The Ice Cream Man and Other Stories

by Sam Pink

"Pink is a keen observer of the culture of minimum-wage jobs and low-rent studio apartments that is the reality of life for all those who don't find a cog space in today's hyper-capitalist economy." —The Guardian

It was maybe the first job I'd ever had where people were happy to see me.
An odd feeling indeed, to wield this kind of power.
To be this kind of force.
As near to magical as any mortal should stride.
A technician of unspeakable joy.
Braving the neon mountains to return with blue raspberry concentrate.
Tearing out sundae cone fangs from the mouths of snow beasts.
And so on.

Cone dealer, sunshine stealer, alleyway counselor, lunch lady to the homeless, friend to the dead, maker of sandwiches. Metal wrangler. Stag among stags. And so it goes—another journey through time spent punched in. A life's work of working for a living. Blood, death, and violence. Dirty dishes, dead roaches, and sparkler-lit nights. Nights ahead and no real fate. So open your mouths because the forecast calls for sprinkles. Thirteen delights, scooped and served. Let it melt down your hand. Let the sun burn your face. It's the ice cream man, and other stories.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Horror, Contemporary, Bizarro Fiction, Short Story Collection, Anthologies

288 pages, Paperback

First published March 3, 2020

About the author

Sam Pink is the author of The No Hellos Diet, Hurt Others, I Am Going to Clone Myself Then Kill the Clone and Eat It, Frowns Need Friends Too, and the cult hit Person. His writing has been published widely in print and on the internet, and also in other languages. He lives in Chicago, where he plays in the band Depressed Woman.

Reviews

[Paige · Rating 1 out of 5]

This contains one short story that made sense and had a purpose. Mostly they are incoherent and have no end goal. There is a lot of babble. There is a two page story about him jumping rope, the end. A few stories reminded me of people talking about what happened at a party the night before or what happened at work earlier that day. For example, the opening story is the narrator and two others in the alley drinking, smoking, and chatting it up while watching a rat scurry about.

I recommend this book to no one. Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy!

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shit.
If Sam Pink writes it, my ass is reading it.

I feel sorry for the fuckers who give this book, or any Sam Pink book, a one star rating. His nameless narrators are every single one of us at some sad, fucked up point in our lives. Ok. Sure. You don't want to admit it out loud. You're worried about what people might think of you if word gets out. I get it. But give the guys some props. Showing off the ugly is not easy. And he does it so effortlessly, so readably. I can't get enough of it. His protagonists are so honest it hurts... you can't seriously sit there and tell me you don't think (or ACT) like this sometimes? Not even on your worst day??? I call bullshit.

[Nefariousbig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received an advanced copy for no favors. This is my unbiased review.

As all great masters do, Sam Pink gives us parables, all simple, plain spoken, sometimes crude yet so deep and soulful to the mind's heart. He is the peid piper for the people whose life it is to "fingerfuck some food out of the drain so the filthy water will go away". He wants the reader to SEE these fogotten people, not just what they do, but who they are, what they feel, how they smell. Their contempt for others, their tenacious resolve to find a sliver of hope in the monotony of life. The silent and unseen who struggle through life one day at a time. He makes us see US. The meek ARE powerful in their hatred and love and compassion for each other, for the silent struggles we must all endure in our mind. Sam Pink does not tell us to follow, he doesn't seem to particularly want us to follow, but the reader cannot help but follow. As if entranced by the melody of his Song 7. He allows us to make up our own mind's heart. He shows us the dirty, stale, rancid, trash filled path, and we choose for ourself to walk with him. Because we know. He truly is the literary Ice Cream Man, "a technician of unspeakable joy."

[Jo Quenell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Sam Pink at his most mature. It follows the tradition of work/anti-work literature like Rivethead and Factotum while retaining Pink’s signature manic style. The story ‘Blue Victoria’ is the most powerful work of his that I’ve read.
While I prefer The No-Hello’s Diet and The Garbage Times, I’m still giving this 5 stars to counter the dildo who gave it a one star review in the form of a pretentious masturbatory poem. Fuck that guy, I hope he gets gored by a stag.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was completely drawn in by the main quote in the description. Not fitting into the world, low rent studios, low wage jobs and all that…all too relatable. Alas, maybe I overshot…or undershot with this one. Not quite the working class dramas of, say, Dan Chaon, this these are more of the bottom of the barrel denizens. Beaten down, dirty and hopeless…with the phrase no real fate on repeat. Pink’s protagonists were…well, they are the people you avoid in the park late at night, not quite downtrodden so much as just profoundly dysfunctional and weirdly proud of it. Very strong gutterpunk type of atmosphere. All BO and cheap booze. Viscerally unpleasant. Stylistically…well, it’s very stylized. Most of it, in fact, reads like poetry, the weird kind that doesn’t rhyme and relies strictly on rhythm and delivery. So I didn’t really like either the characters or the writing. Looked up the author’s art, since he’s also an artist, and didn’t like that either. Not a lot…from a book that devotes an entire 6% to the author’s praises being sung by other writers. Seriously, that was probably the first sign. No book should be sold that much. A few quotes, sure, but pages and pages of it…overkill. And yet…this is exactly the sort of book that gathers this kind of attention and praise, it’s so hip and trendy, poetic poverty chic with Pink as the bard for the ugly dirty souls of his stories. Seems like an acquired taste sort of thing, at the very least. Certainly didn’t work for me. Almost at all. The main redeeming quality was how quickly it read and still that 85 minutes or so were not worth it. Might very well work for other readers. Who knows. Maybe like art, at least Pink’s art, it’s all a matter of personal preferences. Thanks Netgalley.

[Joshua Chaplinsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Pink don't stink.

[Nathaniel Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nobody does the happy/sad one-two punch like Sam Pink. I laughed out loud on my lunch break today while reading. I teared up a little, too. Probably Pink's best work to date. Damn.

[Tyler Barton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly fresh. This is the book you need after reading too much bullshit.

[Tyler Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically my average rating for the 13 stories is 3.31, meaning I would normally give it 3 stars on here but that doesn't feel right. These made me think, terrified me, were weird and idk what to say really but i'm bumping it up to a 3.5, and GR doesn't do half stars, so 4 on here it is. Feels right.

I enjoyed it over-all. Glad I read it.

[Stacie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever had a job that you hated?

Like, really, really hated? You know, that one job where you spent every day despising everyone and everything around you? That one job where it sucked the life out of you and turned you into a venom-soaked creature of perpetual resentment? You know...that job?

Because this short story collection is the literary embodiment of that state of existence.

If you ever wanted to buckle up for another spin through that hate-train, then this is the reading experience for you.

I don't know what it says about me, but I did relate to a solid chunk of these stories. This collection wasn't fun to read. It wasn't easy to read. However, it was oddly relatable in a twisted way. The Ice Cream Man and Other Stories takes the minutiae of every day life, and breaks it down into even smaller misery-filled segments. Pink's writing can be best described as brutally honest stream of consciousness. Some things are eerily accurate to experiences I've had before, and others weren't as impactful.

As with any short story collection, there will be certain stories that just don't click & other stories that you loved. Overall though, this did make me feel something. It wasn't feel-good by any means, but it did get a reaction out of me at the end of the day. If you're a fan of Pink's other work, I think this would be a decent book to pick up.

[Sebastian Castillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading the books of Sam Pink since he released Person. Looking now, I see that Person was published in 2010, which somehow seems impossible. I find myself staring at a smudge in the ceiling above me, asking: Ten years? I hear a car driving by outside my window; the ceiling says nothing. Nothing! I am reminded of the narrator in "Wants" by Grace Paley: "First, my father was sick that Friday, then the children were born, then I had those Tuesday-night meetings, then the war began." Ah well.

I've more or less read everything that Sam has published since then. My favorites among those are Rontel and White Ibis. Two crispy, succulent books. I would now add The Ice Cream Man and Other Stories to that list of favorites.

In a message to Sam, I said, "I found myself smiling, laughing, and appreciating something that I can’t name as I read these stories." That sentiment is true for each story in the book. Sam's capacity for humor in his work has always been impressive to me. Nothing in the books come across as intentionally funny—the moments of laughter are not produced by what I would call "jokes." Instead, the humor comes from observations of the strange, absurd percussions in everyday life. This has been said in previous reviews of Sam's books, probably, and it continues to be true here. In some ways, I feel that all of Sam Pink's books are part of a greater, unified book. I would say the same of writers like Bernhard, Bolaño, Lispector, Notley.

Some of the stories are brutal ("Yop," "Blue Victoria"). Reading them, I couldn't help but feel a kind of powerlessness against the violence and general misery of the universe. My two favorites in the collection ("The Ice Cream Man," "The Machine Operator") offer a fullness of life in a short story that I've experienced only a few times as a reader. In the latter story, the narrator receives a pair of steel-toed boots from a temp agency. The boots were originally reserved for a man named DeMontero Smith; he never picked them up. Throughout the story, the narrator refers back to this man as an anonymous source of power, fortitude, hope. He says: DeMontero, teach us laughter. DeMontero, remind us to be kind. DeMontero, protect me. These are all very funny moments. I've found myself in the past few days doing the same. Making oatmeal, I say, DeMontero, give us strength. Writing an email, I say, DeMontero, remind us to breathe. Doing the dishes, I say, DeMontero, teach us to laugh. Sometimes reading can teach one beneficent habits.

If I were not quarantined, I would ride down the streets of anonymous American cities on a motorcycle, shooting a rifle into the air, and say: read The Ice Cream Man and Other Stories by Sam Pink.

[Steve Bal4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Pink is a wizard. I'm convinced. Tell me I'm wrong, but I won't believe you. I'll call you names in my head and picture you getting served a very bad coffee next time you order one -- so bad that you grimace at the aftertaste and then remember that you tried to persuade me that Sam Pink is not a magical being that slaps words onto pages that my eyes sucked up like so much delicious, delicious soup. Mmm, now I want soup...

So, many of the points taken in reviews you may have read here are true; he writes about the mundane, the down-and-out, the everyday, low-end working and living class, and that some of the stories "just happen". Sam Pink (and his characters), like so many of us, just get by in life. Where the magic lies in this is in his telling of the tales.

Pink writes simple, short sentences and phrases, but they ring true. They are also punctuated by poetic moments and unique observations that make you laugh, make you fall in love with him seeing and sharing something beyond the soul-crushing uselessness and monotony of temp jobs, and non-career work. And he infuses an odd underlying positivity in both his relating of, and interacting with, his co-workers that elevates these stories beyond the typical bitch-fest of working life. There are also some great little moments of magical realism thrown in, just for good measure.

I enjoyed every story in this collection, with "Blue Victoria", "The Ice Cream Man", and "The Stag" standing out a little more for their beautiful mix of poignancy, humour and narrative buoyancy. Would I recommend this book to everyone? No. Not if you're the type that may live in a nice middle or upper-class, suburban home, with a "Live Love Laugh" plaque hanging on the wall, a closet full of designer shoes, and usually reads contemporary "novels" on a white chaise lounge whilst wearing home-slacks and drinking a glass of Merlot.

Or, if you don't believe in magics anymore.

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2 bitches.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific collection of stories. It is rare they we get stories, told from the viewpoint, of the lower working class. The folks that toil as dishwashers, assembly line workers and yes, ice cream delivery drivers. This could have been a bleak reading experience, but the author injects enough humor and optimism, that it keeps the dark subject matter buoyant.

[Trever · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way Sam can make you laugh and break your heart within the span of a couple pages is something special. He has a way of making the brutal beautiful. These could be your stories, this could easily be your life.

[Alex Ferland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every new Sam Pink book is a monumental event.

The gods of the dejected and the discarded come down from the mountain and knock at your door with 13 stories etched in permanent marker on post its. They begin sticking the post its all over your small, crappy apartment. At first, you're resentful of the post its. Eventually, though, you begin reading them here and there and patterns begin to emerge. Fragmentary, matter-of-fact, day to day events are occurring, all in the service of showcasing that no matter how broke you are, no matter how crappy your job is - and it can be insanely crappy - no matter how much of a deadbeat your roommate is, it's going to be alright. There are moments of human connection to be had, and they are everything. Small kindnesses. Understanding. The hypnotic nature of some manual labor at a job where you barely exist as a human being. Bonding with coworkers through fantasies of the hypothetical violence you both imagine inflicting on customers, each other, everyone. Fishing on a quiet morning with a friend you have been through so much with, but who you have lost contact with for a long time because life happens.

He presents the people who have surrounded me all my life without judgment ( except for Victoria's boyfriend, fuck that guy.)

As always, this book is the easiest thing to read ever. There's no pretense. It's all poetic, flowing, hypnotic stuff that reads like a union of prose and poetry. In the last two books Pink has released, the flights of fancy focusing on intense self-harm and hallucinatory surrealism have reared their head less and less often, being mostly replaced by more quiet, measured humor and melancholy.
He's as much of a factotum as Bukowski was, but unlike Bukowski, doesn't see his coworkers as beneath him. They are all equally a part of the multicultural, oppressed majority, taken advantage of by their employers in every way possible and struggling to get by while using humor to lift each other up.

It's strangely uplifting, is what I'm saying, which I would not have expected from the man who wrote Person and some of the most crushing poetry out there.

PS: Blue Victoria is an amazing story. I cried reading it.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in this collection overflow with raw energy and visceral imagery. Cult favorite Sam Pink introduces strivers, deadbeats, dishwashers and, yes, an ice-cream man. His characters are alternately grotesque and heroic as they hustle to survive, and while some make it, others don't. His writing is often funny and always poetic as he explores the spectrum of hope to hopelessness. Hunter Thompson would recognize the people in these stories, and Pink's similarly gonzo view of life is on full display. Fans of Pink's writing will be delighted with a new offering, and those new to his work will understand what the fuss is about.

[George Monard · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a wonderful structure to this collection. Separated into sections: Chicago, Florida, Michigan. The stories that Sam Pink tells of these places have a an almost documentary flavor to them. Like Sam worked at the restaurant in The Dishwasher it was in fact The Ice Cream Man. The prose and structure of his fiction has a distance and poetry and is at times hyper real. A close film analogue would be the work of anonymous filmmaker Trapped, who’s film Gothic King Cobra also captures an America of this transient moment.

Loved this a lot.

[Ryan Mitrovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Resplendent in their mundanity, these stories are full of grace, humor and raw power. By giving soul to the characters at the periphery of our society and with sentences that soar in their simplicity, Sam Pink shows us the victory of simply existing in this world.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book, let my 20 year old daughter use it when I was done and she has informed me I am not getting it back.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I held out a small degree of hope that with this collection of short stories, Pink would maybe swerve a little and write something unexpected, since the novels of his I've read are essentially short story collections with a faint trace of a narrative thread stringing them together. But Pink, Bukowski in style and Holden Caufield in outlook, remains true to his self, the aimless wage earner safe and comfortable in sketchy situations and terrible jobs with his never-ending snippets of inner monologue in between phonetic conversations where Pink's protagonist does little more than repeat what is said to him, punctuated with swears.

I will say that Pink is perhaps at his most sentimental or at least reflective on the grimy chaos surrounding him, letting down the blast shields of black cynicism to share his visions of beauty and meaning in a world that seems to possess very little of it. His writing flow also seems to have improved a bit; it read more musically to me as the sentences and fragments flowed more naturally into each other. I mean I can definitely not argue that his style is pretentious, but I think it fits the vibe he is going for one hundred percent. Everything is clipped before it blossoms and rots from its own poisonous sweetness. Something to be quickly savored like sneaking a piece of chocolate or the moment before you start the car before having to drive to work, something stolen from the world before the world steals from you.

[🐴 🍖]

the fact that someone who understands humans like this happens to also be tao-lin-adjacent is like one of those zen koans where the answer is just a groaning noise

[Jason Schmit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Sam Pink. I have tried reading everything of his that I can. I was in the middle of a “don’t buy anything new... only read the backlog 2020 resolution” when I saw this released and instantly bought it, dropping the book I was in the middle of.

Every story, I take something away. He has so much love for the world, in the smallest things, the quiet things, the real things. He captures something about humanity in a way almost no one else does or can. His writing is just so honest and profound... it’s the lens he uses, that I can totally relate to yet could never articulate. Somehow he has tapped into that and broken it down into his own language. I know this might sound crazy, but it is what his writing does to me, in a way almost no one else does.

I would definitely say the story of him and his childhood friends is a huge success, much more accessible to those unfamiliar with him. It rocked me and has stuck with me.

I’ll end by saying that I just love how my mind works in the midst of Sam Pink readings. I am looking forward to whatever happens next.

[johnny ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

this white guy used racial slurs FOUR TIMES in this novel!!! but even if we ignore that, the stories are written at the level of a computer science major taking a freshman creative writing class and boring everyone to death. some of these “stories” would work better as poems. there is a fine line between using colloquial language and repetition to enhance a piece and just being a shit writer. i thought this was in the horror genre, but it’s clearly just urban banal nonsense. anyway, none of it matters because this dude is white and says the n word three times and a different racial slur once!

[Jerome Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn, man... Sam Pink just keeps getting better and better. This book made me laugh so much and then I was really surprised to realize I was also kind of sad. There are many sincere moments of weepy joy that made me believe in humanity (for a second).

[Kristal · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Three hundred dollars or after two weeks” was an O.Henry level twist

[RKanimalkingdom · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 40%

Disliked the writing style immensely. It felt like reading a social media post

[Emma Foley · Rating 5 out of 5]

New favorite

[AB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost put the book down after the first story but I'm happy that I picked it back up. There are a lot of good stories in here that reminded me of why I started to enjoy books like this. The Chicago and Florida sections were my favorite and while Michigan was good some of that charm that I loved from the former two sections was not there. Its unique, everyday (in a good way) stories about life. You don't really need the tidy one liner at the end to have it all make sense. You can enjoy the journey of reading it.

[Nik Maack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pink's poetry is repetitive and exhausting. But these are short stories and I think he is much betterbat writing these. Dark and weird and also mundane. The stories typically describe the drudgery of living and the occasional nice moments.

I genuinely enjoyed these. But got a little bored with the dishwasher who hates everyone and the sandwich maker who also hates everyone. The best story has to be Blue Victoria. The Ice Cream Man is also good.

Would read more of his stuff if there was more. He has written a lot. Early Stuff was okay but gets very repetitive.

I bought this book through Indigo and they didn't have much more by Pink. I bet it's all on Amazon, but Jeff Bezos can eat my entire ass with a silver spoon.

[Jay Slayton-Joslin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe I didn't love it as much as some of his poetry but still a lot to like here. Sam Pink shows a world that many people don't get to see, the unsung heroes of society, and treats them with the love they deserve.