Review: Spoiled Brats
Simon Rich is back with another hilarious and thought provoking collection of short stories. Spoiled Brats examines modern day life with wit and humor while showing the absurdity of some of our culture. The collection is comprised of 13 stories and I didn’t think there was a stinker in the bunch, but, as you’d expect, I liked some more than others.
In Gifted, a mother makes excuses for her demon son’s behavior because of his “obvious star quality.” When he harms his tutor she praises him because he never mentioned that Han was of Asian descent. She can’t do enough for him, even when he’s had enough.
Elf on the Shelf examines what it would be like to be an Elf on the Shelf in a home where there are no consequences for bad behavior.
Animals is the story of a family of hamsters struggling to stay alive in a school. They’re at the mercy of the kindergarten students of homeroom 2K who often forget to give them food and water. The father hamster tells what he does to try to care for his family.
Rich’s stories are unique in their point of view – for instance, Elf on the Shelf is told from the perspective of the Elf and Animals is told from the point of view of a hamster.
I loved this collection of short stories. Many of the stories made me laugh out loud and they all made me think. You’ll want to pick up a copy of Spoiled Brats!
Review copy provided by Hachette Books. I am an Indiebound Affiliate.
Share this:
- Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
- Click to print (Opens in new window)
- Click to email (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
- Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
That is an interesting sounding book! I had not heard of it before.
Yours is the third great review of Spoiled Brats I’ve seen this week… definitely one for my list!
I’m definitely going to read this book soon – River City Reading, Estella’s Revenge, and now you have all had great things to say about it. I’ve never read Rich before and don’t normally read short stories, but I absolutely love the topic of this story collection!
I’ve read some great things about this one lately and after reading your post, I’m definitely adding it to my TBR pile. This book sounds terrific and like something I would really enjoy. I just love short stories 😉
New one for me. Intriguing though that Animals one is making me cringe.
I really loved The Last Girlfriend on Earth by Rich, so I’m excited to hear this one is really good, as well!
Sounds like a lot of fun.
Thanks for your great review. This sounds like an enjoyable collection. I like the book cover.
This sounds like a fun read!
Yay! I’m so glad it worked for you, too!
Sounds like a book I’d enjoy!
Kathy, this sounds like a fabulous collection of unique short fiction. Thanks for a wonderful review!
I love the cover plus it sounds great!
I don’t read a lot of short stories but this does sound good. I think I’d especially like the one about the hamster (because we have one)
I already have this one on the wish list! Sounds so good.
As a parent I think I can probably relate to some of these on many levels. I’m going to see if there’s an audio version available.
Not a short story girl but the first two you mentioned sound very good as a take on today’s parenting.
These stories sound awesome! I can totally relate to the first one – HAHA!