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Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful escape
Review: Even though I am a diehard Milan fan, I really enjoyed this book of short stories. The stories are fast-paced, interesting and satisfying. Roberts has proved more than once that he is not a one-trick pony and this book is certainly an example!
Rating:
Summary: Spicy and subtle equal enjoyable!
Review: From the hands of a capable (even when unknown) writer, short stories are often better reading than the overblown, over-written, over-pretentious stuff that sometimes passes for novels these days. I found this to be true of this volume, even though the author is hardly unknown to me, whereas all but two of the stories were. Indeed, Les Roberts is a very well-known and well-regarded author of a good many full-length books, although this is his first volume of just short stories. I laughed a lot, caught my breath a few times, and came close to tears once, but I thought the stories were rather uniformly excellent. Better yet, they were all highly enjoyable. All ten of the stories in this collection had been previously published elsewhere, which means, I suppose, that it'll be a while before we'll be graced with another such compilation. Too bad. Roberts is a smooth, descriptive writer; not only do the well-chosen words resound in your head as you read, but the images he creates present themselves full-blown for your visual inspection. This collection also demonstrates his sense of humor along with the wry tone he usually provides. If I had to pick a favorite, it might be "THE CATNAP". But then again, it might be "THE FAT STAMP" or even "THE BRAVE LITTLE COSTUME DESIGNER". 'Catnap' is one that I'd read in the collection for which it was written. I thought it the best of the litter then, and still do, I think. 'Stamp' was new to me, and it evoked a chuckle or two as I read, while reminding me of various sightings, etc. 'Costume Designer' appealed to me for other reasons; the story satisfied all of them. On the other hand, the weakest one, in my opinion, was "GOOD BOYS", which is the other story I'd read previously. I didn't care too much for it the first time around, either, thinking that perhaps a few more words would have allowed the magic to generate a bit better. But, still it was a whole lot better than many shorts I've read in other more highly publicized anthologies. I was especially pleased to find a short version of Milan Jacovich, my personal favorite of Roberts' creations. Being reasonably familiar with the event that provided the impetus for the story made it more compelling to read. The author states in the introduction to one of the stories "I am often called 'retro' and wear the mantle proudly." Me, too. Maybe that's another reason why I found this such an enjoyable book to read! If only more publishers would catch on to the allure of the short story, and provide more such collections, readers who find this genre to be so fascinating would be greatly enriched. And who knows? There might even be a good many new converts! And then, they'd have to publish even more such collections!
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