What do you think?
Rate this book
Moe Howard Died For Our Sins: made-to-fit tales for the maladjusted
Read the book. Share the faith. Pass the seltzer.
With humor as twisted as its stories' plots, Moe Howard Died For Our Sins takes readers on a rollicking, hilarious ride. Go to Hell - and see it as a tourist. Get lured into a pie-throwing cult. Peek backstage at the Second Coming. Attend a surprise party for the Grim Reaper. Encounter talking pigs, a tongue-twisting poet, levitating patients, militant tots, a dastardly schoolbus driver and a song-and-dance act that's its own show-stopper. The misadventures just keep coming in this collection of short fiction snatched from Modern Short Stories, Comic Relief, Beyond Science Fiction & Fantasy, Northcoast View, The MacGuffin and other journals and magazines.
With humor as twisted as its stories' plots, Moe Howard Died For Our Sins takes readers on a rollicking, hilarious ride. Go to Hell - and see it as a tourist. Get lured into a pie-throwing cult. Peek backstage at the Second Coming. Attend a surprise party for the Grim Reaper. Encounter talking pigs, a tongue-twisting poet, levitating patients, militant tots, a dastardly schoolbus driver and a song-and-dance act that's its own show-stopper. The misadventures just keep coming in this collection of short fiction snatched from Modern Short Stories, Comic Relief, Beyond Science Fiction & Fantasy, Northcoast View, The MacGuffin and other journals and magazines.
- GenresHumor
110 pages, Paperback
First published September 27, 2004
1 person is currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Dale Andrew White
87 books10 followersDale Andrew White's humorous short stories have appeared in Modern Short Stories, Comic Relief, The MacGuffin, Nuthouse, Beyond Science Fiction & Fantasy and numerous other magazines and journals.
Midwest Book Review calls him "a natural born storyteller with an especial flair for blending fantasy, whimsy, satire and a fevered imagination into original stories that are replete with ribald humor and reader-engaging novelty."
BookReview.com warns that to open a Dale Andrew White short story collection "is to invite trouble - and probably enjoy it."
Several of White's short stories can be downloaded separately on Amazon Kindle.
White is a member of Humor Writers of America. His short story collections have been nominated for the James Thurber Prize for American Humor.
White's free-lance magazine journalism has included interviews with novelist Harry Crews, comedian Henny Youngman, cartoonist Gahan Wilson, the Allman Brothers Band, pop artist Andy Warhol,Up the Down Staircase author Bel Kaufman, behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner, actor Derek Jacobi, Watership Down author Richard Adams, novelist Eugenia Price, rock 'n' roll icons Little Richard and Bo Diddley, macabre cartoonist Gahan Wilson, Sir Peter Saunders (Agatha Christie's theatrical producer), The Blackboard Jungle author Evan Hunter (also known as Ed McBain, author of the 87th Precinct mystery series), Rumpole of the Bailey creator John Mortimer, novelist Chaim Potok, "Hagar the Horrible" cartoonist Dik Browne and others. Many of his interviews are featured in the collection Encounters with Authors and are also available separately on Amazon Kindle.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 11, 2023
“Moe Howard Died For Our Sins” by Dale Andrew White is a collection of humorous short stories that effortlessly leave you with a smile. White tells whimsical stories with a goofy heart to them that, even when they feel like they are floating away from the world we know (like Jack Ayers in the story Lunacy Grounded), are grounded with emotions to which anyone can relate.
The longest story in the book is under ten pages, which makes this collection perfect for busy readers looking to pick up and put down a book without worrying about losing their place. Though several of the stories take place in Mosquito County, Florida, they aren’t connected.
The standout stories for me were:
-Mightier than the Sword: about a libel court case that feels so out there yet like it really happened.
–Behind the Throne: which gives us a look behind the scenes of Jesus’s second coming.
–Double Occupancy: where a man goes to a town whose occupants live like Bud Abbot in the Who’s on First Sketch.
Other notable stories are any ones where White tells a serious familiar story with props or people changed for a lighthearted effect. The story Benny the Broker feels like a classic story about a Miami drug middleman, except with rare books instead of any illegal substances. Or the story of a grown man returning to the site of a war he was in, only it was a neighborhood war with other kids when he was seven.
If the name of the collection doesn’t give it away, readers familiar with pop culture and historical references will get the most out of these stories. While I enjoyed the humorous writing, there came a point where I started to correctly guess the ending punchlines. However, much of this predictability came from reading several of the stories in one sitting.
If the premise of this collection isn’t for you, I can still recommend reading it for White’s writing skills. He does a good job immersing readers in the worlds he has built and does an incredible job seamlessly transitioning from summary to scene and back again. I would recommend any aspiring writer to learn from his skillful pacing.
I recommend “Moe Howard Died for Our Sins” by Dale Andrew White if you are a fan of pop culture and a good joke, like I am, every story in this collection is for you.
The longest story in the book is under ten pages, which makes this collection perfect for busy readers looking to pick up and put down a book without worrying about losing their place. Though several of the stories take place in Mosquito County, Florida, they aren’t connected.
The standout stories for me were:
-Mightier than the Sword: about a libel court case that feels so out there yet like it really happened.
–Behind the Throne: which gives us a look behind the scenes of Jesus’s second coming.
–Double Occupancy: where a man goes to a town whose occupants live like Bud Abbot in the Who’s on First Sketch.
Other notable stories are any ones where White tells a serious familiar story with props or people changed for a lighthearted effect. The story Benny the Broker feels like a classic story about a Miami drug middleman, except with rare books instead of any illegal substances. Or the story of a grown man returning to the site of a war he was in, only it was a neighborhood war with other kids when he was seven.
If the name of the collection doesn’t give it away, readers familiar with pop culture and historical references will get the most out of these stories. While I enjoyed the humorous writing, there came a point where I started to correctly guess the ending punchlines. However, much of this predictability came from reading several of the stories in one sitting.
If the premise of this collection isn’t for you, I can still recommend reading it for White’s writing skills. He does a good job immersing readers in the worlds he has built and does an incredible job seamlessly transitioning from summary to scene and back again. I would recommend any aspiring writer to learn from his skillful pacing.
I recommend “Moe Howard Died for Our Sins” by Dale Andrew White if you are a fan of pop culture and a good joke, like I am, every story in this collection is for you.
November 29, 2017
Moe Howard Died For Our Sins is a short collection of very odd little stories that some may find too strange for their taste but I found quite entertaining. The secondary title of the book is Made-To-Fit Tales for the Maladjusted and it’s probably this title that made me choose this book. The cover, to be honest, is not interesting at all and when that is the case it is necessary to have a great title to attract readers. Mr. White has provided the great title and the tales within deliver the quirkiness that is promised in the title. The stories are very short and easy to read and it would make a great bathroom book (we all know we have them). I do have a few favourites from the book, such as The Battle of Florence Tucker, which is about a lady who finds out that her perfectly southern life isn’t quite as cut and dried as she thought it was. It’s full of humour and I really wish that Mr. White would write an entire book with Florence Tucker and her friends and family as the characters. Another favourite was Nature of the Beasts. It’s this wonderfully written look at racism and fitting in when you’re from a different culture. The difference is that the characters are actual pigs. It reminded me a lot of one of my favourite books of all time, Animal Farm.
Some of the stories really don’t seem to work. They sometimes end abruptly, as if the author decided all of a sudden that he was finished with the story. However, there were only a couple like this and, although I didn’t like all of them to the extent that I did the other ones, especially Nature of the Beasts, they are a wickedly humorous little collection that will be a fun read for anyone with a bit of an off-beat sense of humour. Sometimes the stories can have a bit of nastiness to them (one refers to a homely lady as the Paper Bag Award) but I’ve never been very politically correct so it was right up my ally. It is definitely a book that will provide some amusement to those interested.
I read this book on my ereader and it formatted well. As I mentioned above, the cover could use some work so that it would entice a reader to pick the book up.
Some of the stories really don’t seem to work. They sometimes end abruptly, as if the author decided all of a sudden that he was finished with the story. However, there were only a couple like this and, although I didn’t like all of them to the extent that I did the other ones, especially Nature of the Beasts, they are a wickedly humorous little collection that will be a fun read for anyone with a bit of an off-beat sense of humour. Sometimes the stories can have a bit of nastiness to them (one refers to a homely lady as the Paper Bag Award) but I’ve never been very politically correct so it was right up my ally. It is definitely a book that will provide some amusement to those interested.
I read this book on my ereader and it formatted well. As I mentioned above, the cover could use some work so that it would entice a reader to pick the book up.
January 17, 2015
Moe Howard is an interesting little volume of short stories that satirize everything from religion to education to government to comedy and death. The fascinating copy that goes with the book on Amazon and Goodreads really does nothing for the book - but at the same rate, after having read it I cannot think of a better way to describe the short stories than with nonsequiturs disguised in bizarre unclear in jokes. Yet when you finish it, all you can think is, “yup, there you are!”
The stories were mostly funny and engaging, with some great gags and punchlines throughout. A couple of the stories I couldn't quite figure out if I understood the joke, but then on second thought I think I recognized that the piece wasn't racist or unclear, but the mirror was being held to a particular angle of American Society I don’t give much thought to.
I really enjoyed some pieces. Overall the Magical Realism, when presented, was beautiful and effective, such as in Lunacy Grounded and A Taste of Palp. The titular story of Moe Howard was a fun poke at gag comedy and higher education. Mightier Than The Sword hit publishing hard, and The Twiddlebum Method did the same for education. Behind the Throne was a great piece of satire that hit a lot of groups where it hurts, from the church to celebrity. Kiss of Knowledge was an indictment of war, childhood, and rule. I believe that my favorite pieces in the collection were Lunacy Grounded and the hilarious Life of The Party.
My only gripe about the works as a whole - and a gripe enough to call it four stars instead of five and the difference between my loving them and just enjoying them - is the fact that the voice in the stories does not change at all. In my realm, I read not just for the story, but for the writing itself, and when I read a collection I expect there to be some variation of tone, atmosphere, and diction depending on the story’s characters and themes. In this case, there was no variation. I will say it works in terms of keeping the stories together in one collection, but I do wonder in examining the other works of this author if he writes like this all of the time, or just for this particular group of stories. If so, that might be one joke I do not get.
Great collection, well-edited and formatted, and artwork could be more engaging - but I don’t read books for the cover.
The stories were mostly funny and engaging, with some great gags and punchlines throughout. A couple of the stories I couldn't quite figure out if I understood the joke, but then on second thought I think I recognized that the piece wasn't racist or unclear, but the mirror was being held to a particular angle of American Society I don’t give much thought to.
I really enjoyed some pieces. Overall the Magical Realism, when presented, was beautiful and effective, such as in Lunacy Grounded and A Taste of Palp. The titular story of Moe Howard was a fun poke at gag comedy and higher education. Mightier Than The Sword hit publishing hard, and The Twiddlebum Method did the same for education. Behind the Throne was a great piece of satire that hit a lot of groups where it hurts, from the church to celebrity. Kiss of Knowledge was an indictment of war, childhood, and rule. I believe that my favorite pieces in the collection were Lunacy Grounded and the hilarious Life of The Party.
My only gripe about the works as a whole - and a gripe enough to call it four stars instead of five and the difference between my loving them and just enjoying them - is the fact that the voice in the stories does not change at all. In my realm, I read not just for the story, but for the writing itself, and when I read a collection I expect there to be some variation of tone, atmosphere, and diction depending on the story’s characters and themes. In this case, there was no variation. I will say it works in terms of keeping the stories together in one collection, but I do wonder in examining the other works of this author if he writes like this all of the time, or just for this particular group of stories. If so, that might be one joke I do not get.
Great collection, well-edited and formatted, and artwork could be more engaging - but I don’t read books for the cover.
September 12, 2010
FEATHERED QUILL BOOK REVIEWS: "Moe Howard Died For Our Sins is a collection of humorous short stories that are, at some points, irreverently provocative and at other times just plain guffaw-able, but always a superb display of White's fine writing style and seriously slanted sense of humor."
BOOKREVIEW.COM: "Dale Andrew White is a devious writer and his new collection, Moe Howard Died For Our Sins, provides incriminating evidence of this. On the one hand, the flavor of his tales faintly evokes that decayed antebellum style of Southern literature that is both lyrically humorous and self-deprecating; the sort of thing we get in Faulkner's Sartoris or Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn... On the other hand, this not the satire of Ambrose Bierce or H. L. Mencken. It is more like the kind of in-your-face semantic slapstick that you might expect of a George Carlin or a Lenny Bruce... To open this collection is to invite trouble - and probably enjoy it."
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW: "Part-time iconoclast and two-fingered typist Dale Andrew White is a natural born storyteller with an especial flair for blending fantasy, whimsy, satire and a fevered imagination into original stories that are replete with ribald humor and reader-engaging novelty. Subtitled 'made-to-fit tales for the maladjusted,' this collection of short stories showcase a genuine and offbeat talent... Highly recommended reading!"
February 7, 2015
Moe Howard Died for Our Sins by Dale Andrew White is quite a comical book with a twist. White's sense of humor reminds me of the little old gossip at church; you always are guaranteed to be shocked and tickled silly. One other thing you can find her at fault because sadly you agree with her take on the situation.
White gave us the reader a different spin on life and makes you think but also keeps you on your toes so that you are continuously engaged in the story line never wanting to put the book down.
One of my favorite stories in this book is "Nature of the Beast." This brought up so many hot topics: racism, neighborhood watch, animals and a few more topics. What amazed me about this story is although the characters were animals it could be related to each and every culture worldwide.
If you want to get a good life, think differently about what life has to present to you; definitely give this book a try.
White gave us the reader a different spin on life and makes you think but also keeps you on your toes so that you are continuously engaged in the story line never wanting to put the book down.
One of my favorite stories in this book is "Nature of the Beast." This brought up so many hot topics: racism, neighborhood watch, animals and a few more topics. What amazed me about this story is although the characters were animals it could be related to each and every culture worldwide.
If you want to get a good life, think differently about what life has to present to you; definitely give this book a try.
February 1, 2015
This is a collection of short stories that will make you laugh out loud. All are written as dark comedies with characters that you either love or hate. Before reading this, I had no idea who Moe Howard was. I was expecting him to just be a fictional character. Now that I can connect him to the Three Stooges, I understand where all the slapstick humor is coming from.
The varied topics kept me entertained. When you can personify the grim reaper and other characters of his stature, it can’t help but be hilarious. Then, imagine a school principal enforcing rules that encourage delinquency, and it becomes an improvement. These are the types of stories that had me reading the book in one sitting. This author knows how to write a story short enough that you enjoy it, and you are left wanting more; more of these characters, more new stories, just plain more.
The varied topics kept me entertained. When you can personify the grim reaper and other characters of his stature, it can’t help but be hilarious. Then, imagine a school principal enforcing rules that encourage delinquency, and it becomes an improvement. These are the types of stories that had me reading the book in one sitting. This author knows how to write a story short enough that you enjoy it, and you are left wanting more; more of these characters, more new stories, just plain more.
June 8, 2011
Funny and clever. White takes aspects of our culture and spins each in a way that shows us how absurd people are.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews