The Toy Collector

Rating:
Summary: This is a great book
Review: "Toy Collector" jumps back and forth between the main character's (Jimmy Gunn) childhood and the present time. Jimmy's childhood was not a happy one and the few happy memories he has revolve around the toys that he played with. In the present, he is an orderly at a hospital and not very happy with his life. When he discovers an antique toy store, he starts stealing the hospitals drugs to finance his new found addiction to action figures, games and robots. He is trying to recapture those happy moments of being a child.

The book is incredibly descriptive and written in an amazingly well manner. By jumping to and from Jimmy's childhood, you get a better feeling of him as a whole. Mostly, Jimmy is a loser. But he's a loser that you want to win. "Toy Collector" touches some sad points, but will also make the reader laugh. Jimmy has characteristics that I think a lot of readers will relate to. All in all, this is a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put it Down
Review: I just moved in with some new roommates. When we were unpacking I found The Toy Collector by James Gunn. My new roommate kept insisting it was the best book he had ever read. He went on to say that the book was like a slice of his life and no book had ever spoken to him the way this one had. I started reading and I couldn't put it down. I was a little scared to think that my new roommate was anything like the main character James Gunn but I completely understood when he said that the book spoke to him. The book is funny and heartbreaking and dark and makes you cringe sometimes. It also has a lot of love for humanity. Even the dark places and the people often times overlooked. Thank you for a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Judging a Book by its Cover
Review: People have always told me never to judge a book by it's cover, but honestly that's the only reason I bought and read The Toy Collector and because an instant James Gunn fan. I'd never heard of the author till I saw his off-the-wall cover staring at me in the new paperback section of the bookstore.

His seamless transitions from chapter to chapter, from childhood to adulthood, from the real world to the toy world, from ultra-sexual to ultra-violent to ultra-sentimental kept me on my toes and engrossed from cover to cover. And amongst the chaos comes out some of the most beautifully thoughtful passages I've read all year.