Training the Problem: Stories and a Novella

by Michael P. Ferrari

It's been said, "Life is good, but it's living that's a pain in the ass." Everyone has got problems-some bad, some not-so-bad, some of pants-soiling magnitudes-and everyone finds their own way to solving tricky situations. But what happens when someone realizes that they make their own problems, or even worse, that they are their own problem? In Training the Problem, a collection of previously published and unpublished short stories, Michael P. Ferrari blends humor and tragedy to show that often we are our own worst enemy. Each tale-whether it is about trying to tame a racist house pet, waging a violent war against celebrity culture, confronting infidelity or battling trust issues with the church-shows that, whether we realize it or not, we are all breeding and training our own problems. Also featured is the novella, What Ever Happened to Kalvin Gray?, the follow-up to Ferrari's first novel, Assault on the Senses.

228 pages, Paperback

First published June 14, 2010

About the author

Michael P. Ferrari is the author of the novels "Assault on the Senses" and "Training the Problem: Stories and a Novella" (coming Spring 2010). He is also the founder of Blue Room Publishing, an independent press that prides itself on publishing the finest left-of-center fiction and poetry. Aside from this, Ferrari has written for a number of magazines and websites, including CollegeHumor.com and CollegeStories.com. Most recently, he wrote as a contributor to The Book of Beer Pong (Chronicle, 2009).

Reviews

[Mona Garg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a FirstReads giveaway.

I chose this book for 2 reasons:
. I like short stories/anthologies/novellas because there is less of a time commitment involved. I can read one story or more depending on my mood or time constraints and the story is complete in itself. In most cases, I can read the stories in random order. In this book, the stories are indeed short—some only 1 ½ pages.

. The premise or central theme, that we are our own worst enemy, intrigued me.

I liked the use of first-person narration. The writing style is readable, accessible, and descriptive. The language is admittedly a little more profane, crude, and graphic than I’m accustomed to reading.

Some of the stand-outs to me were:

Dead to Me was my favorite. In my opinion, this one was good enough to be made into a TV series episode or even a movie. It was a thriller, my favorite genre. Even though I could predict some of the plot, it still held my interest.

With Polite Regards to Writer/Director John Singleton was one of the funniest stories I ever read. It put a smile on my face.

The Bouncer was a unique take on our celebrity and pop culture obsessed public.

312 takes place in a hotel and, speaking from personal experience, the descriptions of the setting and characters, were right on. This story also had my favorite line to describe text messages, “little digital morsels of affection, zapped from antennas across the nation but still able to make it feel like she’s in my pocket no matter how far away she actually was at the moment.”

I enjoyed the “white whale syndrome” dialogue in Whatever Happened to Kalvin Gray.


Overall, I am glad I entered to win this book.

[Maxine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorry Michael. I read half of it and it's not for me. Maybe it's because I'm an elderly woman who was not shocked but not interested.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

11th BOOK WON ON GOODREADS. Interesting, Easy to read short stories. Dark humor worth a chuckle here and there. The Dog Short Story is hilarious.