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Something of a Tall Tale
Joe often felt as if he had failed to live up to the example set by the adventurous life of his father. It was a life story repeatedly told, and often embellished, over the backyard fire pit. But after his father’s untimely death, Joe sets out for the wilderness with nothing but the pack on his back and the hope of finding his own grand adventures. What Joe did not expect to find, however, was Biff – the American Bigfoot.
Joe offers to join Biff on his return to the headquarters of AmLORE (the American Legends Organization for Restricted Exposure) as the organization’s first human recruit. But when their first mission together goes awry, something unexpected is discovered that neither Joe nor Biff had believed to be real. Flooded with questions about AmLORE, the United States government, and what else is out there , Joe and Biff travel across the country to find answers, enlisting the help of other legendary beings along the way.
Stepping into the destiny foretold by his father, Joe begins to think that maybe the stories he had listened to around the firepit weren’t so exaggerated after all.
Joe offers to join Biff on his return to the headquarters of AmLORE (the American Legends Organization for Restricted Exposure) as the organization’s first human recruit. But when their first mission together goes awry, something unexpected is discovered that neither Joe nor Biff had believed to be real. Flooded with questions about AmLORE, the United States government, and what else is out there , Joe and Biff travel across the country to find answers, enlisting the help of other legendary beings along the way.
Stepping into the destiny foretold by his father, Joe begins to think that maybe the stories he had listened to around the firepit weren’t so exaggerated after all.
482 pages, Hardcover
Published July 25, 2023
1 person is currently reading
31 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 25, 2024
There’s some pretty wild stuff going on in the world right now.
What would happen if you mixed the most recent releases by authors such as Scott Burtness and D.M.Guay, threw in a chunky tome about American folklore (trust me: the baby boomer generation had to read those by the truckload!), asked permission to use some clips from "Men In Black" (possibly the International one they did? I don't know, never watched it), maybe added a copy of whatever it is that keeps conspiracy theorists up at night (e.g. "there hasn’t even been a truly human president running this country since 1980") including even videos with wild-haired dudes doing anything to avoid facts or actual science, and, oh yeah, put in a ton of Internet links that highlighted the steady progression of lizard people taking over the governments and militaries of the world? Well, you just might come close to the sheer beauty of the highly entertaining book that is Christopher Tyler's "Something of a Tall Tale" (took me a while, but I finally mentioned it!). Seriously folks, I cannot comprehend why there are not more reviews on goodreads! Why are you folks not reading this? I enjoyed it a LOT more than "American Gods" by Neil "I have good ideas but don't execute them well" Gaiman! And yes, I will die on that hill, land whales or not crashing about!
Human sacrifices, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria—the usual stuff…
I mean, come on! Does it include Bigfoot? Oh heck yeah, meet Biff everyone! Yeppers, he's like Protagonist B in all this. And yeah, he's kind of an eff-up sometimes but really he's just a furry and often smelly softie! New Jersey Devil? Got 'im! Hodag? Please. Tommyknockers? I definitely need to update my Stephen King collection! Vast armies of Reptilians bent on taking over the world? Duh! The terrifying and nearly utter destruction of Denver as untold horrors emerge from the not-so-secret underground complexes beneath their airport, riding alongside a very animated Blucifer? You knew it had to happen! Aliens? Pfft, these folks want to know about the aliens! Seriously, this "everything, the kitchen sink, and whatever else you can find on Facebook Marketplace" approach might seem chaotic at first glance - as well as probably the second through seventh glances, too - but it really works out to be a highly entertaining read!
I’m driving with a bipedal ape, a humanoid dog, and the largest bullfrog any Southerner could ever imagine…
Still, before you get too comfortable, I also need to point out that despite it's often jovial nature, "Something of TT" is definitely NOT suitable for all ages. Sure, it's a bunch of fun for the gang to hang out and get in trouble with the big boss, but it doesn't take too long until we're witnessing the rebirth and hunger of eldritch horrors that span millenia! And once the cannabalism and orphan-eating starts, well, little Timmy and Suzy should definitely not still be reading! It makes for an interesting kind of pacing in the book, as we're for a large portion of the story doing the ol' road-trip thing from Ohio to D.C. to Florida, New Orleans, Dallas, New Mexico and then further points out west. Then bang, something rises and the local orphanage is gone! It's not exactly Hunter Shea material (and his "New Jersey Devil" which still remains my fave cryptid book!), no, but it does get gruesome!
When you’re the only optimist in a crowd of pessimists, your peers tend to reject you.
What's also really cool about this story is that (a) it explores the WHY of there being cryptids at all and (b) uses the character of the Mothman - one of if not THE favorite cryptid of mine - to kind of put a philosophical spin on things. I found it fascinating how the author explores the existence of cryptids almost like you would argue about the existence of the god(s) throughout history. Hear a noise that scares you and you can't explain it? Better blame it on something magical and all-powerful, right? Weird creaking sounds in the tunnels of a mine? Yep, gotta be gnomes or some other kind of goblin! And naturally with belief comes existence and *poof* next thing you know unplanned pregnancies are being blamed on old bearded guys that show up in the form of a swan! To which the Mothman would probably show up early to indicate that "hey, humans, something bad is going to happen here!" Not his fault that it happens, no, but do we listen? Never. Dumb humans.
To summarize—no, Mothman is not okay.
Seriously, I am going to be pushing this book to my own horror-slash-urbanfantasy-slash-slashing friends on the social medias and I hope you out there still reading this also take a stab at it. Or a slash, if you want to stay on form. It's not a perfect book, no, as the author has some trouble with homophones throughout but it's still quite well-executed. My only regret right now is that there doesn't (yet) seem to be a sequel, which would be kind of interesting to have in hand, particularly after all those big reveals at the end. But I've probably provided enough spoilers for this session, so I'll be signing out for now. Read this book, y'all, and enjoy!
What would happen if you mixed the most recent releases by authors such as Scott Burtness and D.M.Guay, threw in a chunky tome about American folklore (trust me: the baby boomer generation had to read those by the truckload!), asked permission to use some clips from "Men In Black" (possibly the International one they did? I don't know, never watched it), maybe added a copy of whatever it is that keeps conspiracy theorists up at night (e.g. "there hasn’t even been a truly human president running this country since 1980") including even videos with wild-haired dudes doing anything to avoid facts or actual science, and, oh yeah, put in a ton of Internet links that highlighted the steady progression of lizard people taking over the governments and militaries of the world? Well, you just might come close to the sheer beauty of the highly entertaining book that is Christopher Tyler's "Something of a Tall Tale" (took me a while, but I finally mentioned it!). Seriously folks, I cannot comprehend why there are not more reviews on goodreads! Why are you folks not reading this? I enjoyed it a LOT more than "American Gods" by Neil "I have good ideas but don't execute them well" Gaiman! And yes, I will die on that hill, land whales or not crashing about!
Human sacrifices, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria—the usual stuff…
I mean, come on! Does it include Bigfoot? Oh heck yeah, meet Biff everyone! Yeppers, he's like Protagonist B in all this. And yeah, he's kind of an eff-up sometimes but really he's just a furry and often smelly softie! New Jersey Devil? Got 'im! Hodag? Please. Tommyknockers? I definitely need to update my Stephen King collection! Vast armies of Reptilians bent on taking over the world? Duh! The terrifying and nearly utter destruction of Denver as untold horrors emerge from the not-so-secret underground complexes beneath their airport, riding alongside a very animated Blucifer? You knew it had to happen! Aliens? Pfft, these folks want to know about the aliens! Seriously, this "everything, the kitchen sink, and whatever else you can find on Facebook Marketplace" approach might seem chaotic at first glance - as well as probably the second through seventh glances, too - but it really works out to be a highly entertaining read!
I’m driving with a bipedal ape, a humanoid dog, and the largest bullfrog any Southerner could ever imagine…
Still, before you get too comfortable, I also need to point out that despite it's often jovial nature, "Something of TT" is definitely NOT suitable for all ages. Sure, it's a bunch of fun for the gang to hang out and get in trouble with the big boss, but it doesn't take too long until we're witnessing the rebirth and hunger of eldritch horrors that span millenia! And once the cannabalism and orphan-eating starts, well, little Timmy and Suzy should definitely not still be reading! It makes for an interesting kind of pacing in the book, as we're for a large portion of the story doing the ol' road-trip thing from Ohio to D.C. to Florida, New Orleans, Dallas, New Mexico and then further points out west. Then bang, something rises and the local orphanage is gone! It's not exactly Hunter Shea material (and his "New Jersey Devil" which still remains my fave cryptid book!), no, but it does get gruesome!
When you’re the only optimist in a crowd of pessimists, your peers tend to reject you.
What's also really cool about this story is that (a) it explores the WHY of there being cryptids at all and (b) uses the character of the Mothman - one of if not THE favorite cryptid of mine - to kind of put a philosophical spin on things. I found it fascinating how the author explores the existence of cryptids almost like you would argue about the existence of the god(s) throughout history. Hear a noise that scares you and you can't explain it? Better blame it on something magical and all-powerful, right? Weird creaking sounds in the tunnels of a mine? Yep, gotta be gnomes or some other kind of goblin! And naturally with belief comes existence and *poof* next thing you know unplanned pregnancies are being blamed on old bearded guys that show up in the form of a swan! To which the Mothman would probably show up early to indicate that "hey, humans, something bad is going to happen here!" Not his fault that it happens, no, but do we listen? Never. Dumb humans.
To summarize—no, Mothman is not okay.
Seriously, I am going to be pushing this book to my own horror-slash-urbanfantasy-slash-slashing friends on the social medias and I hope you out there still reading this also take a stab at it. Or a slash, if you want to stay on form. It's not a perfect book, no, as the author has some trouble with homophones throughout but it's still quite well-executed. My only regret right now is that there doesn't (yet) seem to be a sequel, which would be kind of interesting to have in hand, particularly after all those big reveals at the end. But I've probably provided enough spoilers for this session, so I'll be signing out for now. Read this book, y'all, and enjoy!
January 26, 2026
Great book! I absolutely loved it and learned more about folklore through the story telling than I ever knew before. The author's imagination and descriptions were captivating and kept my mind vividly engaged with every encounter. Bravo!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews