The Hospital for Bad Poets: Stories

by J.C. Hallman

Book Overview

Full of cryptic twists, philosophical quandaries, and fabulist turns, J. C. Hallman's stories elucidate an intuitive understanding of the human condition.

An alienated young man discovers the meaning of love in the pages of the biology textbook The Conjugal Cyst, and in the arms of two increasingly unavailable older nurses. As his father deserts his mother, who is subsequently encroached upon by his eligible English teacher,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571310746
• ISBN13: 9781571310743
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A top pick for any lover of short fiction

Everyone's a poet. Or at least they think they are. "The Hospital for Bad Poets" is a collection of short stories from J.C. Hallman, bringing readers a series of characters to charm and captivate - many of the individuals are day to day 'everymen', yet each is unique in his or her own way. Intriguing and genuinely human, Hallman's stories will keep many a reader glued to the book, making "The Hospital for Bad Poets" a top pick for any lover of short fiction.

Good stories from a great nonfiction writer.

My only quibble about these stories is, I like Hallman's other books a lot more. Here, the move to the fantastic seems mechanical, but maybe that's just my own reaction, and others will like them a lot more. They're good stories; it just feels like they share a formula, and maybe I've just gotten tired of the mythic lately: too many werewolves, vampires, faeries and whatnot.

The Surreal and the Mundane

J.C. Hallman's first book of short stories is a marvelous mix of the ordinary and the extraordinary. His stories follow the lives of very ordinary people - your friends, your neighbors, your loved ones - and they allow you a private view of what goes on inside these "ordinary" minds. His characters are full of secrets, longings, strange ideas; some of them seem to live in a parallel reality. A quiet suburb is, in fact, a necropolis; an unseen neighbor lady is a succubus who lures first a husband, then a son, into her secret lair in the shrubbery. These stories succeed because they're so grounded in the ordinary world, but they never settle there. Sometimes disquieting, but always fascinating - a strong collection of work.