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Demonology: Stories

3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 · rating details · 1,075 ratings · 101 reviews

Rick Moody's novels have earned him a reputation as a "breathtaking" writer (The New York Times) and "a writer of immense gifts" (The San Francisco Examiner). His remarkable short stories have led both the New Yorker and Harpers to single him out as one of the most original and admired voices in a generation.
These stories are abundant proof of Rick Moody's grace as a styl...more

Paperback, 320 pages

Published April 10th 2002 by Back Bay Books (first published 2000)

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May 29, 2007 Trixie B added it · review of another edition Recommends it for: no one.

Oh man, I HATED this book. In this short story collection, Rick Moody artfully applies all of the worst elements of fiction to create saccharine, predictable stories about character that are flat and unsympathetic. I was thrilled when bad stuff happened to them. This is one book I didn't even bother to finish - I got through the 100+ story right in the middle and then threw the book across the room, resolving to flip this guy off if I ever meet him. I think Rick Moody has singlehandedly soured m...more

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May 06, 2007 Justin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: stolenfrommysister

I haven't always been a big a fan of short story collections.

My main criticisms is that it's hard to form a coherence among the pieces. A short story is something that needs to be able to exist outside of a collection.

When you gather a group of them together in a single book, it's like that first day of kindergarten class: some are going to mesh, some are going to clash and a scarce percentage are going to grow up to realize that they were conceived in the wrong time and use that as an excuse...more

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Apr 25, 2008 Christy rated it 1 of 5 stars

Finally finished this book and all I can say is it certainly brought out the demon in me, because I strongly disliked it.
While some of the short stories were interesting, many of them were so jumbled and inconsistent that I was unable to make heads of tails of their purpose.

Some of the ways in which the stories were written were interesting; for instance one story was written as a track list of songs through years and each list had a column to the left explaining why certain songs were chosen....more

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Jan 31, 2012 Jacob rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-part-1, short-fiction

Fucking terrible. And I thought Chuck Palahniuk was a bad writer. Sorry, dude.

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May 03, 2013 Theking Ofalltacos rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Sep 17, 2010 Chantal rated it 4 of 5 stars

I can’t remember which literary publication called, last spring, for submissions for their upcoming list-themed issue. The editors were inviting lists of all sorts, anything from grocery lists to bucket lists that might be entertaining to read, claiming that we all love a good list. Lists as literature; surely, Rick Moody is at the foundation of this. Approximately one third of his almost three hundred page collection, Demonology, is a list of some sort or other.
I scribbled myself a reminder...more I can’t remember which literary publication called, last spring, for submissions for their upcoming list-themed issue. The editors were inviting lists of all sorts, anything from grocery lists to bucket lists that might be entertaining to read, claiming that we all love a good list. Lists as literature; surely, Rick Moody is at the foundation of this. Approximately one third of his almost three hundred page collection, Demonology, is a list of some sort or other.
I scribbled myself a reminder of the submissions deadline and tacked it to my bulletin board, alongside my list of books to read this term; my list of books read this term; my list of favorite words; my list of favorite quotes; my list of potential character names; my list of potential story ideas; a list of potential places to submit my stories; a list of publications who had rejected my stories, etc. And I listed on this scribbled reminder my submission ideas for the list-issue: a trio of grocery lists to comment on the various phases of a marriage; a list of the men I slept with and the reasons why, to chronicle my life; a list of the things a mother says to a daughter in a single day, or a single life; a list of all the dogs I’ve had; a list of favorite foods; a list of all my dead dreams; a list of lists, to-do lists—you get the idea--although I imagine you’re a little bored by now.
I, too, became a little bored in reading Rick Moody’s collection, particularly the stories that were formed more of lists than narrative, the worst, in my opinion, being “Wilkie Fahnstock: The Boxed Set” and “Surplus Value Books: Catalogue Number 13.”
That being said, I read Moody’s “Boys” three times, once out loud to my husband, for the sheer pleasure of the rhythm of this list of the experiences of a set of twin boys entering their home and growing into men, and the immense emotion that Moody managed to capture in this list. And, I need to admit that I’ve added “Boys” to my own short list of favorite short stories.
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Nov 23, 2009 Kendall rated it 2 of 5 stars

Rick Moody is an excellent writer. No doubt about that. I liked Garden State- The Ice Storm- and Purple America even though they were all gloomy. Which brings me to an important point about Rick Moody's writing: don't read it if you�re the slightest bit depressed because you'll be suicidal by the time you're finished. That's one of the problems I had with Demonology. I'd just lost my job- my grandmother died recently- my estranged father had a stroke and major heart surgery over the last few wee...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Diane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although I find some of the book funny, most of it entertaining, and none of it completely abysmal, this collection of short stories does not completely stand out for me. It's a blissfully quick read, and has its fair share of complicated metaphors and glimpses into what life can truly be like.

I won't condemn the book, but it's similarities to more potent storytellers of the modern age pushes me away from it. For that reason, it's not entirely worth skipping, but I wouldn't bump this up to the t...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Michelle rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, la-quinta-finds, vertically-challenged-tales

Let me say how happy I was to come across this collection while browsing at my local library. Both The Ice Storm & Garden State are on my Favorite Movie list, and I am a fan of short stories in general so I opened this book excited to delve into Mr. Moody's written word. Then it became what I like to refer to as adult homework, when I have to assign myself a number of pages or set amount of time to read and push myself to complete the book. Not because I have to, mind you, but because I want...more

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Dec 02, 2010 Charlotte rated it 3 of 5 stars

Enjoyed most of the short stories in this book. I did a class report on "Boys", and actually got Rick Moody to comment on the story:

Hey Charlotte,

Thanks for your note, and for reading "Boys."

The story came in this way: at the time of its composition there was a vogue in writing circles for "short short" stories. That is, stories under 1500 words or so. I had not written a piece this short before, really, but I was eager to try. I was at a reading one night, and I heard an older writer read a ver...more

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Apr 17, 2009 Heather Fowler rated it 5 of 5 stars

What can I say except that I am unashamedly in love with the work of Rick Moody? He rocks the short story like few others. This book was a feast for those who enjoy his detailed observations, fabulous ear for dialogue, dazzling use of language (word-smitten he is, I am), and well placed humor that touches the funny bone with a cattle prod, the sort of of humor that has you laughing even as you're about to go to a funeral--unsure how you can laugh and cry at the same time, with such intensity in...more

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Jan 16, 2012 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, fiction

Once again Rick Moody demonstrates that he is one of our finest writers in this fine collection of short stories. He is now one of our most astute observers of suburban life in the northeastern United States, crafting richly textured vignettes on despair with his sparse, lyrical prose. Not every story in this collection succeeds, but most show Moody at the top of his form. Indeed, the title story of this collection is one of the most amazing, emotionally gripping tales I have read on how a dysfu...more

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Apr 05, 2011 Drew Barth rated it 4 of 5 stars

A Pack of Smarties for the Salinger

Moody, Rick. Demonology. Back Bay Books, Boston: 2001.

“The Chicken Mask was sorrowful, Sis,” (3). This first line, the first sentence for “The Mansion on the Hill” the first story from Rick Moody’s short fiction collection Demonology, creates a tone that the rest of the book follows: madcap mourning. It’s the class clown, who, even after the death of a parent, still cracks a few jokes in the middle of a lecture.
Every story, ranging from the aforementioned “The...more A Pack of Smarties for the Salinger

Moody, Rick. Demonology. Back Bay Books, Boston: 2001.

“The Chicken Mask was sorrowful, Sis,” (3). This first line, the first sentence for “The Mansion on the Hill” the first story from Rick Moody’s short fiction collection Demonology, creates a tone that the rest of the book follows: madcap mourning. It’s the class clown, who, even after the death of a parent, still cracks a few jokes in the middle of a lecture.
Every story, ranging from the aforementioned “The Mansion on the Hill” to “Forecasts from the Retail Desk,” all have this undercurrent of intense sadness, of desperation to deal with the emotions that flow through the human mind in the worst of times, but presents them all with a veneer of the absurd. Taking another story, “On the Carousel,” deals with a woman in Los Angeles, someone in the television industry, driving her daughter to a McDonald’s for some juice. While floating around in her private fantasies of non-existent fame and waiting in the drive-thru, the side of her car becomes the stage for a gang shooting; a kid walks up and begins to open fire on a group the next parking lot over. The woman is in shock of the event and tries to bury her daughter as far as she can into the car’s floor, but the entire time the battle rages above, she only has a single train of thought: “It could be optioned—the story of the attractive professional woman caught in the crossfire at a local McDonald’s,” (61). This event will become, for her, the stepping stone into her screen-writing career, how one woman protects her child from vicious gang crimes in LA; her career blossoms in the back seat.
But this is just his normal fiction, the vanilla stuff that nearly any writer of short fiction—albeit not as well—could possibly craft in a few months. No, where Moody really gets lively is his more experimental pieces, pieces like “Wilkie Fahnstock, The Boxed Set” and “Surplus Value Books: Catalogue Number 13.” The former tells the story of the titular Wilkie Fahnstock, a failure and utter despot in every facet of living, through the one thing that better reflects the human condition than nigh any force imaginable, through a series of mixtapes. The story is split into two columns: the right side contains the playlist while the left commentates on Wilkie’s life and times as the music rolls by. Then the former, a story that plays out in minor sentences among the sale listings for various rare books. It’s a piece about obsession, not about the books, but about the “beautiful young bibliographer of the greatest of expectations,” obsessing over Anna Feldman, a woman who has a restraining order against the unnamed bibliographer, (284). His infatuation piles into nearly every listing, talking more and more of Anna as the pages flip by.
In all honesty, this collection was a piece of liberation to me as a writer, I saw explicitly what a writer could do if they no longer cared about the formatting and just wanted to get a story out. The latter two stories I wrote about were just odd enough to grab the attention in such a way that a reader couldn’t help but go on, just out of curiosity, just to see where this thing would lead. I want nothing more than to be capable of that, to have something stand out in such a way that it draws the eyes in and lets them dance about the page at the oddity that unfolds.
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Apr 24, 2008 Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: short-stories

His use of italics gets really annoying after awhile. In an interview he said it was one of the hallmarks of his style, although he didn’t say why he did it. It must mean something to him, but I have to say that most of the time (the only exception being when he uses it to indicate dialogue) I don't see what that emphasis accomplishes for him, especially when he overuses it so much. Not sure, but—with the possible exception of the novellas—I don't think there's a single story in this collection...more

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Jun 04, 2008 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: short-stories

I feel I was meant to read this book because of two coincidences: One, I had just finished Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and had no idea about the connection between the two authors when I began the book. (Eggers is even thanked by Moody at the end of the book.) Two, I was eating a bowl of lentil soup when I read the sentence in "The Carnival Tradition" about the girl buying lentil soup. I don't take these things lightly.

I checked out this book because it was referenced in t...more

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Oct 10, 2011 Samantha Albala rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I met him and he performed "The Boys" from this book. I happen to love him, and I understand why most struggle with some things because he seems to be very experimental in his stories. Although I deeply respect him. He has a dark and delightful quality, and one can't help but feel infected by his delightful self-pity. He's a funny guy, I still need to read his novels, but I had to read this collection after hearing him read that story.

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Sep 22, 2007 Evan rated it 5 of 5 stars

after having read The Ice Storm and Garden State many moons ago (the late 90s), I had lost track of Rick Moody. Not that he went anywhere. I even have a copy of Purple America that I have never read. But I just never found myself drawn back to him. Recently I had to read Demonology for a class and also had the chance to meet Moody at a reading. I have fallen into his post-Ice Storm work with much enthusiasm. It doesn't always work ("Hawaiian Night" is conceptually interesting but almost too dens...more

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Jul 18, 2010 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars

I hate the people who gave this book a bad review. You are philistines. Rick Moody is wonderful and the title story of this collection physically gives me chills. It's beautiful when Moody ends that one story with the endless chain of corporate restaurant names and also in the bookseller one it's great when the guy calls his fake long-lost love a condition of the universe.

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Jul 31, 2008 MissFidget rated it 2 of 5 stars

Ehhh, not so hot.

Someone send this dude a card that says "congrats-you are now one of the rich and established people you idolized from afar as a kid."

New England settings and voice left me flat. I repeatedly thought "Who gives a shit?" and "Don't I have something better to do?" Only good story was the one about the dude who worked in the Catering Hall/Wedding Factory. Most of the stories had obtuse open endings that felt like smarmy cop-outs.

If I met this dude at a party for the first few sip...more

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Jan 21, 2013 Alejandro rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So it finally happened, I finally got hold of a book I just couldn't finish. I liked the first story, though I felt it was slightly dragged out, but the stories beyond that felt like watching a beautiful shade of paint dry. Or putting up pretty wall paper up. After nearly 85 pages I felt like I'd been punched by a baby like 100 times.

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May 20, 2011 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: story-collections

The collection was a bit uneven - a few of the stories (like "Surplus Value Books: Catalogue Number 13" and "Wilkie Fahnstock, The Boxed Set") were almost unreadable, while some other stories (like "Boys", "Demonology", "Mansion on the Hill", and "Forecast from the Retail Desk") are among the most beautiful stories I've read in my life. Definitely a must-read.

*The 5 stars is because I can forgive the misses based on the brilliance of the hits.

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Mar 31, 2013 Mitch Duckworth rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is one of those efforts for which we need a half-star rating . . . I would agree with the mass of Goodreads readers who rated the anthology at 3.46 stars, but several stories are noteworthy:

Forecast from the Retail Desk-*****
The Carnival Tradition-****
Boys-*****
Demonology-****

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Jul 07, 2007 Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The title story I think is top-dog awesome. I saw him read it and everyone was crying and he ran off afterwards crying - he'd never read it in public because it's about his sister's death. I taught this story and it went over well -- like that Lorrie Moore story with the baby with cancer ("People Like That Are the Only People Here"), this is one of those stories that states, while proceeding in totally conventional fictional form, that this shit ain't close to fiction and it's only presented in...more

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Mar 22, 2013 Adi Alsaid rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Yes, some of these stories are misses. But you have to respect when a writer gets an idea and dives fully into it. Creative and varied conceptually, these stories are often beautiful, occasionally disjointed, sometimes odd. But when they hit the mark, boy do they hit it.

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Nov 14, 2012 Ellice rated it 2 of 5 stars

Rick Moody has a very distinct writing style. He likes extremely lengthy sentences, and italics for no particular reason. This made these stories fairly exhausting to read. Some of them seemed worth this effort and some did not.

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Aug 28, 2009 Jeremy rated it 2 of 5 stars

An abuse of Elkin's influence.

Certainly not the worst book on earth, but irritating to me personally because of Moody's obvious intention to adopt a flowing, stacking, over-worded style like Elkin's. He doesn't fail, but his success is a bit gruesome.

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Jan 28, 2013 Bucho R. rated it 2 of 5 stars

not nearly as impressed with these stories as i currently am with "the four fingers of death" novel. it's still smart writing, but many of the stories never seem to go anywhere for me. starting off the collection with the longest piece is probably not the best way to grab a reader's attention, either.

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Nov 13, 2011 Beth rated it 1 of 5 stars

I was really excited to read this book after reading its reviews, but I couldnt finish it. Maybe I just dont like short stories, I'm not sure, but the stories seemed to build and build and then just end. I guess I just enjoy long, twisting novels.

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Apr 09, 2009 Mike Ingram rated it 4 of 5 stars

Damn the tyranny of the GoodReads star system. As if the most appropriate response to literature is to become little Eberts?

I liked most of the stories here. A few of them made me all tingly in my nether regions. A couple were lame. Such is life.

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Aug 25, 2008 Eric rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not usually a fan of fiction, but a lot of these stories read more like extended poems than a typical narrative, so the usual tediousness of reading a whole novel is avoided. Some of the stories are a bit drawn out/monotonous, especially when Moody starts page-long lists (one story is simply a list of mix tapes made at different points of a character's life), but the last one, "Demonology," from which the compilation gets its name, is probably my favorite short story ever. The interjected pa...more

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About Rick Moody

Rick Moody (born Hiram Frederick Moody, III on October 18, 1961, New York City), is an American novelist and short story writer best known for The Ice Storm (1994), a chronicle of the dissolution of two suburban Connecticut families over Thanksgiving weekend in 1973, which brought widespread acclaim, and became a bestseller; it was later made into a feature film.

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The Ring of Brightest Angels Around Heaven: A Novella and Stories

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Quotes from Demonology: Stories

“Have I mentioned that I expect death around every turn, that every blue sky has a safe sailing out of it, that every bus runs me over, that every low, mean syllable uttered in my direction seems to intimate the violence of murder, that every family seems like an opportunity for ruin and every marriage a ceremony into which calamity will fall and hearts will be broken and lives destroyed and people branded by the mortifications of love? ” — 8 people liked it

“What kind of woman was she? What kind of woman was it who called to me from that calamity on the Seventh Avenue line? What kind of woman do I love now, with a fealty that will not cease, not till my occluded arteries send their clots up to the spongy interiors in my skull and I go mute and slack? I love the kind of woman whose hair has gone gray in a not terribly flattering way, the kind who doesn't even notice how she has to keeps having to buy larger jeans, the kind who likes big cars because she doesn't like to be uncomfortable. I love this woman because she is gifted with astounding premonitory skills: no matter how uncertain, how despondent, how lost her mate feels, no matter how dire the circumstances, she nonetheless predicts that Everything will be roses.” — 1 person liked it

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