"Martin Amis is a stone-solid genius...a dazzling star of wit and insight." --The Wall Street Journal
In this wickedly deli... read full description
In this wickedly deli... read full description
reviews
Aug 07, 2011
Ron
rated it: 
Amis is no master of the short form, as illustrated by the wildly uneven collection that is Einstein's Monsters or the novella Dead Babies, and Heavy Water proves just as uneven as the former while often sinking to the depths of the abysmal latter. Amis twists notions of reality in both Career Move (poets are millionaires and film makers starving artists) and Straight Fiction (gay and straight populations are reversed), and both come across as trite and deadly dull. Denton's Death and Heavy Wate
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May 28, 2007
Aaron
rated it: 
Great stories, most are strong. Standing out above all others is "The Janitor from Mars".
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Nov 04, 2008
M.C.
rated it: 
Heavy Water And Other Stories is an intriguing collection of short stories written by British writer Martin Amis. The basic theme that links these stories to one another is a focus on British culture either through character or through the setting.
Of the nine short stories in Heavy Water And Other Stories, "Denton's Death" is the most mysterious. A synopsis of the story would suffice to tell one of the tale of a man who claims that a figure named "the leader" and More...
Of the nine short stories in Heavy Water And Other Stories, "Denton's Death" is the most mysterious. A synopsis of the story would suffice to tell one of the tale of a man who claims that a figure named "the leader" and More...
Jun 03, 2008
Kyle
rated it: 
After putting down both 'Money' and 'The Rachel Papers' without finishing them, I was skeptical about even buying this book which I did only because I found a pocket paperback copy of it and 'Dead Babies' at the used bookstore around the corner for only $2 each. Except for "Straight Fiction" (which is obvious and hardly clever even) and "What Happened to Me on My Holiday" (which, while fun to read, may be a bit too sentimental), every single one of these stories is phenomenal
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Nov 28, 2008
Caty
rated it:
I usually find Martin Amis to be a pale imitation of his acclaimed father and Will Self, but this collection includes one of my favorite short stories EVER: "The Janitor on Mars". Fucking amazing and I'll say no more.
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May 20, 2009
Sazuru
rated it:
One of those few brilliant macho authors who turns the whole thing in on itself, and with such an agile imagination that you have to read...and keep on reading.
Sep 24, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Amis shows the versatility and experimental nature of the short story form with this collection. He also serves as a modern-day Ionesco, shining light on the absurdities of the modern age. He never goes for the expected, whether he's skewering sexual mores or dissecting a troubled parent-child relationship. All the while, the details, tone, and plot are air-tight.
May 02, 2010
Steve
rated it:
A hit or miss collection where the premise behind stories such as 'Straight Fiction' and 'The Janitor from Mars' hold great promise but fail to really deliver.
May 21, 2008
Paul
rated it:
i am sure that i have heard or rather read in certain reviews that amis is considered too smart for his own good. that frankly is just so much bull dung -- this is a master class in the short story and if you don't read it because of some bias against martin amis then you are shooting yourself in the foot.
he flips the world around in ways that are interesting and entirely convincing. i loved this book.
he flips the world around in ways that are interesting and entirely convincing. i loved this book.
Mar 27, 2007
Richard
rated it: 
I don't so much dislike this book as just really hate one particular story, Straight Fiction, that is in it. It posits a world where everyone is gay, but uses typical gay stereotypes; if everyone were gay, gays would be totally different, because a lot of gay behaviour comes from being a minority. It just seemed like a poorly planned aspect of an admirable thought experiment.
Jul 05, 2007
Cheri
rated it:
Amis is such an amazing writer, but several of these stories don't age well. Also, he's both a man of his times and his upbringing, and so resorts to some pretty awful stereotypes in stories like "Straight Fiction" and "The Coincidence of The Arts".
On craft, he's unimpeachable, but for content I find him mostly lacking.
On craft, he's unimpeachable, but for content I find him mostly lacking.
Jan 02, 2011
Sam
rated it:
This collection of short stories is mixed. Some were great, but some were limited to Amis's standard fascination for jerks and miscreants. As usual, Amis knows how to craft language, and there are plenty of bawdy jokes thrown in. I loved the one sci-fi story in the mix about the Janitor on Mars.
Dec 16, 2009
Rustam
rated it:
His humor is like...I dunno. There's one story about this guy whose wife lets him sodomize her exactly once a year on his birthday. Amis then spends the rest of the story generating hundreds of statistics in regards to various aspects of their sex life. And I dunno. It's just funny.
Nov 10, 2008
Kendall
rated it:
Some good stories- some weird stuff. Liked (sort of): The Coincidence of the Arts- Heavy Water- Straight Fiction. Let Me Count the Times was a strange erotic story. What Happened to Me on My Holiday was witty- but consciously so and annoying as hell to plod through.
Dec 17, 2009
Max
rated it:
One of the best collection of short stories I've ever read. Each is rich and funny in its own way. Some are better than others (The State of England is a standout) but the variety is part of the appeal. A lot of brilliant, page-turning satire. Plenty of emotional kick too.
Aug 26, 2008
Vilja
rated it:
I find Martin Amis disgusting, but not all the stories in this one were, and some of the cleverness I have to admit I enjoyed.
Nov 14, 2007
Hanny
rated it:
Two perfect stories: "Career Move" and "The Coincidence of the Arts." Skip or skim the rest.
Oct 03, 2007
Mark
rated it:
... but the title story gets five stars ...
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Feb 10, 2012
Feb 09, 2012
