September 19, 2006

Not Like I'm JEALOUS or Anything. Nope. Not me.

It's NOT like it's not brilliant, or whatever. It's not like it doesn't catch you off-guard, make you a bit teary-eyed, or make you laugh out loud. It's Not Like I'm Jealous or Anything: The Jealousy Book is an excellent book about that lurking, skulking emotion that haunts us all: jealousy. And it'll piss you off: you'll be jealous you didn't write it yourself!! A collection of short stories, essays, a quiz and one poem, The Jealousy Book explores the worst bits of ourselves, -- and sometimes teaches us a bit more about ourselves than we'd realized. What makes this collection of shorts especially great is the inclusion of an original, you-can-only-find-it-here Ruby Oliver story, from e. lockhart's The Boyfriend List and The Boy Book, a story by Ned Vizzini and the friend who is jealous of him (and vice versa!) Marty Beckerman; a story from the very funny Susan Juby, a piece on sisters named Timidity and Jealousy by Jaclyn Moriarty (yay!!!!) and for me, the discovery of a new and exciting writer, Siobahn Adcock, whose story really touched a nerve, and whose new novel, Hipster Haiku comes with its own conforming against conformity contest! Do check it out. All the smart people are doing it... and you know you're jealous of smart people!

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