Grandmother's Devil and Other Tempting Tales

by Marty Malin

Grandmother’s Devil and Other Tempting Tales is a collection of six unconventional stories about imaginary grandmothers doing what they do caring for their loved ones and trying to keep them out of trouble. These are not the author’s grandmothers. Perhaps they are yours. Perhaps not. It doesn’t really matter. Their stories will capture your imagination. The grandmothers will steal your heart.

Genres: Short Stories

144 pages, Paperback

Published March 27, 2020

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book cracked me up 😂

[Carissa Burks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this isn't a bad first book by the author. His writing style is quite enjoyable and adds a certain tone to his writing.

I wouldn't necessarily call these short stories tempting, but that's just my opinion.

This book is comprised of six short stories; Grandmother Sits, Grandmother's Predictions, Grandmother of God, Grandmother Naked, Grandmother's Devil, and Grand-Mere Le Cigare. I enjoyed half of these stories and the others, while readable, were not really my taste.

The ones I did not enjoy that much were Grandmother's Predictions, Grandmother of God, and Grandmother's Devil. Here's my reasoning so you can understand a bit of my thoughts.

Grandmother's Predictions - Overall it's not a bad story. However, the main character thinks a bit too much about sex and the story constantly references a sex doll. Don't worry, the sex doll isn't the grandmother in the story. I just found it superfluous.

Grandmother of God - The author writes from the perspective of someone claiming to be Jesus's Grandmother. I just didn't enjoy the style of this chapter. I feel like if you are of the Christian faith, and perhaps even the Jewish faith, you might find this chapter a bit offensive.

Grandmother's Devil - Full warning, this one talks about a Grandmother being sexually assaulted in her coma by a night nurse. Just not a subject I really enjoy reading about.

I did, however, finish this book in one sitting. Again, I did enjoy the author's writing style. The only draw back is I just did not enjoy all the subject matter presented in the book. I recognize this is personal preference.

(*Note: I received this book in exchange for an honest review through LibraryThing's Member Giveaways.)

[Deborah Fruchey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable book with a lot of variety and scope. If you feel you know what a grandmother is and should be, you are about to have your world expanded. The six ladies inside “Grandmother’s Devil and Other Tempting Tales” are all entirely different. What they have in common is an age bracket. ‘Grandmother Sits,’ the first tale, is perhaps the most conventional, as she dreams on her porch of past times. ‘Grandmother’s Predictions’ is a horse of an entirely different color; this grandmother is a fortune-telling automaton and the protagonist is one of those odd characters readers love to hate. This is a truly original story, and kudos go to Mr. Malin both for imagining it and for presenting it so well. I will not attempt to summarize the whole book, but I particularly liked ‘Grandmother Naked’ and ‘Grandmother’s Devil,’ both fresh and engaging stories with an uplifting effect. The book is beautifully produced and formatted, and the clever line drawings by Diane Slade add to its charm. Well written, well-presented, and piquant in taste, I would recommend it for an evening in the armchair to anyone who appreciates the many vagaries of the human race, or just likes a good yarn.

[Preston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grandmother’s Devil & Other Tempting Tales is a collection of six short stories that revolve around the topic of grandmothers. “Grandmother Sits” is an interesting story of a woman sitting on her porch. His story has great visuals yet also an ending that is both sad and calming. “Grandmother’s Predictions” tells of a guy whom buys an old Grandmother fortune game. This story is extremely hard to put down and ends giving the reader enthralled. “Grandmother of God” is a hard to read story that is hard to really explain or follow. “Grandmother Naked” tells of a woman whom poses nude for an art class. This story is extremely hard to put down and leaves the reader wanting more. “Grandmother’s Devil” tells of a woman whom is in a hospital after an accident and how she floats between life and death. This story is also hard to put down. Finally “Grandmere Le Cigare” is an interesting read as it starts with the reader not knowing what is happening yet then becomes the story of a woman and her life up to the point of her possible death. Overall this book is an interesting read as several of the stories are hard to put down and gives the reader different things to think about.

[Kathleen Byers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of 6 short stories. I thoroughly enjoyed 3 of them, but the others were either not enjoyable at all or mediocre. It's a shame that the author didn't put as much into all the stories in this book. I liked Grandmother Sits, Grandmother's Predictions and Grandmother Naked. Grandmother of God was ridiculous in my opinion, written as if she were the grandmother of Jesus. Grandmother's Devil was a story of a comatose grandmother being raped by a male nurse. I don't need to have that in my reading for enjoyment. Grand-Mere Le Cigare had way too much foreign phrasing, which really interrupted the fluidity of reading and also made the story drag on and on.

The writer does have a flair for descriptive language and in the 3 stories I enjoyed, his writing style certainly added to the story. I'm giving 4 stars instead of only 3 because of this.

Grandmother Naked was a very timely story reminding us all that anything can be put on the internet and once there is there forever.

I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.

[Rachel Foley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received Grandmother’s Devil through the LibraryThing member giveaway program in exchange for an honest review.

While I loved the ideas behind these short stories and I enjoyed the content, the writing was not my favorite. I found it to be very “telling” as opposed to “showing.”

I also found myself getting a little bit bored in the excessive detail. I got a pretty clear image from Malin’s descriptions, but I felt like there was a lot that could have been narrowed down. In “Grand-Mère Le Cigare,” the food from Christmas Eve dinner is written out course by course. While it certainly sounded delicious, it was just a lot to read and didn’t really contribute anything to the story.

However, I did enjoy this collection. “Grandmother, Naked” was probably my favorite piece. I really liked the concept of a grandmother doing nude art modeling and being confident in herself. It was an uplifting and humorous piece, and I would like to read it again.

[James White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grandmothers finally get some respect in Marty Malin's new anthology of six grandmother-themed short stories, 'Grandmother's Devil.' A grandmother poses naked in an art class and wreaks revenge on a snarky student who disses her on Twitter. Jesus' grandmother tells all and dispels deranged rumors about her grandson's life. A mechanical grandmother disciplines her restorer, admonishing him for his rude and unseemly behavior.

These and other provocative stories from the fertile mind of writer Marty Malin are the stuff of dreams and fantasies. 'Grandmother's Devil' will put new, imaginative impressions on an aspect of your family life that's often maligned. You'll never look at your grandmother in the same way again.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable short book. It's a little over a hundred pages, but the stories really had me going. The theme of the book centers around grandmothers, but these are no ordinary grandmothers. While all having that maternal instinct, each grandmother is quite different from the others. With that being said, each one brings something substantial to the table. All in all, this was a 'feel good' book with a few twists and turns along the way. I would love to read another book by this author.

[Sarita Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, each tale is unique and addicting. Marty Malin is an absolutely amazing author.

[Laura Mullet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very fun read, a little bit of twilight zone at times and very thought provoking!
I recommend reading!

[Gregory B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange, funny, and often touching

Engaging stories. The longer final story is especially nice in the electronic version with translations available for the French passages.

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool short stories about different types of grandmothers.

For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/h9WzwjfV5yc

Enjoy!

[Jill White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grandmother’s Devil & Other Tempting Tales is a delightful book. In these six short stories the author transports us readers through six different adventures with six unique women whose voices and personalities are as varied as the adventures themselves. This roller coaster of a book carries us from the quiet, dream-like world of Grandmother Rose Marie sitting on her front porch to the harsh down-ward slide of a wasted life that ignores Grandmother’s cryptic predicted warnings told in verse. Never underestimate the power of soft-spoken Grandmother Maya who has the devil ready to do her bidding, or Grandmother Hannah who not only sees the truth but records it in spite of the hypocrisy, violence, and lies spread by the zealots and powerful military. These six different tales crafted so skillfully by the author will take your breath away.