Unbearable!: More Bizarre Stories

Rating:
Summary: Too Creative!!:)
Review: I read the first story in this book, on my way home from school. The other stories I've just finished except for a few that I read the day I borrowed the book from the library. The stories are creative, and imaginative. Most of them are funny except for maybe one, about a fox, but they are all worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Unbearable by name, Enjoyable by nature
Review: In 1990, when Paul Jennings' fifth short story collection "Unbearable" was released, he was probably at the height of his popularity and his creativity in Australia. He'd won a heap of awards, had his own TV series (Round the Twist) and his books were selling like hotcakes. As a result, Unbearable is very confident and very well written, that perfect blend of humour, horror, weird and disgusting that readers have come to expect from Paul. Every single story here is a Jennings classic, and all but one of them ("Only Gilt") were apdapted into scripts for Round the Twist. The story "Grandad's Gifts", about a ghost fox and a lemon tree, would be republished on it's own with lavish illustrations.

There are eight stories, beginning with "Licked", a quirky look at table manners. "Little Black Balls" comes next, a story a goat who swallows a valuable opal, and takes a while to come out the other end. "Only Gilt", I'm pretty sure is based on an urban legend, but because of the distinctly Australian characters, Paul Jennings claims it as his own. "Next Time Around" is about hypnotism and chickens, among other things, "Yuggles" features some shape shifting fungus and "Smelly Feat" features some very smelly feet. As you can see, Paul Jennings is a very creative guy.

My favourite story from this book would probably have to be "Nails", about a boy on an island with his dad who suddenly grows a second pair of fingernails under his first. At times it is funny, other times scary, sad, and mysterious. The ending is magical too, totally unexpected. One thing you can count on is Paul's plot twists. Brilliant!

Recommended for children 8-15, but a fun read for all ages. As a kid, I loved it, and I still do now. A great piece of Australian childrens literature.