Ride Theory reviewed A fistful of fig newtons by Jean Shepherd
A Little Bit of Shep Goes a Long Way
2 stars
Shepherd is probably best known for the movie "A Christmas Story," which evolved from stories he told on the radio. I was quite a fan of his radio show, but after binge listening for a year or so, I got pretty tired of his persona. I found this book in a Little Free Library and thought I'd give him another chance... and it turns out he's not one of those writers that when you return to him, you say, "Oh yeah, I'd forgotten how great he is!" More like I'd forgotten how great /he thought/ he was. I was weary of his shopworn tricks about halfway through the book, and if I never hear him say "little did I know how that night would go down in legend" again, it'll be too soon.
There are a few fun semi-biographical stories here, and a lot of... well, I donno if it's …
Shepherd is probably best known for the movie "A Christmas Story," which evolved from stories he told on the radio. I was quite a fan of his radio show, but after binge listening for a year or so, I got pretty tired of his persona. I found this book in a Little Free Library and thought I'd give him another chance... and it turns out he's not one of those writers that when you return to him, you say, "Oh yeah, I'd forgotten how great he is!" More like I'd forgotten how great /he thought/ he was. I was weary of his shopworn tricks about halfway through the book, and if I never hear him say "little did I know how that night would go down in legend" again, it'll be too soon.
There are a few fun semi-biographical stories here, and a lot of... well, I donno if it's filler, but it's not very good.