Official Review: The Tree Poachers and Other Stories

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CataclysmicKnight
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Official Review: The Tree Poachers and Other Stories

Post by CataclysmicKnight »

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Tree Poachers and Other Stories" by James Zerndt.]
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4 out of 4 stars
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I always like to treat story collections like music albums, giving each story "track" a read and seeing which ones are worth replaying in the future. Often short story collections, like albums, have one or two hits and at least as many that fall on their faces, but sometimes you find one that has some really memorable, masterful pieces and the rest are almost as good. That's how James Zerndst's The Tree Poachers and Other Stories feels - out of the 10 short stories within, one is so awesome I'd recommend the entire collection for it alone, two are almost as good, two tell a really interesting tale, three more end with a poignant point and only two felt a little more flat, although I'm slightly biased on one as I read another of James's books that dives deeper into what this one short story in question covers.

The book kicks off with the title story - The Tree Poachers. A client has asked for a tree to be dug up from his wife's yard and brought to his for revenge, and two men take up the task. The bit of foul language, the snarky wit and the poignant end kick off what can be expected throughout the rest of the collection well. As a note: the rest of the stories are listed slightly out of order to group them by theme or purpose.

Would You Rather follows 8 year old Dustin and his 19-20 year old brother, Office of Sustainability officers who ticket and fine those who break laws like NOT recycling their pee or using electricity in ways they shouldn't (like a fan). This is one of my favorites as it not only captures the loss of innocence these kids are forced to face with their parents gone (especially the older brother, forced to take care of Dustin) but also ends with another deep thought, a very touching one. Oscar Lansing is another short story that fits into the "crazy concept", but any details would give that one away.

Comet's Snowball is perhaps the most uniquely-written as it follows a Korean woman named Comet. An American tank recently ran over two small girls, and the repercussions hit everyone hard, especially her fellow teacher Dan who happens to also be American. The writing feels different enough to feel like it comes from Korea, often even using Korean language (although it's rarely translated, which required me to Google definitions).

Spider-Man is the short story that absolutely must have been the basis for his stand-alone This Jerkwater Life (which I've also reviewed). It's a very short story about an Ojibwe (Native American tribe) man fishing. This, along with The Last President (only a couple pages long) was among the only two I didn't thoroughly enjoy, but only because it could have used a bit more length like it had in This Jerkwater Life.

My absolute favorite of them all had to be Publish or Perish. David Butter is sick of getting rejection letters, so one day he submits a manuscript with text that tells him if it's not published, he'll murder him. The rejection letter is received in record time, even giving David his address with a message that says "my guess is you’d make as lazy a murderer as you do a writer." The story is written as if David is making notes for writing a new manuscript, breaking it into plot points, a hysterical character arc section (essentially "people don't change, there's your character arc") and so much more. It was a riot all the way through, and as I eluded to earlier, I'd recommend the entire collection based on this story alone. The mocking of tropes for both writers and writing make this even more amazing.

Bullhead, Technical Writing and The Sorry Store wrap up the rest of the ten stories, and all of these focus on familial bonds. Bullhead has a man fishing beside a man and his son, Technical Writing is a heartfelt-yet-hilarious one about a man whose entire mind revolves around his son, a soldier in Iraq, while dealing with his son-in-law,l and life somehow able to discuss anything else aside from the war, and The Sorry Store concludes the collection as one of the most touching stories I've ever read.

The Sorry Store follows a man and his son. Sadly his wife (the kid's mother) died a year ago, but it still hits them hard every single day. This one touches on the difficulties of being a single father when society deems a mother as the one to raise a child, the frivolity of fish, jerk neighbors who won't give a frisbee back and the magic of storytelling and imagination between a father and son. It does this in a few sections, each preceded by an Amazon review-style header for different items, each with a star rating and everything!

Throughout all of the stories, James masterfully mixes wit, sarcasm and nearly every emotion that exists in a big pot, churns it out in countless memorable lines that feel almost as much like poetry as storytelling, and lays them out like a roller coaster for readers. I'd be crazy not to give the collection 4 out of 4 stars.

******
The Tree Poachers and Other Stories
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Jamie Zerndt
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Post by Jamie Zerndt »

Couldn't ask for a better review. Thank you...

Jamie
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Insomniac07
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Post by Insomniac07 »

The collection looks very interesting, especially Publish or Perish. I might have to get this book just to know what happens in that story.
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CataclysmicKnight
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Post by CataclysmicKnight »

JamesZerndt wrote:Couldn't ask for a better review. Thank you...

Jamie
Well hey, that works out, because I doubt I could've gotten a better book to review!
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Shelle
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Post by Shelle »

Great review!
I had the opportunity to review a short story collection a while back and it made me remember how much I love the short story art form. It sounds like this book also does a good job of hitting on some deep themes using short stories.
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