The Amazing Mr. Morality: Stories

by Jacob M. Appel

Eric Hoffer Award, 1st Runner-Up, Short Story/Anthology categoryThe Amazing Mr. Morality features tenacious men and women whose determination to buck middle-class social convention draws them toward unforeseen challenges. A failed television producer insists upon having a woodchuck relocated from his lawn, only to receive desperate letters in which the woodchuck begs to return. An overconfident ne’er-do-well obtains a lucrative lecture invitation intended for a renowned ornithologist and decides to deliver the speech himself. An innocuous dispute over whether to rename a local street opens up racial fault lines that prove deadly. The collection concludes with the title novella in which two unscrupulous ethicists, writing rival newspaper columns, seek to unseat each other by addressing questions such If you’re going to commit a murder, is it worse to kill when the victim is sleeping or awake? 

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2018

About the author

**Please note: A limited number of complimentary electronic copies of several of my books are available for review. Please email me directly if you are interested**

Jacob M. Appel's first novel, The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up, won the Dundee International Book Award in 2012. His short story collection, Scouting for the Reaper, won the 2012 Hudson Prize. He has published short fiction in more than two hundred literary journals including Agni, Conjunctions, Gettysburg Review, Southwest Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and West Branch. His work has been short listed for the O. Henry Award (2001), Best American Short Stories (2007, 2008), Best American Essays (2011, 2012), and received "special mention" for the Pushcart Prize in 2006, 2007, 2011 and 2013.

Jacob holds a B.A. and an M.A. from Brown University, an M.A. and an M.Phil. from Columbia University, an M.S. in bioethics from the Alden March Bioethics Institute of Albany Medical College, an M.D. from Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons, an M.F.A. in creative writing from New York University, an M.F.A. in playwriting from Queens College, an M.P.H. from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He currently practices psychiatry in New York City.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

i don’t love reviewing short story collections, so i’m gonna keep this short and sweet. however, it is important to note that i didn’t used to love reading short story collections either, and this guy is one of the authors who changed my mind about that, so that’s a pretty strong point in his favor, since i’m not really a person known for my ability to change or grow or evolve.

The Children’s Lottery
★★★★☆

a lottery system as dreadful as the one in that shirley jackson story, but with way more pedophiles.

Jury of Matrons
★★★☆☆

this one had some great coming of age details in it, but it wins the day for a casual, throwaway mention of a new england beachfront hotel called “the Vengeful Scrod.” as a rhode island kid well-exposed to cutesy nautical kitsch, that is so perfectly absurd a name i can’t believe it’s not real.

Gable’s Whiskers
★★★★☆

you could use this to teach extraterrestrials what a human short story should look like - rise, fall, setup, execution, with a little nugget at the end that pulls it all together like a drawstring bag. actually, he’s 3 for 3 with his endings in this collection, and that might be why i like his stories more than i like other stories - he knows how to end ‘em. not with a “gotcha” pop of a twist (which i do love), or some anticlimactic writing workshop denouement but with a sentence or two that invites a kind of emotional simmer, and it sticks with you even after you’ve moved on to other reading.

Burrowing in Exile
★★★★☆

okay, this one does have the “gotcha” brand of story-ending, and it’s a good one, if not entirely unexpected. funny, cute, full of woodchucks - and facts! this story taught me that groundhogs and woodchucks are the same damn creature, which i did not know! nor had i ever heard them called “whistle pigs,” which i do not like and hope to never hear/read again. i want my own mr. whitman.

Tracking Harold Lloyd
★★★☆☆

this one didn’t leave much of an impression on me, but i’m not sure why - it’s a nice, tidy little serving of melancholia and it does have that emotional simmer. sometimes reading-responses are unpredictable. this is why algorithms and robots can’t do readers’ advisory.

Next of Kith
★★★☆☆

i gave this story three stars, too, which isn’t a bad rating in the least, it just wasn’t as shiny as some of the other ones. it does have a memorable ending, though, and well-scored. oh, english horn - thou art so wistful…

Right of Way
★★★★★

this is the shiniest story of them all. i like everything about it. so will you.

A Change of Plumage
★★★☆☆

birds, identity theft and infidelity. it’s hard to say which of the three is the most despicable.

The Desecration at Lemming Bay
★★★☆☆

this takes place in LITTLE RHODY! and features an imaginary ocean state poet (who no doubt once stayed at the vengeful scrod), the author of such works as Diphtheria and Other Mementos, Typhoid Is for Lovers, and Polio Serenade, once again making me wish that these were real things in the world.

The Amazing Mr. Morality
★★★★☆

the titular novella, in which great moral dilemmas are examined: If you’re going to commit a murder, is it worse to kill when the victim is sleeping or awake?, Is it wrong to remove a demented relative from life support before Jan 1 to avoid adverse changes in the tax code?also, a quince pudding festival serves as an alibi, a date ends when a man vomits on a woman’s head, and there's a healthy (unhealthy?) dose of (to borrow a reference from another story in the collection), non, je ne regrette rien.

and that's all you get from me!



***************************************
last thursday, i was planning to buy this book at work, but the trains during my 4 am commute were so messed up that i couldn't even get into manhattan, so i gave up, turned around and took the day off. that very afternoon, it came in the mail for me, from the author himself.

lesson i have chosen to learn from this experience:

the MTA is run by ANGELS!

i will read this as soon as i possibly can. thank you, jacob appel!

come to my blog!

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morality, Morality....Yep! Morality is the underlying theme here, but creativity and bizarre UNIMAGINABLE stories is once again the name of the game in Jacob Appel's upcoming new novel, THE AMAZING MR. MORALITY....especially in..........

The Children's Lottery....OH. MY. GOSH....Super Dark and Super Disturbing. A horror of a futuristic story! Could NOT believe what I was reading! Never. Never.

Anyway, my favorite of the ten shorts here was a cutie entitled Burrowing in Exile.. Made me laugh and is just in time for February 2nd too. The finale, The Amazing Mr. Morality was in my top three, but (so hard to pick), all were, once again, entertaining reads that I zoomed right through.

Jacob Appel, a new favorite author for me has quite the talent for drawing in the reader with limited text! Highly recommend taking a perusal of his collections.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Vandalia Press and Mr. Appel for the ARC COMING FEBRUARY 1, 2018 in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twisted... horrifying....compelling....lacking remorse.....”The Children’s Lottery”, is about a child being hand picked from a school classroom by a pedophile.
“How would you feel if your child was carried off to live in a pedophile camp.
EXACTLY.....no need to answer that question!!!!
Jacob’s leading story - hits us over the head - and - out of the park in “The Children’s Lottery” -- is there ‘even’ a moral debate about this issue?

BUT....even though the other nine stories that follow are not as horrific to wrap your head around, they are ‘out-of-the-box’ original....keeping us off guard in all of them.
His collection of short stories have begun to remind me of cracker jacks. Each time I opened a box as a kid - I never knew what toy to expect. Well, I never know what to expect from Jacob’s creations either.

In “Jury of Matrons”.... There were groups of women who’s job it was to decide which pirettes were actually pregnant and which were lying. Why would any woman lie about pregnancy in the first place? Makes you wonder - doesn’t it?
Kooky characters and situations....a heyday of fun.

“Gable’s Whiskers”,....there’s more stories being told in a barbershop than hair trimming going on. I liked this - because I couldn’t help but think of stories - in - reverse-when women go see their hairdresser. They are the ones telling the stories. Just think of how many stories those haircutters have in their heads about people they have never met.

“Burrowing in Exile”.... lots of chuckles ...”As far as rodents are concerned, it’s as good as Miami Beach”. Mom, Dad, Molly, woodchucks, ....one big happy family story....ha! It’s a really cute story.... but watch out... a little rodent just may be coming at you when you walk out your door this morning.

Jacob’s stories are contemporary.....wonderfully unique looking at very awkward situations. They each have ‘something’ on the humorous side -but the themes are dark & serious too. When we look closely - the life messages are there.

Moral dilemmas are a fascinating topic. Jacob gets us thinking while keeping us entertained. I love this guy ....and these stories were as great as ever!

MORE GREAT work by Jacob:
He’s a short-story-master: “Einstein’s Beach House”, “Coulrophobia & Fata Morgana, “Scouting for the Reaper”, “The Biology of Luck”, etc...... He’s written novel’s too.
I enjoyed “Wedding Wipeout”....( its a mystery spy novel).
and one of my all-time favorites is his book of essays: “Phoning Home”. I love this little book. I cherish the hard copy!!!! It’s SO CUTE!!!! Priceless memoir-essays!!!

I’ve missed a few gems he’s written ( I know - what’s wrong with me?), ..... but I tell ya, there is something ‘very’ unique & refreshingly wonderful about this author, which must be experienced.

I absolutely love Jacob’s mind - and his stories - which make us use ours!!!

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here's another superb collection of short stories by Appel; stories that manage to be thought-provoking, disturbing, and hilarious. There are pederasts, imposters, and homesick groundhogs. Loves are won and lost, lessons are learned, and crimes are committed.

Though I loved them all, my favorite was the title story, a novella, really, which involves a man who writes a Dear Abby-type ethics column faced with the prospect of committing a crime against one enemy, whilst pinning the blame on another enemy. Is that an ethical dilemma? According to the main character . . . Possibly not.

I guess it's all in the way you look at things.

And I love the way Jacob Appel LOOKS at things.

[Esil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve seen lots of rave reviews of Jacob Appel’s short stories over the last few years on Goodreads. I’ve even accumulated some of his books, but had not yet gotten round to reading any of them. I finally took the plunge with The Amazing Mr. Morality, and I definitely get it. This is what short stories are meant to be at their best. Appel creates a strong sense of personality and circumstance in each story, and each story is original — no sense that he’s telling the same story in a different guise over and over again. I also love the deadpan voice through which Appel depicts his characters and their lives.

I say all this with one caveat. The first story was too weird for me, and I almost stopped reading the collection. It involves an alternate reality in which pedophiles are treated as though they have a condition that must be accommodated for the greater good of society. Enough said. I just found it too creepy.

But for those readers who also find the first story hard to get through, keep going... Because after that, I enjoyed every story, especially the last one which is the title story. The main character writes a popular advice column that is morally fraught, as is his personal life. It’s great in its details, as are the other stories in the collection.

Now I’ve got to catch up on the Appel’s other books. Thanks to Netgalley and Appel for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5★
“. . . the first students were clambering down from their busses. Whichever child won the sweepstakes, Oriana understood, would depart with him in the same vehicle.
. . . If not for the fact that he lived in a pedophile colony and would soon carry off one of her charges, he seemed the sort of person she’d welcome onto her block.”

This author writes some of the quirkiest, most far-fetched stories, and I love them. This first one takes place in a community that decided that it’s better to let the kiddy-fiddlers select a child from a classroom to be taken to live with them, leaving the others free to grow up unmolested. Oriana, the teacher, tries to sway the “selector” towards a child she would be happy to be free of and away from one of whom she is quite fond. Quirky indeed!

Along with some unique story lines, Appel has a talent for showing us his characters.

“Marcella wore her tawny hair in cornrows tufted with cowry shells; her harem skirt flowed from a belt garnished with artificial daisies—but even in her thirties, our visitor looked too battle-worn for Hippiedom. (Try to picture Mrs. Khrushchev dressed as Bo Derek.)”

And he understands their feelings, Here’s a poignant home-truth for a girl who had tried unsuccessfully to attract a guy. Poignant for the girl, not so much for the woman she grew up to be.

“Another two years would pass before I learned that broad-shouldered athletes didn’t date plump girls with dull features, and another ten before I realized those plump, dull-featured girls hadn’t missed much.”

The last, and I think the longest is the title story about a man who has long pined for a girl he had a crush on in high school who is now married and is the editor of their small town newspaper. To be near to her he accepts the job of writing the advice column, Mr. Morality. He sorts the first batch of letters.

“The third set of letters, which Grossbard reread with increasing gloom, posed quandaries that seemed to spring from the minds of sociopaths.

. . . a letter that asked, If you’re going to commit a murder, is it worse to kill when the victim is sleeping or awake? (PS: This is a serious question.)”

Grossbard tries to treat them with consideration, but when a rival local rag starts copying the questions and giving outrageous answers, Grossbard attempts to retaliate.

There’s a storyline about his desire to win his old school crush away from her handsome, overbearing husband and a storyline about the rival “newspaper” all mixed in with his hosting the local Quince Festival. I found it long.

Likewise, some other stories had good premises and characters but tried to get too clever, perhaps, and I lost interest. I will continue to read Appel’s stories, if only to enjoy the gems among them, because there are always good ones. This had fewer gems, though, than the other of his collections that I’ve read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Vandalla Press for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.

[Sandysbookaday (on indefinite hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCERPT: When I'd first gone to live with Aunt Faye, she was alone in the house. She'd once had a husband, a fellow named Tate, but like most of the men in our family, he'd drifted from history into mist, leaving behind only his surname and not much else. (All I knew of my own father, Len Kuritsky, was that he'd asphyxiated on a chicken bone at a music festival in California several weeks after my birth.) At some point, long before I entered the scene, Aunt Faye had staffed the front desk at the Powick Bridge Public Library and, pushing seventy, she carried with her an atmosphere of dusty encyclopedias. We had lots of visitors in those days: A klatch of female relations whose precise perch on the family tree wasn’t worth locating. Even Marcella had stayed overnight once but left in a huff before breakfast, incensed that Aunt Faye had stipulated a separate bed downstairs for her niece's boyfriend. Four years later, a widowed girlhood friend of my grandaunt - the aptly named Edie Coffin - moved permanently into the same chamber. (To this day, I don't know whether Aunt Faye and 'Cousin' Edie were lovers, or had once been lovers, or were merely faithful late-life companions.) The third female in our estrogen-perfumed Cape Codder, Cindy-Jane, arrived only four months before Marcella. She was a genuine cousin - the sixteen year old cashew-shaped, eggplant-hued spawn of two heroin junkies, one of them loosely descended from Granny Bess. Aunt Faye had again opened her doors to the family's jetsam.

ABOUT THIS BOOK: The Amazing Mr. Morality features tenacious men and women whose determination to buck middle-class social convention draws them toward unforeseen challenges. A failed television producer insists upon having a woodchuck relocated from his lawn, only to receive desperate letters in which the woodchuck begs to return. An overconfident ne’er-do-well obtains a lucrative lecture invitation intended for a renowned ornithologist and decides to deliver the speech himself. An innocuous dispute over whether to rename a local street opens up racial fault lines that prove deadly.

The collection concludes with the title novella in which two unscrupulous ethicists, writing rival newspaper columns, seek to unseat each other by addressing questions such as: If you’re going to commit a murder, is it worse to kill when the victim is sleeping or awake?

MY THOUGHTS: The Amazing Mr Appel has done it again! He has penned a collection of amusing, thought-provoking short stories featuring quirky, and sometimes naive, characters in both mundane and challenging situations, their actions fuelled by misconception, anger, desire, or the desire for revenge.

I have rationed myself to one story at a time, drawing out the pleasure of reading, savouring each individual tale, swirling it around in my mind like a fine wine on the palate. A wine I will be savouring again and recommending to all.

Thank you to author Jacob M. Appel and publisher Vandalia Press for providing a copy of The Amazing Mr. Morality for my great enjoyment and for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the 'about' page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system.

This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mixed bag of shorties, ranging from jaw dropping (The Children's Lottery) to dark humor (Burrowing in Exile), and a whole lot of other life's dilemmas in between.

Jacob Appel has the unique talent to create worlds within a small amount of words that always get me me thinking, well beyond the ending.

While The Children's Lottery is certainly the most impactful, I think the one most dear to my heart is Gable's Whiskers. The circle of life summed up perfectly!

ARC provided by NetGalley

[Susan “Sam” · Rating 5 out of 5]

Appel's writing is seamless. As opposed to falling in love with the construction of his prose, he more challengingly fits the pieces together to advance a character's dimensionality or an implausible plot's plausibility. The variety of short story pieces attest to his ability to beguile the reader into a sweet-the-abruptly horrific story or convince you entirely that a groundhog could be naturally expected to experience homesickness and plead for a return to his home via daily correspondence. Each story becomes a little gift of imaginative creation.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful, eclectic collection of Jacob Appel's short stories. Ten stories in all, diverse, unique and mind-blowing beauties that you'll just marvel over each one. The first, "A Children's Lottery" is a moral giant and much to take in; but do not resist the other stories. Carry on and discover fun "Burrowing in Exile" and lovely "Next of Kith." Ironic "A Change of Plumage" will make you laugh. And finally, "The Amazing Mr. Morality" is the best of all. Don't miss this latest collection from the quirky mind of Jacob Appel. I mean it!

Thanks to Netgalley and Jacob Appel for the advanced read.

[Bridgett Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again this author doesn't disappoint. I really love how this author writes. His books are always funny, scary, quirky, and overall just great. In this book we have 10 stories. And as usual his books have a overall theme, This one being Morality. It's not always one side or the other. Sometimes there is a grayish area on it. The characters range the morality spectrum. We have pedophiles, A kid who just wants to know who "mom" is, a barber, a homesick woodchuck, a dying neighbor, a stop sign thief,a fake ornithologist so many things to tug at the heart strings. But what would you do if faced with the same situations. Fantastic job. Can't wait to see what's next.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘Can I sue my daughter’s pediatrician and still play tennis with his wife?’

Once reading one of the Appel novels/books an addiction occurs. That Jacob M Appel is such an extraordinarily fine writer, certainly among the top rung of serious authors in America at present, seems foremost in a resume of his achievements – a collection of his books such as THE BIOLOGY OF LUCK, SCOUTING FOR THE REAPER, MIRACLES AND CONUNDRUMS OF THE SECONDARY PLANETS, EINSTEIN’S BEACH HOUSE, PHONING HOME, THE TOPLESS WIDOW OF HERKIMER STREET, THE AMAZING MR. MORALITY - until the extent of his life's work to date is surveyed – to date sixteen books and collections of stories.

It is important for readers new to his works to note the biographical data from the last page of this book. ‘Jacob M Appel is an American author, bioethicist (Bioethics, the study of typically controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine, is also moral discernment as it relates to medical policy, practice, and research. Bioethicists are concerned with the ethical questions that arise in the relationships among life sciences, biotechnology, medicine, politics, law, and philosophy), physician, lawyer and social critic. He couples his fame for his short stories and his plays with his writing in the fields of reproductive ethics, organ donation, neuroethics and euthanasia. Appel is an advocate for the decriminalization of assisted suicide, raising the possibility that this might be made available to both the terminally ill and those with intractable, long-term mental illness. He has written in favor of abortion rights and fertility treatment for homosexuals, as well as against electronic medical records, which he sees as poorly secured against hacking. He has also argued in favor of the legalization of prostitution, polygamy and incest between consenting adults and bestiality when the animal is not forced or harmed. He has raised concerns regarding the possibility that employers will require their employees to use pharmaceuticals for cognitive enhancement and has urged that death row inmates be eligible to receive kidney transplants. He generated considerable controversy for endorsing the mandatory use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis as part of the in vitro fertilization process to prevent the implantation of embryos carrying severe genetic defects. Appel has also written in support of an "open border" immigration policy. Among the causes that Appel has embraced is opposition to the forcible feeding of hunger strikers, both in domestic prisons and at Guantanamo Bay. He has taught medical ethics at New York University, Columbia University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Brown University's Alpert Medical School.’

Jacob M. Appel stuns. His writing is so informed and tightly sewn that each of the ten short stories in this collection THE AMAZING MR. MORALITY gives the reader the sense of reaching blindly into a bowl of marbles and coming up with a special steely, aggie, tiger or any `keepsie' each time. Summarizing the stories this time ‘round - The Amazing Mr. Morality features tenacious men and women whose determination to buck middle-class social convention draws them toward unforeseen challenges. A failed television producer insists upon having a woodchuck relocated from his lawn, only to receive desperate letters in which the woodchuck begs to return. An overconfident ne’er-do-well obtains a lucrative lecture invitation intended for a renowned ornithologist and decides to deliver the speech himself. An innocuous dispute over whether to rename a local street opens up racial fault lines that prove deadly. The collection concludes with the title novella in which two unscrupulous ethicists, writing rival newspaper columns, seek to unseat each other by addressing questions such as: If you’re going to commit a murder, is it worse to kill when the victim is sleeping or awake? ‘

But Jacob offers resolutions that touch on our own big questions and in doing so he not only creates great stories but he also challenges us to become involved in the thoughts he has raised. Great…as always.

[Robert Blumenthal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another stellar collection from short story master Jacob Appel, and that's including not liking the first story much at all. Most others seem to have trouble with the moral issues of the first story (it does propose farming children off to pedophiles to do with them what they may). The subject was not my problem with this story (it's called The Children's Lottery)--I loved The End of Alice by A. M. Holmes for Christsakes. I found the story to be a bit gimmicky and obvious, IMHO. Following that, however, every story is an absolute gem. Jacob is so good at drawing us into his characters, all of them vulnerable and seeking something. I found the anxieties of the younger, teenage characters to be wonderfully relatable, and Jacob has a way of being so wise in the telling.

A lot of these stories deal with issues of ethics and morality, the conclusion seemingly being that morality is what best suits each of us individually. This is especially true for the title story, the longest of them all. There are also some common threads that run through these stories--a couple featured dream woman, all auburn haired, and the name Hager came up a lot (town names and in one story, a character named Hager). They tend to take place in the suburbs of New York or Philadelphia, and Jacob beautifully captures that environment. Some of them are a bit morally suspect, some feature a morally suspect individual getting his comeuppance. All feature truly compelling characters that the reader really gets to know. And of course, there is Jacob's wry and entertaining sense of humor. I can't wait to read the next installment of stories.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Amazing Mr. Morality is a collection of short stories from Jacob Appel. I have been reading through many of his books recently and he has gradually become one of my go-to writers for short fiction.

These stories will likely get under your skin, whether because it offers some new insight or because you are disturbed by something in the story. Don't give up, no shock is without a purpose and that purpose is, broadly speaking, understanding how and why we think, act, and believe as we do. Whether the set-up is fantastical or common place the essence of the story will come down to how humans engage with the world and how we then live with and/or rationalize that engagement to ourselves and others. You may not like every protagonist but you will likely find something about each which will spark some kind of recognition and empathy. And, hopefully, thought and reflection.

I would recommend this, as well as all of his books I have so far read, to any readers who like to be challenged to get into another "regular" person's head and understand a situation from that perspective before stepping back outside and thinking about how you might like to think you would have reacted.

I have received a couple books from the author and I have purchased a couple and I frankly don't remember which category this one falls into, so...

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant collection of short stories from Jacob M. Appel!

The stories are focused on somewhat absurd situations, such as "Burrowing in Exile", a story about the humane relocation of a garden dwelling woodchuck (or whistle pig, if you like). They also focus on interpersonal relationships, as most of Appel's stories do.

My favorite in this collection is "A Change of Plumage" in which a creative writing instructor accepts an invitation to give a speech on ornithology. The story is filled with bird related puns and quite clever. Some examples include "perch" "soared" "feathered his nest"...and those are in one sentence! It doesn't get repetitive or annoying, as you might think though...they are dispersed enough to keep you chuckling to yourself throughout the store. Very well done.

Overall, any lover of short stories should not miss out on any of Appel's collections. In particular those fans of human stories of interpersonal relationships with a touch of humorous absurdity.

I received a copy of this book for free directly from the author.

[Ms_luv2read · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not know what to say about this book except what a ride. These stories hold nothing back. They are quite different from anything I have read in a long time. Some of the stories are disturbing, twisted, etc, but you cannot stop reading. The story that stuck with me the most was " A Children's Lottery". This story sets the benchmark for all stories that follow and does not disappoint. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Read this book, you will not be disappointed.

[Thomas Benz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darkly funny, erudite, pleasantly complicated and utterly authentic-all the things readers have come to expect from a Jacob Appel collection. His imagined families are so quirky and clever, I find myself wishing I could be adopted by several of them.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this author's short stories! So intelligent, disturbing, humorous... ! This one doesn't disappoint if you enjoy off the wall stories!
I received an advance kindle copy from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

[RMazin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jacob M. Appel is author, physician, attorney and bioethicist, according to his biographical information. But that description fails to mention his most important attributes: a wicked sense of humor and a mind for the absurd. These two are the elements that are most appealing in his story collection, The Amazing Mr. Morality.
What the stories have in common is a seemingly everyday setting, event or person but something is very, very off. Appel takes the reader to places that are totally reasonable, but only after you accept that from here on, you will encounter a most unusual perspective on behavior and events.

The Children’s Lottery is held for the benefit of a child molester, and the community at large. An old, enigmatic barber brings more stories than skills when he comes to work at a barbershop in Gable’s Whiskers. A suburban man battles tenacious woodchucks as his wife and daughter watch him coming apart in Burrowing in Exile. A man assumes the identity of his neighbor and attends an ornithologist convention as its keynote speaker in A Change of Plumage. These were my favorites and I look forward to other titles by this author. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book.

[Petra Pomper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book contains 10 short stories and I found them all great and interesting. The best thing is they are all so different but they’re working great together.
The story about Mr. Morality is my favorite. It even mentions Arnold Brinkman from The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up which is one of my last year favorites. Every time I read something from Mr. Appel I’m amazed how he can make sociopaths so likeable and he makes you think about a lot of things after you read anything he wrote.

[Mia Chediak · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, when I started reading this collection of short stories, I half expected someone to welcome me to The Twilight Zone. Bizarre and disturbing, The Amazing Mr. Morality Stories issues the reader a passport to worlds that at first seem far removed from the one we inhabit and then upon further reflection, seem altogether too much like reality, transporting us to a universe that because of its proximity to ours, becomes even more frightening. Appel presents us with ten jewels that rivet the imagination, erasing the fine line between what is plausible and that which morphs into unimaginable horror . This master spins tales that captivate and challenge our sense of what it means to be human. Of all the stories, Appel opens the book with a thunderous bang in the form of The Children's Lottery - a modern day, turned-on-its-head version of the classic Shirley Jackson tale. Beautifully crafted, the opener does not allow the reader to step away for even a second. It is a masterpiece. Equally impressive are Tracking Harold Lloyd and Burrowing in Exile. The author places his reader front and center, allowing each a close-up view of what a complex faculty the human mind is and how a simple turn can change the course of a life. I devoured this book and can't wait for the next helping!!!

[Elke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Children’s Lottery
My favorite story of the collection, disturbing and thought-provoking. *****

Jury of Matrons
My least favorite story of the collection - this simply wasn't my cup of tea. *

Gable’s Whiskers
Simple, yet sentimental and sad. ***

Burrowing in Exile
It's a little bit funny...but then not too much. **

Tracking Harold Lloyd
OK, but not very memorable to me. **

Next of Kith
Another sad piece about the ephemeral ways of life. ***

Right of Way
Kind of a coming-of-age story. ***

A Change of Plumage
Hilarious. ***

The Desecration at Lemming Bay
Another story I read but forgot about almost immediately after. **

The Amazing Mr. Morality
Now that was a great story again! *****

Overall, this was an interesting collection, different from my usual genres. Due to the fact that the author reused most of the names repeatedly in the different stories, I got the impression everything was connected, but it also added a certain level of confusion. While most stories already start to blur in my memory, I will definitely remember the first and last piece, which make reading this collection worthwhile.

(Thanks to LibraryThing and the author for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own)

[Kal ★ Reader Voracious · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher, Vandalia Press, for the electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a delightful collection of ten short stories that are eloquently written, each dealing with a moral or ethical issue. Incredibly well written and captivating from the start, Appel has a way with words that is almost poetic. The narrators in each story vary in age and gender, as well as the ethical quandary that they face.

My favorite short story from the collection is The Children's Lottery, which essentially was some Black Mirror inspired nightmare fuel that made me think for about three hours. And now I am thinking about it again!

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories. It is a quick read and despite having the thread of morality it is in no way a cumbersome philosophical discourse on ethics... it is just a collection of stories to which the reader can relate to.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

won off of www.librarything.com

[fpk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must read more collections of short stories. I tend to avoid them, but I'm glad I didn't avoid this one. Everything about this assemblage was great. I liked the title, the picture on the cover of the woodchuck, and mostly all of the stories. The first story was a bit too closely derived perhaps from Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. Even the title was The Children's Lottery ... Nevertheless, it was a well written dystopian kind of story.
Appel's writing reminds me so much of Flannery O'Connor's. Themes of death, betrayal, and ironic twists appear in each story, and the characters, despite the short length of each narrative, are well developed. My absolute favorite of the ten stories was Gable's Whiskers .
If Rod Serling were still alive, he'd perhaps be taken by these story lines and develop a script for The Twilight Zone .
I hope to read more of Appel's writings.

[Sammy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This was not bad at all. In fact, it was rather good! There were a couple of stories that didn't work as well for me as others, but that is to be expected in any collection of this sort. On the whole though, I found these stories to be fresh, well-written and interesting in how the morality theme connects them all.

Very enjoyable read.

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again great stories in this book. Every book I read of his has different themes and really makes you look at things differently. Below is my review for each story:

The Children's Lottery - Probably one of the most disturbing stories I have yet read from Mr. Appel. Basically, in the future they have created a pedophile camp where pedophiles can choose one child in a lottery. This made child abductions/kidnappings nonexistent. Crazy idea and story. Sad ending.

Jury of Matrons - So-so story about a boy who thinks his cousin is his mother. Very detailed about his family history. Not one of my favorites.

Gable's Whiskers - Cute story about a barber who is torn about getting rid of his employee who has bad tremors. When a catastrophe happens, things happen without him and the stories continue on. Good ending.

Burrowing in Exile - Different kind of story about a woodchuck who is driving the father nuts and the mother wants the woodchuck to stay. He sends the woodchuck off to some kind of retreat and he starts getting tons of letters from the woodchuck that the varmint wants to come back home. Interesting concept and ending was sad.

Tracking Harold Lloyd - Story about an elderly woman having her neighbors mom and daughter find her dog named Harold Lloyd. Cute story and of course a sad ending.

Next of Kith - Story about a retired doctor, a girl interviewing her and a neighbor on his deathbed who she somehow visits and takes care of. I liked the story and the ending was sad.

Right of Way - Really good story about a son who's father is fighting with a neighbor about switching out the street name. The son gets to hang out with a girl crush but she is a troublemaker. I liked the characters and the ending was awesome.

A Change of Plumage - A man pretending to be a expert in songbirds to get a nice big check does a lecture and cheats on his wife. Karma gets him in the end. Superb story.

The Desecration at Lemming Bay - At first it was a wee bit tedious, but to me it ended okay. A man's wife died and he fell in love with the doctor who took care of her. He took her away on vacation to propose to her but things don't always work out as they should. Meh not one of my favorites.

The Amazing Mr. Morality - Great great story and wonderful characters. A doctor writes an etchical column to get closer to his crush from high school. Competition rears its ugly head and someone does come out winning in the end... but who wins in the race? Awesome ending.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/4 stars

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Carlos Mock · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Amazing Mr. Morality by Jacob M. Appel

What would the world look like if pedophiles held a lottery and picked one single student a year to molest? What would it be like to grow up in a house full of women, not knowing who your real mother is? What would it be to own a barbershop and assume the identity of someone you fired? How would you deal with the fact that the woodchuck you had removed from your property writes you letters asking to come back? What would you do if your neighbor is so senile she thinks her dead dog has gone missing? What would you do if your neighbor is dying and you fall in love with him? How would you deal with a thief who killed your father by removing stop signs from the road? Is it ok to impersonate an ornithologist and collect money for it? Have you ever thought of proposing to a girlfriend only to find out it all goes wrong? Would you kill your competitor in a newspaper?

Nine short stories and a novella try to answer these questions using Appel's trademark dark humor, filled with contemporary life and its ethical dilemmas. Another excellent Appel collection of intelligent, humanistic, and imperfect stories that resonate in today's world. A very nice read!