Dear Judd,You've certainly got a deliciously dark side to you, don't you? Tell your critics who complain that your title is deceiving that perhaps they should actually read the entire title, especially the ...and Some That May Not Be Funny At All part. However, considering you're one of the men behind some of the laugh-out-loud movies of our day, just putting your name on the book would probably be considered "deceiving" and "false advertising."
That being said, I think your book probably could have done with some more editing. I loved a few of the stories, and really didn't care for some of them (most notably most of the Funny stories). For almost 500 pages of short stories that I did overall like, there were quite a few that seemed to meander in unnecessary places - short stories that didn't fit like the rest of them.
My Favorite Parts?
A Mother's Tale, by James Agee: Hell, there's even a warning in your introduction:
And skip James Agee until you can handle the hard stuff
Even though I knew exactly where this story was going from the first few lines, sometimes it's nice to read a story that reacts and flows in just the way that you expect it to. I'm not saying it was boring, but that it went in such a way that stories as such go. It was certainly not funny, and I can see how you consider it "the hard stuff," but for people that have been reading for as long as I have, the issues addressed have all already been addressed. It felt like I'd already read the story before - again, not in a boring way - in a comforting, homecoming sort of way (for all its disturbing aspects).
I Demand To Know Where You're Taking Me, by Dan Chaon: I was honestly surprised that this was written by a man. I felt as though everything going on in the mind of the main character (mother/wife/sister-in-law) was true. I'm not saying that men can't write women, but that I can usually tell the difference, and this felt more like it was written by a mother. Again, this was perhaps one of the more disturbing stories. With the main character's brother-in-law in prison, and his stuff being stored indefinitely at her house, she and her family have also inherited his pet bird. The foul mouthed bird with an attitude becomes her nemesis and a catch all for all her bad feelings towards her husband and her brother-in-law. The story ends with a strong finality that so many short stories seem to be missing.
Selected Drawings, by Hugleikur Dagsson: Now see, these had me rolling. I have a very dry sense of humor, and frankly, Judd, most of your movies are not my cup of tea, but these comics? Fucking Hilarious.
Six Selected Pieces, by Simon Rich: With stories a page or less in length, these all packed a powerful punch. They were funny, but they weren't crass.
Overall, Good book, but dear Gods, did it really need to have so many stories? Sometimes, less is more.
