Rating: 
Summary: Something to tide you over...
Review: "This Shape We're In" is, to make no bones about it, a minor work from the strange genre of fiction that he's created in his last 6 books. It's a short story, but unlike those collected in "Wall of the Sky..." it's a much quieter and contemplative story. Talking about the plot would too easily give up some of the fun of reading it. Within the first 5 pages, a twist that most writers would have left for a jarring Twilight Zone kind of ending is told nonchalantly. For the rest of the book, you marvel at the depths of Lethem's ability to weave as big a world as he does in a mere 55 pages, and forget about how he's going to cap it all. Lethem's primary strength seems to be to focus on a genre and get inside it and then twist it around and turn it into some strange new transmutation...where genre conventions get thrown out the window and replaced with these odd new parts that are vaguely out of place, but still run perfectly in sync. For what it's worth, Lethem has yet to write a book that can be considered "bad" or even "mediocre". If you're a fan of Lethem, or just considering dipping your toe in, this book is essential stuff. If anything, it's a nice snack to tide you over until Lethem's newest book comes out. For 9 bucks, you aren't going to get a much better package. Well put-together, beautiful cover by Chester Brown (of Ed the Happy Clown and The Playboy fame) and you're supporting McSweeney's Books, who seem hell-bent in delivering the literary goods without resorting to big-imprint prices. Go get it, for the good of the written word.
Rating: 
Summary: What The Hell?
Review: A short story between two hardcovers (large type, lots of whitespace), "Fantastic Voyage" as done by Firesign Theatre. If it had been by anyone else but Lethem I'd dismiss it as a failed attempt to be cute, but since it is Lethem let's call it a successful attempt to write poorly.
Rating:
Summary: What The Hell?
Review: A short story between two hardcovers (large type, lots of whitespace), "Fantastic Voyage" as done by Firesign Theatre. If it had been by anyone else but Lethem I'd dismiss it as a failed attempt to be cute, but since it is Lethem let's call it a successful attempt to write poorly.
Rating:
Summary: Satire
Review: First of all, when one judges this book, it should be judged using the correct criteria. This is not an amazing novel, nor is it a story for the ages. What it is is a funny little story and it should be judged as such. Taking the Trojan horse from the Iliad and mixing it with Fantastic Voyages, generation ship Sci-fi, and the Simpsons is a really funny idea. If this book were any longer it would have failed. Any shorter and it would have been a footnote. As it is, it is a very successful and amusing tidbit.
Rating:
Summary: The immensity of Lethem!
Review: For those who have read any of Jonathan Lethems' prior novels, you'll recognize and appreciate the full sweep and scope of this mans broad imagination. In this beautiful, cloth bound edition (with a limited 10,000 print run), he takes us on another wild, ambitious ride. The author enters you into the human body to explore what truly operates within. It's a journey tale- where the respective heroes find the satisfying validity of redemption after slogging through the accepted, taken-for-granted state of their world. I've always enjoyed Lethems' fascination and portrayal of the human condition. He's one of those gifted authors that understands how to slam the reader straight into the midst of his crafted world and into the minds of his (always unusual) protaganists. Furthermore, he tells an intriguing tale the only way he knows how; by using the poetry and glory of the english language to craft an awe-inspiring gasp of gratitude and fulfillment. If only Lethem would publish every novel under Mcsweeneys! We'd have his entire collection in the most attractive format possible!
Rating: 
Summary: Lethem is an amazing signer.
Review: I saw Lethem in a bookshop yesterday signing a pile of these books. He was dressed very meekly in glasses and jeans, and his pen was ordinary. Next to him looking on was his girlfriend, and she had red shoes on, a little out of control. (If I were his girlfriend, I would wear something that would wake him up, but not scare him.) She was looking on in a supportive way, but not touching him to disturb his repetitive motion. Her face was very calm, I yawned at the both of them, like you do when someone else is yawning first. So I decided to read his book while facing them, so when I got confused or angry or happy, I could immediately look at the author and react in the way that I do. And it was short, and I was early for meeting friends. And so I got to reading standing up. Let's just say that if you were into Lethem's other work, I don't know if you would like this, because I didn't have time to read all of his books, and they didn't have the rest of them anyway. Sorry. But I must say that I liked the reading, the book is very calm and androgynous in its style and tone. It's not like Calvino, or Borges really. It's more like Pamelas Stiji (the eastern european mystery novelist) or Lori Gottlieb in its quirky ambition. I especially liked the way Lethem uses a calm tone to surprise us in a new way, taking about horrible things while half-dreaming almost. But I didn't get to get all the way through because my friends showed up, but I really enjoyed the first thirty pages; it took me on a journey.It should be noted that he signs this little book with huge swipes of his initials on the title page. Anlage-like.
Rating:
Summary: "Total Body" Management
Review: Jonathan Lethem is a smart man. He is an interesting man. He thinks there is something wrong with his liver. So, after a quick and effortless trip to the Oncologist he discovers a savage secret that turns his life upside-down and gives him all the more reason to redouble his efforts to learn all there is to know about hospital management. While before this had been a larky exploration for the sake of one of his typically witty "sci-fi" novels, now it is in deadly earnest. Meet Dr. Joe Mulvaneskrys, an Eastern European emigre from the tiny country of Svatz, who explains the savage "Double Entry" system that holds the key to our country's savage medical inequalities. Meet Suzi Hospero, a young nurse with a secret. Meet Jim Puttanesca, an orderly who actually runs the hospital from his den of black market evil! If you want to learn management tips from the top down, while also picking up typically Lethemesque touches having to do with the colorful folkways of Brooklyn, pick up "This Shape We're In," the most powerful indictment of hospital management since Richard Powers' Operation Sissypants.
Rating:
Summary: "Total Body" Management
Review: Jonathan Lethem is a smart man. He is an interesting man. He thinks there is something wrong with his liver. So, after a quick and effortless trip to the Oncologist he discovers a savage secret that turns his life upside-down and gives him all the more reason to redouble his efforts to learn all there is to know about hospital management. While before this had been a larky exploration for the sake of one of his typically witty "sci-fi" novels, now it is in deadly earnest. Meet Dr. Joe Mulvaneskrys, an Eastern European emigre from the tiny country of Svatz, who explains the savage "Double Entry" system that holds the key to our country's savage medical inequalities. Meet Suzi Hospero, a young nurse with a secret. Meet Jim Puttanesca, an orderly who actually runs the hospital from his den of black market evil! If you want to learn management tips from the top down, while also picking up typically Lethemesque touches having to do with the colorful folkways of Brooklyn, pick up "This Shape We're In," the most powerful indictment of hospital management since Richard Powers' Operation Sissypants.
Rating:
Summary: shades of magic realism (and a low price)
Review: Lethem's longer works are, naturally, more involved than this bite size portion (55 pages). But don't let that scare you, this book should not fall through the cracks! It delivers an odd tale about a disorganized band of misfits lumbering through an almost unrecognizable landscape which is still strangely familiar. If that sentence describes the kind of fiction you like to read, grab this book, and you won't be disappointed. There is plenty of symbolism, shades of Kafka, Borges, Calvino, etc., and the prose is very smooth. No doubt you'll be looking forward to more Lethem quite soon after finishing. The ending will likely leave you perplexed and thinking. (ps- I maintain a Lethem website-- take a look
Rating: 
Summary: The irony abounds
Review: Since the foremost objective of a review should be to advise the prospective reader whether this book is worth his time and money, let me sum it up in one word: short. I really like Lethem's work and I liked "Shape" as well but there is definitely an element of "the emperor's new clothes" here.
The length of this story makes it the perfect size for inclusion in a collection of short stories and yet, here it is packaged for sale by its lonesome at a suggested price of US$9. I will concede that art can lose a lot with improper presentation (would anyone take notice of the Mona Lisa if it were stacked with several hundred portraits of obscure relations of petty nobility?) But I don't think anyone will turn the last page on this one feeling like they've just walked out of the Louvre.
Borrow a copy from a friend, check it out of the library, look for it in the used bookstore. Send a message to Lethem's publishers to keep the beancounters away from the creative process.
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