Review: Some Great Story, Some Not So Great
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 31, 2014
I read one of Mike Cyra's stories on a blog before I got the book to read, and I laughed so hard at the story I read, I just had to check out the book. The book isn't bad. However, after reading the one story on the blog, the book disappointed me some. The writing for many of the stories is not very professional--it has a very blog-like, amateur writer and amateur comedian feel to the writing style. The stories, however, most of them are pretty humorous.Not to sound all sexist, but some of the stories are probably going to be funnier to guys than to most ladies. The humor is the type my young adult son absolutely loves and roars at, but those stories only really just made me chuckle or sort of shrug my shoulders. They weren't bad stories, per se, but they just weren't my thing. Then there were some stories that made me really laugh. So it was hit or miss, but it was worth the time to read them.My personal take on it is that if the author were to hone up on his actual writing skills, he's got some raw talent here that can develop into a really great sense of professional writing humor. I believe this is a first book of this nature for author Mike Cyra, and as such, it's a good freshman effort. I think if he continues with this course, we'll either see that he gave everything he had to this first book and is a one-hit wonder, or he's going to totally excel and blow us away once his talent has had some time to mature and develop (and I mean the talent mature--I do NOT mean the author is immature--but there are (chuckle) many 'immature' stories that will make you laugh at the silliness in this book). Think Dave Barry, but not quite as 'clean' and definitely not as polished yet.So if you like to laugh and you don't mind some gallows humor and body functions and blood and guts and locker room humor don't bother you, you might really like this book. Even if you don't care for that type of humor, there are still a few stories in here you might find you like a lot. A great effort and a pleasurable read. I'll definitely keep an eye out for more.