Review of The Glorious Beast!
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Meghan Greenleaf
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Review of The Glorious Beast!
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Glorious Beast!" by Scott L.Chally.]
Although labeled as non-fiction, The Glorious Beast! By Scott L. Chally is a work of fiction involving the adventures of a trucking company and a man’s journey to become ruler of the world. This book is comprised of two different stories, although there is a connection between them. The first portion of the book primarily focuses on friends Jimmy and Ricky building a trucking business with the help of Jimmy’s father, Scott. Not only does the book tell the story of the creation of the business but it also relays the day-to-day happenings of the delivery drivers and two multiple-state drug runs the company takes for a mob boss. Some of the day-to-day deliveries are fairly run-of-the-mill while others, like the drug runs, are quite outrageous. The second portion of the book focuses on Scott’s belief that he is the Messiah and the New World Order which he has written as a way to better the world. Thanks to the mob boss for whom the company has run drugs, Scott is given the opportunity to get his message out to the world which ultimately allows him to institute his New World Order.
This book could benefit from a great deal of editing in many regards. The formatting could be improved to work with the flow of the story. The Prologue is simply a synopsis of the book and could be removed, as could the first chapter. This chapter is an introduction to Jimmy and Ricky and takes place when they are in middle school. It ends abruptly and plays into the rest of the story in such a minimal way that its inclusion is unnecessary. The following chapters could be better structured to help with the transitions within the story. Oftentimes the action completely changes suddenly such as when the story switches from a delivery being made to one of the characters going on a date three days later but in the next sentence. The book is also often written in the format of a play with notes such as “(The person leaves)” written within dialogue.
The sentence structure and, many times, word choice, need a great deal of revision. The dialogue is not always natural and reads awkwardly. There are also a number of proofreading errors indicating that this book has not been professionally edited.
There is a great deal of paring down to be done. Throughout the book, there are extraneous details provided that are not needed. For example, phone calls are provided word for word when it would have been acceptable to simply state that one character called another and arrangements were made. There are also many shopping excursions described in detail beginning with the character entering the store, explaining to the sales associate what they are shopping for, the associate showing them the items, and the character paying. Even the scenes depicting the deliveries being made are unnecessary and add nothing to the book as they do not support the story in any way.
The section focusing on the New World Order was especially difficult to read and understand due to the need for editing. Not only are sentence structure and extraneous details problematic, but there is a great deal of repetition. Like the plans previously presented throughout the book, these are not clear or understandable. I found myself left with more questions after having read them.
Even in a work of fiction, some level of reality is necessary, and this book lacks that. From small details like a department store hiring a brand new delivery company with no experience, to police officers believing marijuana isn’t marijuana simply because it’s in a package that says it’s an imitation, to a presidential election being won by a write-in candidate who did not campaign, there are just so many stories in this book that don’t work because they are unrealistic to the point of being nonsensical.
The aspect of this book that is most likely to cause issue with readers is the sexual explicitness and the over-the-top sexual incidents. Not only is so much of it unrealistic, but if some of these exchanges occurred in actual society, they would be considered extremely inappropriate and, in some cases, potentially lead to legal action. The first incident occurs when Ricky is at the office supply store and he and the sales associate start talking about her “ass.” This is one of the tamest occurrences. There are many others that are reminiscent of a cliché pornography movie with the delivery man showing up only to be propositioned by the woman at the house. There are a number of sexually focused scenes, none of which have any bearing on the story and all of which make it difficult to take this book seriously.
This book could appeal to readers who enjoy imaginative stories about regular events. While I appreciate Chally’s enthusiasm and creativity, this book needs an extreme amount of professional editing. Because of this and the extraneous sexual scenes, I give The Glorious Beast! 1 out of 5 stars.
******
The Glorious Beast!
View: on Bookshelves
Although labeled as non-fiction, The Glorious Beast! By Scott L. Chally is a work of fiction involving the adventures of a trucking company and a man’s journey to become ruler of the world. This book is comprised of two different stories, although there is a connection between them. The first portion of the book primarily focuses on friends Jimmy and Ricky building a trucking business with the help of Jimmy’s father, Scott. Not only does the book tell the story of the creation of the business but it also relays the day-to-day happenings of the delivery drivers and two multiple-state drug runs the company takes for a mob boss. Some of the day-to-day deliveries are fairly run-of-the-mill while others, like the drug runs, are quite outrageous. The second portion of the book focuses on Scott’s belief that he is the Messiah and the New World Order which he has written as a way to better the world. Thanks to the mob boss for whom the company has run drugs, Scott is given the opportunity to get his message out to the world which ultimately allows him to institute his New World Order.
This book could benefit from a great deal of editing in many regards. The formatting could be improved to work with the flow of the story. The Prologue is simply a synopsis of the book and could be removed, as could the first chapter. This chapter is an introduction to Jimmy and Ricky and takes place when they are in middle school. It ends abruptly and plays into the rest of the story in such a minimal way that its inclusion is unnecessary. The following chapters could be better structured to help with the transitions within the story. Oftentimes the action completely changes suddenly such as when the story switches from a delivery being made to one of the characters going on a date three days later but in the next sentence. The book is also often written in the format of a play with notes such as “(The person leaves)” written within dialogue.
The sentence structure and, many times, word choice, need a great deal of revision. The dialogue is not always natural and reads awkwardly. There are also a number of proofreading errors indicating that this book has not been professionally edited.
There is a great deal of paring down to be done. Throughout the book, there are extraneous details provided that are not needed. For example, phone calls are provided word for word when it would have been acceptable to simply state that one character called another and arrangements were made. There are also many shopping excursions described in detail beginning with the character entering the store, explaining to the sales associate what they are shopping for, the associate showing them the items, and the character paying. Even the scenes depicting the deliveries being made are unnecessary and add nothing to the book as they do not support the story in any way.
The section focusing on the New World Order was especially difficult to read and understand due to the need for editing. Not only are sentence structure and extraneous details problematic, but there is a great deal of repetition. Like the plans previously presented throughout the book, these are not clear or understandable. I found myself left with more questions after having read them.
Even in a work of fiction, some level of reality is necessary, and this book lacks that. From small details like a department store hiring a brand new delivery company with no experience, to police officers believing marijuana isn’t marijuana simply because it’s in a package that says it’s an imitation, to a presidential election being won by a write-in candidate who did not campaign, there are just so many stories in this book that don’t work because they are unrealistic to the point of being nonsensical.
The aspect of this book that is most likely to cause issue with readers is the sexual explicitness and the over-the-top sexual incidents. Not only is so much of it unrealistic, but if some of these exchanges occurred in actual society, they would be considered extremely inappropriate and, in some cases, potentially lead to legal action. The first incident occurs when Ricky is at the office supply store and he and the sales associate start talking about her “ass.” This is one of the tamest occurrences. There are many others that are reminiscent of a cliché pornography movie with the delivery man showing up only to be propositioned by the woman at the house. There are a number of sexually focused scenes, none of which have any bearing on the story and all of which make it difficult to take this book seriously.
This book could appeal to readers who enjoy imaginative stories about regular events. While I appreciate Chally’s enthusiasm and creativity, this book needs an extreme amount of professional editing. Because of this and the extraneous sexual scenes, I give The Glorious Beast! 1 out of 5 stars.
******
The Glorious Beast!
View: on Bookshelves
Latest Review: Garden Design for Everyone Volume II by Robin Johnson
