Mr. Bones: Twenty Stories

by Paul Theroux

"A dark and bitingly humorous collection of short stories from the "brilliantly evocative" (Time) Paul Theroux A family watches in horror as their patriarch transforms into the singing, wise-cracking lead of an old-timey minstrel show. A renowned art collector relishes publicly destroying his most valuable pieces. Two boys stand by helplessly as their father stages an all-consuming war on the raccoons living in the woods around their house. A young artist devotes himself to a wealthy, malicious gossip, knowing that it's just a matter of time before she turns on him. In this new collection of short stories, acclaimed author Paul Theroux explores the tenuous leadership of the elite and the surprising revenge of the overlooked. He shows us humanity possessed, consumed by its own desire and compulsion, always with his carefully honed eye for detail and the subtle idiosyncrasies that bring his characters to life. Searing, dark, and sure to unsettle, Mr. Bones is a stunning new display of Paul Theroux's "fluent, faintly sinister powers of vision and imagination" (John Updike, The New Yorker)"--

• ISBN10: 0544324021
• ISBN13: 9780544324022
• Publish Date: 30 September 2014 (first published 1 January 2014)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 2 July 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Houghton Mifflin
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 359
• Language: English

Reviews

[Beth C.]

I'm not usually much of a short story reader, preferring the world-building that can be done in a novel. However, I was intrigued by the description of the book, so I decided to try it anyway. I must say, I did enjoy it. The description isn't kidding when it says that the stories within are "dark" - the title story was sad and sorta creepy all at the same time. The Long Story Short was different, but interesting. Many of the characters within the stories are those that generally get overlooked in life, and they know it. And when fate changes things up, sometimes a dark side they never knew existed emerges and things get strange.

I was pretty impressed by Theroux's storytelling. The short story can be challenging for many writers, but these were quite well done. I will definitely be looking for more of his work.