Things To Shout Out Loud At Parties

I am not a liturature pro but this is one of my favorite little books I have. Each page is a very short thought or memory of the author and I love the little glimpses into their life. The point is just to open the book to a random page and read. I have had this book for years and I don't think I've even read the whole thing. It's very nostalgic and some passages have become life mottos for myself. I received this book as a gift for going off to college and it was perfect.

This is a collection of short flash fiction. It's predominantly prose, but there is some interesting work in here with rhyme (slant rhyme especially) and rhythm. This is exactly the kind of work that's going to irritate the literary elite...which is why I like it. There's just a joy of creation here, a fearless effort to charge on and create. Is it pretentious? Maybe a little bit, let's be fair...but everyone who writes something and presumes others are going to be interested is pretentious, so we can't sink Mr. Almond for that.The two main things I take from this are that it's honest, and that it's authentic. Authenticity is rare in the world today. Heck, I can go to the TV right now and listen to some Ivy league educated blowhard politician prattle on about a course of action that I KNOW he KNOWS is EXACTLY the wrong thing to do. They've taken the classes, they've studied, they've become successful in their own right, and STILL they do things that are bad for our nation. Why? That's how you get elected. Would listening to that guy's views on modern politics be somehow valuable, just because they apply to the corrupt system we currently have forced upon us?Similarly, modern literary appreciation is completely corrupt. "Things to Shout Out Loud at Parties" isn't going to top any bestseller lists. That's not the kind of book it is and that's not what this author needed to write. This is a guy who is willing to experiment on the page, throw the result out to the crowd, and stand back and be crucified (because that's what always happens when you involve the crowd).So my guess is that a lot of pompous old dudes with master's degrees and PhDs would pick this up, snort and go back to reading about a drug induced description of an albatross...all the while never recognizing that the only thing separating this book from Coleridge is that the mode of speech that was common language in Coleridge's day has subsequently been perceived (through nostalgia and the passage of time) as high art.The other thing to remember is that...well, this book is young today, and that always has immeasurable value. Grab it if you want to see how a person thinks who is still young and enthusiastic and hasn't been crucified yet.

The sole reason I completed this entire book was out of spite alone, as I had felt robbed of my $7 in purchasing this book having heard so many good things about it and the only way to feel like it was a somewhat worthwhile buy was to finish and be able to criticize it as best I could.. To be clear to those who might not know, this isn't a novel but rather a collection of short (very short, many stories not exceeding a single sentence) stories from the author's life. This alone wouldn't anything to complain about if it weren't for the author's insufferable way of trying to bloat his pretensios musings about hot-girl boobs, being irresponsible, and aloofity into something profound. Each page is about a paragraph (if that) of vapid dribble of an uninspired, irresponsible, egotistical hack. As I neared completing this ego-trip of a book, I wondered to myself "how did this even get published?" Much to my surprise, this book was published by Almond himself with a note at the end of the book encouraging the reader to sing his book's praises online (which explains how the positive ratings for this book defy reason). Don't get me wrong, I'm not a literary purist by any means. I like the concept of short-story telling as long as it is insightful; it doesn't have to be insanely profound, this was just insubstantial garbage. I don't gawk at the idea of whimsy, nor do I look for any sort of high moral fiber in my authors, but the way in which Almond writes comes across like a cocky guy at a party who won't shut up about himself. I, however, do understand the appeal of this book; it attempts to bring to light a special part of our lives, the overlapping of youth and adulthood that combines the wide-eyed wonder and excitement of youth and the agency and drive of adulthood. If you were a fan of this book for that reason and/or for it's form, I think there's much better out there. As far as my opinion alone goes, I cannot rate this book low enough; spend your money and time elsewhere.

Consider this an update to my review on the print version of this book. I couldn't wait for the print version so I ordered the Kindle version and read it this afternoon. This book differs in tone from Markus' other works in that this is much more personal. This is definitely not a bad thing. It's great to see a different side of his writing.If you haven't checked out his zines, the first few are available as a Kindle book here on Amazon, and you definitely should pick them up as well. And this is an awesome addition to his already stellar body of work!(edited to correct spelling)

Where have all the good books gone? I have this in the Kindle edition and every page has about 1/8 of a page of writing on it and I don't like any of it. I don't understand why the reviews are all so good. This book sounds like it was written by a super rich college kid who smoked a lot of weed and then decided to write down some really pointless things that he thought sounded witty and make a book out of it. I just don't understand how this is a book. Here is a piece that takes up one entire page: "For those of you with cars, come pick me up! Let's go to a small ski town and drink rum until a couple of college-break sweeties invite us up for a dip in the hot tub." I hope that helps you understand why I am SO mad I spent $3 on this. Do NOT buy this "book." I am ashamed to have it on my Kindle.

This book is not a coherent narrative, it’s a collection of thoughts, a lot of them about women and about life. Each page has between one sentence and a paragraph and some of them may strike you as true, or interesting, or banal, or outside your experience, or mirroring your experience. This is a hard book to review, so here’s one of my favourite bits; “I miss playing in a band. I miss PA systems and the back seats of vans. I miss trying to sell T-shirts, eating bad food and trying desperately to find a condom”.It’s worth reading just to read a book in an unusual format. If anyone can tell me what band Markus Almond was in I’d be interested to know.

Rarely have I read something so intuitive and though-provoking. Markus has an unique take on life and all its phenomena.

Great little collection of some interesting takes on aspects of life. enjoyed it :)

... make it this one.I loved every page. Markus Almond has a way of capturing the essence of things and transporting feelings through so few words that is just incredible. I would call this a must-read!