Bad Monkeys
by Matt Ruff
List Price:
Our Price: $5.54
You Save: $14.46 (72%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.90 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Matt RuffEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-01
ISBN: 0061240419
Number of pages: 230
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Reviews of Bad Monkeys
Book Review: The thoroughbred does not finish the race. All bets lose
Summary: 2 Stars
This book begins like a thoroughbred racing from the gate with a stride and speed that indicates an easy win or, at the least, a good finish. Then somewhere in the middle of the race, the horse pulls back. You can't quite see what is happening. Was there a foul? Is the horse hurt? As the rest of the pack pulls away, it becomes clear that the horse is badly injured, has broken a leg, and the jockey is struggling to control the damaged animal. At the end, the horse has to be shot and they are calling for a tractor. The closing shot shows the owner crying in her mink coat.
What a disappointment. The first pages, read standing in the book store, got me to buy the book. But the narrative drops away, the events become more and more implausible (in terms of the rules the book itself sets, not some outside set of rules), the narrative begins to feel thin and then, at the end, plain silly. The end is not just a disappointment, it's a betrayal, but maybe "silly" is still the better word, because betrayal implies something of substance to betray, and we have gotten past that point about half way in.
The narrative turns out to be a parable of biblical good and evil presented in a simplistic way. Not simple, simplistic. The author's theological upbringing dominates the characters and the narrative, turning "show" into "tell." Thinking dominates, then eclipses, the writer's active imagination. Ultimately the book does not stand either as theology or dramatic character-driven narrative, and the hackneyed device - "I have a secret!" - that provides an end twist that has not been set up well in advance makes the reader, too, twist in his or her chair, close the book, and sigh.
It's too bad. The book begins with a promise but it isn't fulfilled.
Summary of Bad Monkeys
Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder.
She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons-"Bad Monkeys" for short.
This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy-or playing a different game altogether. What follows is one of the most clever and gripping novels you'll ever read.
Contemporary Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Comedy and Cynicism
Guards! Guards!by Terry Pratchett
HarperTorch; Published: 2001-08-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.65
Price in other shops:
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witchby Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett
HarperTorch; Published: 2006-12-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.71
Price in other shops:
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide: Five Complete Novels and One Story (Deluxe Edition)by Douglas Adams
Gramercy; Published: 2005-11-01; Leather Bound; Book
Best price: $13.38
Price in other shops:
Callahan's Ladyby Spider Robinson
Baen; Published: 2001-08-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.21
Price in other shops:
Don't Get Caught Wearing The Lunch Lady's Hairnet (Don't Get Caught)by Todd Strasser
Scholastic Paperbacks; Published: 2001-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.24
Price in other shops:
Bad Monkeysby Matt Ruff
HarperCollins; Published: 2007-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.89
Price in other shops:
The Lady with the Monkeyby William Lower
AuthorHouse; Published: 2007-04-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.86
Price in other shops:
The Big Bow Mysteryby Israel Zangwill
Dybbuk Press, LLC; Published: 2007-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.67
Price in other shops:
Move Under Groundby Nick Mamatas
Night Shade Books; Published: 2004-05-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.21
Price in other shops:
Wisconsin Underground : A Guide to Caves, Mines, and Tunnels In and Around the Badger Stateby Doris Green
Trails Books; Published: 2000-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.95
Similar Books and other products
Crooked Little Vein: A Novel (P.S.)by Warren Ellis
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.10
Price in other shops:
Thirteenby Richard K. Morgan
Del Rey; Published: 2008-06-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.92
Price in other shops:
Halting Stateby Charles Stross
Ace Hardcover; Published: 2007-10-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.42
Price in other shops:
The Spellman Files: A Novelby Lisa Lutz
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2007-03-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Tree of Smoke: A Novelby Denis Johnson
Picador; Published: 2008-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.84
Price in other shops:
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day 1)by Patrick Rothfuss
DAW; Published: 2008-04-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.79
Price in other shops:
Sewer, Gas and Electric: The Public Works Trilogy (Public Works Trilogy)by Matt Ruff
Grove Press; Published: 2004-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.91
Price in other shops:
Set This House in Order: A Romance of Soulsby Matt Ruff
Published: 2003-02-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $13.91
Price in other shops:
Spook Countryby William Gibson
Berkley Trade; Published: 2008-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.52
Price in other shops:
Fool on the Hill: A Novelby Matt Ruff
Grove Press; Published: 1997-12-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops: