Kindle Singles

Kindle Single Review: Fox 8 – A Story

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This is a very unconventionally written book, where the narrator is a fox who has recently learned human language and his story telling is characterized by improper grammar and abundant typos. Fox 8 is a story about a fox who gets exposed to humans and learns their language by listening to stories told by human mothers to their kids. When the jungle in which the fox lives is destroyed by the construction of a mall, the fox reaches out to humans to seek help, establish a fox-human connection. However, as he tries to come closer to them, the ugly side of humans is revealed, turning his life upside down.

As the fox says – “Why did the curator do it so rong, making the groop with the gratest skils the meenest?” So true.

Good and enjoyable, as well as thought-provoking.

Fox 8: A Story is a Kindle single written by George Saunders, the New York times best seller author of the short story collection – Tenth of December

Kindle Single Review: In the Tunnel

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“There is light in the dark, too,” she said. “The kind you can’t see unless you’re in the dark.” – Excerpt from In the Tunnel by Takamichi Okubo

Two people are trapped in absolute darkness after their bus meets an accident midway in a long tunnel. One of them is on the verge of committing suicide, the other works as a councellor for a suicide prevention hotline. Most of the story is in the form of conversations between the two characters as they struggle to get out of the tunnel, filling fast with smoke after the accident and resulting fire/explosion. The author has brilliantly used darkness as a metaphor for the painful past of the survivors. Trapped, injured and with no immediate chance of rescue, there is still hope for them by the end of the story. Real hope – the kind which comes from within.

Takamichi is definitely an author to look out for.

Kindle Single Review: A Face in the Crowd

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Dean Evers, an old widower who lives alone, spends most of his time watching baseball games on television. Then he starts seeing familiar faces from his past in the game crowd. These are people who are long gone and each of them reminds him of some guilt or regret from his past life. Things take an interesting turn when he sees himself sitting in the crowd.

To be very frank, King is an acquired taste, and not everyone enjoys or appreciates his writings. I have always been very ambivalent towards his writings. Some of his works are magnificent (like the dark tower series), others – I do not find anything great about them.

This story – it is gripping and enjoyable. Some readers may find the ending abrupt, but I liked it. The loneliness and pain of an old man living alone is presented in a heart warming way.

Although a good read, it is not a masterpiece which will sweep you off your feet.

A face in the crowd is a Kindle Single by Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan. Around 43 pages in length, King fans will find it to be an engaging read which can be completed in one lazy afternoon.

Kindle Single Review: Board Room Babies

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Board Room Babies is a pseudo-research study which proves that there is a lot of commonality between the behavior of babies and corporate head honchos.

Amazon.com editorial describes it as a “wickedly delightful satire”. Satire it is and a decent one, but not at all “wickedly delightful”. There are a some extremely funny moments. Like the one where there is a graph which compares CEO’s work product with baby shit. Or the one which talks about how nonsensical things said by both babies and CEOs are considered smart and remarkable. But these are too far (even considering the length of the book) and too few. The rest of the book is plain drab and boring. Some comparisons even feel stretched – like the one which relates CEO’s hair to baby hair. Remove some of these dull portions, what remains is genuinely funny and piquant commentary on the life style of the corporate moguls.

My verdict – decent but not awesome. Good writing, could have been made better with tighter editing.

Board Room Babies is a Kindle Single written by Stanley Bing.

Kindle Single Review: Don’t Eat Cat

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Quirky and unusual (which does not necessarily mean good), is how I would describe this story.

It is  a story of a man’s relationship with his girlfriend in a futuristic world where man and zombies coexist (mostly) peacefully.

The starting was good. Description of the future lifestyle was interesting, some portions were funny, but the end was a sure let down.

It am not sure what the story wanted to be: humorous? sc-fi? dystopian fiction? emotional drama? It tried being all and ended up being none.   Also, it would have been better if more time/ space would have been spent on developing the characters.

To summarize, this was not one of the better Kindle Singles I have read.

Don’t eat cat is a Kindle Single written by Jess Walter. Less than 22 pages in length, it can be easily completed in 30 mins.

Kindle Single Review: Everyone’s Reading Bastard

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What made me buy this one was the name of the story and the cover page. The name does not make sense at all and it compelled me find out more about the story. I had a couple of hours to spare and this 29 pager short story proved to be a perfect choice.

Its more of a slice of life story without a well defined start and ending, however the premise is very interesting. Its about a man whose ex-wife starts writing about him in a weekly column called “Bastard” (that explains the name – Everyone’s reading bastard). Its all about the trials and tribulations of this man as each week some of his most embarrassing secrets become public fodder. Funny and ironic at the same time, its the story of ones dirty linen gone viral.

Everyone’s reading bastard is a Kindle Single by bestselling author Nick Hornby.