Georgia Z Post

It is a short book of very short stories. The entire book is only 62 pages and with 25 stories they average just over 2 pages apiece. With such a short story there is no time for character development and almost no room for plot. They are very anecdotal, more describing a situation or happening than actually telling a story. Some of them are funny, some are dark and slightly twisted and a few are even sweet. But a couple actually left me a little confused, I had to go back and reread one (it didn’t take long) because I thought I had missed something or that the story had ended a couple of sentences too soon. Being so short they are good if you don’t have much time or if you just want something quick to read that does not require a commitment on your time or on your attention. The stories are simple, sometimes predictable and on the whole rather unremarkable. None got an emotional response from me, not even a laugh. I think in the end they are just too short. I want more depth to a story than it is possible to fit into 2 pages. I think there is probably an audience for this book but unfortunately I’m not it. I found it too difficult to become involved in the story or to care about the characters in so brief a time.… (meer)

When I saw copies of Arsenic Soup for Lovers: When Chicken Soup Doesn't Work being offered for review, I managed to snag one. I had never heard of the book or the author before, but had a hard time passing up on a title like that. The book is a very slim volume. The twenty-five stories are also very slim, amounting to only a few pages each. (The sub-subtitle, Very Very Short Stories for Very Very Busy People, isn't kidding.) Because of this, the book felt more like a collection of jokes rather than short stories.

This collection is definitely suited to those who only have a few minutes to catch here and there. The stories are indeed very, very short and are easily and quickly consumed. The book certainly doesn't require much in the way of a time investment. In some fashion or another, each story deals with love, lust, and/or romance, usually not in the most positive of lights. Actually, they're often rather twisted.

I found most of the stories to be vaguely amusing, although there were a good handful that I just didn't' "get." Part of the problem is probably related to the length of the stories. I have no issue with the fact that these were super-short (which is a selling-point, really, and kinda fun), but sometimes I think important details may have been left out while other, less critical details were left in. One other, really very small complaint is that some names were recycled. (For example, I'm pretty sure that that one Frank wasn't the same person as that one other Frank, but I could be wrong.) This was distracting for a set of stories that I assume are not supposed to be related to each other except for the general theme of romance gone awry.

Even though each was an individual story, they all began to seem very familiar very quickly, mostly due to similar initial circumstances and because the stories aren't long enough to really distinguish themselves from each other. However, there still is a pleasant variety of stories--some are really quite sweet while others are definitely quite the opposite. Arsenic Soup for Lovers requires a specific sense of humor to really appreciate the book to its fullest. Many of the stories are appalling when one stops to really think about what's going on--people playing nasty tricks on one another, murderous intentions, the list goes on. If you don't find malice funny at times, you probably won't like this collection.

Stories included: "Midlife Crisis," "The Perfect Couple," "Valentine's Day Update," "The Marriage Test," "Ask Me," "The Morgue Called," "Assisted Living," "Knees," "Marriage and Role Reversal," "The Widow and the Leaking Toilet," "The Widow's Deception," "Breaking Up," "Christmas Wish List," "E-Mail," "New Year's Resolution," "Birds and Bees 102," "Running Out of Time," "Sex and the Widow," "The Widow and the Other Woman," "The Devil's Hangout," "Valentines," "The Widow and the Will," "Christmas Wish," "A Better Spouse Trap," "Widow for Rent"

Experiments in Reading… (meer)

An interesting little book of extremely short stories. Since they're each about 2 pages long, there isn't much time for plot or character, just a funny situation. Most deal with marriage, divorce and widow(er)hood, so even in this short space, the subject matter gets tedious.

I especially enjoyed "Assisted Living", about a woman shuffled off to an assisted living center because her kids are worried about her. Bored and with limited prospects for excitement, she hits up the fellas for a poker game. I also enjoyed "The Widow's Deception", the story of a woman who fools her kids so they will leave her alone.… (meer)

Arsenic Soup For Lovers: When Chicken Soup Doesn't Work Very Very Very Short Stories for Very Very Very Busy People is a collection of just that, stories that are 2-4 pages long!

These are clever stories always with some sort of twist at the ending. Be it sweet, hilarious or evil! Personally I liked the sweet stories, people confessing their love to each other or role playing spouses. Some of the plotting cheating spouses stories were rather funny too. I always looked forward to the ending of each story and I didn't have to wait very long to get to it, a matter of minutes! I guess my only problem with this collection was in several cases the endings didn't make sense to me, they left me puzzled.

This would have been a great book for my bus rides but I actually read this over the weekend so it didn't happen for me. The subtitle of this book is very true, anyone can make time for a little reading with this book! Over the weekend I watched the movie, Married Life which I think was a great pairing with this book because of the plot of the movie and the plot of several of these stories.… (meer)