Book Review: Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs... edited by Ted Thompson and Eli Horowitz

Okay, let's start by getting the complete, unabridged title out of the way. This book, edited by Ted Thompson with Eli Horowitz and put out by the folks at McSweeney's, is called Noisy Outlaws, Unfriendly Blobs, and Maybe Some Other Things that Aren't as Scary, Maybe, Depending on How You Feel About Lost Lands, Stray Cellphones, Creatures From the Sky, Parents who Disappear in Peru, a Man Named Lars Farf, and One Other Story We Couldn't Quite Finish, So Maybe You Could Help Us Out. You'll understand, then, why I'm just going to call it Noisy Outlaws...

The book features kid-friendly stories from such heavy hitters as Neil Gaiman, Nick Hornby, Jonathan Safran Foer and Kelly Link. The unfinished story is from Lemony Snicket and is printed on the interior of the book's dust jacket. Snicket has also written the introduction. The book's introduction, design and dedication (to the oak tree that was pulped to make the paper) all reflect the kind of snickering irony that one might come to expect from McSweeney's.

The stories are variously whimsical, creepy, bizarre, and comforting, a diversity that all tall tales for short people should embrace. Several stories are riffs on standard kid-lit fare: children left alone, finding one's place in the world, the lies our parents tell us. Twists and wittiness combine with these familiar forms to create something that feels both comfortable and new.

George Saunders creates one of the book's highlights in a morality tale for parents, rather than kids, a story about an over-protective father gone wild. This is a cautionary tale for the adult reader and a sympathy card to bubble-wrapped children everywhere.

Both Nick Hornby and Jeanne DuPrau both take a look at children finding their places in the world. Hornby's protagonist finds himself burdened with his parents' expectations that he step in and save the country's soccer team, while DuPrau's little boy discovers the power to make the world a better place for the underdogs... in this case, literally downtrodden pups.

Article Author: Bonnie

Bonnie writes about books every Thursday at Fourth-Rate Reader, about everything else at Signifying Nothing, and sometimes she resorts to pictures. She lives in Toronto.

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