Movie Stars

by Jack Pendarvis

These stories are linked by humor, setting, themes and recurring characters — cat lovers, murderers, gamblers, ghosts and fools — but mostly by the movie stars, gods and goddesses who look down on us struggling mortals with a mixture of benevolence and wrath. From Scarlett Johansson to Joan Crawford, Clint Eastwood to Jerry Lewis, they represent the impossible ideals to which lesser beings turn for hope in an otherwise baffling world.

Genres: Short Stories, Humor

184 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2016

Reviews

[Danger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll be honest. I’m not really one for short story collections. I like the way novels seem to dig deeper, go farther, burn brighter. Not to mention most collections have (maybe) one or two shining works within, the rest being filler to round out the book. Short stories for me are merely sneezes to the novels prolonged illness. That’s a terrible example. My point is, Jack Pendarvis is not only the EXCEPTION to that rule (did I make it a rule?) but were this the only book of short stories you’d ever read, you’d think I were mad for coming up with the rule (again, is it a rule?) in the first place.

MOVIE STARS is his latest, a dozen or so stories that revolve, usually tangentially, to people and their pursuit of some kind of fame and renown. The book is really about the “little people.” Regular people doing regular things in, what is often, irregular ways. And THAT is what sets Pendarvis’s work apart from others. Clearly written with humor in mind, this book sneaks in the pathos with a slight-of-hand so deft, you can’t even tell if the tears leaking out of your eyes are from laughing so hard or from crying. Often times it’ll switch gears from the absurd to the profound to the mundane within a single SENTENCE. It’s quite amazing, really.

This is the 4th book I’ve read from Pendarvis (two other story collections and the novel, AWESOME) and he is clearly at the top of his game here. This might be my favorite book of his. This might end up being my favorite books of 2016. This is really great stuff.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

“When you’ve wasted your life, part of you is like, ‘Gosh, that’s terrible.’ And part of you is like, ‘Oh well. I guess I should have thought of this sooner,’”

This is my first Jack Pendarvis book, I have wasted so much time before finding this unique voice.
I absolutely laughed out loud in public, shook my head in wonder and looked up a word that was intentionally used in the wrong way.

I have to find more by this guy!! 10/5

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Somewhere within a collection of stories, after reading, for examples, the one about the tiny faded castle, then the one about the bubble-releasing treasure chest, and the few peppered throughout about fish that drop hints about other fish from previous tales, we’ll realize that we’re reading a book about a single fishbowl. Substitute the fishbowl parts with husbands behaving badly, vague hauntings, views of Hollywood from the dirty south, and cats and cats and cats, and for the most part you have MOVIE STARS. But nearing the end, the camera pulls back to reveal the true subject matter of the book: The author sitting at home, lit by moonlight in a powerless house, staring at nothing and everything, slowly emptying the entire content of the fish food shaker (against all warnings) into the bowl. And once again, I forgot to mention up top that this book is, no joke, hilarious.

[Eric T. Voigt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book full of sad sacks, assholes and the delusional, in curious combinations. The repetition of pie criticism, haunted places, and perilous drinking were fun indications that the stories shared a common world. I was geeked to see there was a new publication by this guy after seeing his name in the Adventure Time season five credits nudged me to search for just that. Soon as I was a page or so in I was all "welcome right back."

[Charles Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and odd.

[Wildwomble · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you enjoy George Saunders short stories, whimsical, surreal and touching, then you might like these as well. Not quite as good..but still pretty darn good.