his mind is like a fist, wrapped tightly around a single thought. He cannot open the fist to look at the thought, for fear that it will fly away, but he knows that it is very important and that he must hang on to it, no matter the cost. He stares at the fist and hopes that it is very strong. He feels like a man who has fallen asleep at the wheel and has awakened to find his car lurching off a cliff. He has applied the brake, he has swung the wheel to the side, he has offered up a silent prayer, but it is too soon to see whether he has done these things in time. He can only wait for the next moment to come, and hope as hard as he can."
And the multiple versions of the man in the programs he's watching made me think of the film, Primer.
What, I wonder, do the ads for the shows he's watching look like?
"Eventually the man comes to see that he has a mind, and that his mind is like a fist, wrapped tightly around a single thought. He cannot open the fist to look at the thought, for fear that it will fly away, but he knows that it is very important and that he must hang on to it, no matter the cost. He stares at the fist and hopes that it is very strong. He feels like a man who has fallen asleep at the wheel and has awakened to find his car lurching off a cliff. He has applied the brake, he has swung the wheel to the side, he has offered up a silent prayer, but it is too soon to see whether he has done these things in time. He can only wait for the next moment to come, and hope as hard as he can."
April 30, 2020
I read "The TV" by Ben Loory based on the recommendation of Megan at Leafing Through Life, and I loved it. In this surreal short story, a man ditches work and begins flipping channels only to find a channel featuring a show starring himself. As he sits there, he watches himself arrive at work and go about his daily life. Soon his channel flipping reveals this other version of himself doing all sorts of things. And then things get weird. Loved. It.
October 21, 2023
3.5 - Simply chaotic
"Sometimes the man cries himself to sleep at night, but usually he just changes the channel. He has not been able to find his way to the office; he doesn’t know where they put it.”
"Sometimes the man cries himself to sleep at night, but usually he just changes the channel. He has not been able to find his way to the office; he doesn’t know where they put it.”
November 4, 2017
Liked it.
But I might need to reread it to fully understand it.
But I might need to reread it to fully understand it.
April 25, 2020
What a weird story....
March 4, 2016
Fascinating contemplation of television, its hold, and human nature.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews