Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
64th out of 1,210 books
—
6,529 voters
Unlucky Lucky Days
by
Daniel Grandbois (Goodreads Author)
"These are funny, bizarre, moving stories—a pleasure to read."—Lydia Davis
"Grandbois is a master of the double-edged word, of stories that both cut through the world like butter and double-back to saw themselves to bits."—Brian Evenson
"Grandbois' trembling leaflets bring to life all the rejecta and detritus scattered in such silent and secretive array around us, recovering...more
"Grandbois is a master of the double-edged word, of stories that both cut through the world like butter and double-back to saw themselves to bits."—Brian Evenson
"Grandbois' trembling leaflets bring to life all the rejecta and detritus scattered in such silent and secretive array around us, recovering...more
Paperback, 128 pages
Published
June 1st 2008
by BOA Editions Ltd.
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
470)
Jun 27, 2008
Richard
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
People who enjoyed this review
Recommended to Richard by:
The tapeworm. Or was it the stone?
“You must tell the truth,” said the tapeworm, measuring the reviewer’s guts.
“But what is the truth?” squeaked the louse, perched on his ear.
“And where shall we find it?” said the stone in his heart.
But their voices were lost in a dense web of words, trapped for an instant on a flickering screen, before they were devoured by a ravenous click.
“There, you see?” said the tapeworm, as he floated disembodied.
“Is that why we must speak the truth?” asked the louse.
“Is this where we shall find it?” asked...more
“But what is the truth?” squeaked the louse, perched on his ear.
“And where shall we find it?” said the stone in his heart.
But their voices were lost in a dense web of words, trapped for an instant on a flickering screen, before they were devoured by a ravenous click.
“There, you see?” said the tapeworm, as he floated disembodied.
“Is that why we must speak the truth?” asked the louse.
“Is this where we shall find it?” asked...more
Chock full of animals, vegetables and minerals, its oddly, yet wholly, engrossing and like nothing else you've read before.
Oct 23, 2008
John
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
readers who like a laugh & a challenge
Recommended to John by:
received it for review
Shelves:
superb-minatures
UNLUCKY LUCKY DAYS, a debut assortment, is fabulist flash-fic of the highest order. Nothing in the book runs so long as three full pages, & in general the work eludes the social & economic demarcations of what we like call "realism." Instead it offers disturbing yet charming shards of unbridled imagination. In a typical metamorphosis, a brass lion’s-head knocker takes leave of its doorway, setting off to play middle-school pranks. All told, the collection divvies 73 surreal miniatures am...more
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)
Regular readers know that I'm a big fan of experimental work, but that I always face a professional problem when trying to write reviews of such work here; namely, my reviews tend to be long and detailed analyses of the story being told, something almost impossible to do when the book in question is e...more
Regular readers know that I'm a big fan of experimental work, but that I always face a professional problem when trying to write reviews of such work here; namely, my reviews tend to be long and detailed analyses of the story being told, something almost impossible to do when the book in question is e...more
Jun 24, 2008
Jason
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Clever People or those that wish to become Clever
I don't pretend to understand each of these little stories, but those that I do I really enjoyed. I hope my mild confusion was merely a result of an inadvertent line-skip while reading on the light rail, rather than some defect on the author's part. Perhaps these tales are really seeds, and some day soon their meaning will spring forth from my head, fully clad in armor.
This is a brave collection: Bold strokes on a tiny canvas (for most stories fill less than a page, and a few are shorter than t...more
This is a brave collection: Bold strokes on a tiny canvas (for most stories fill less than a page, and a few are shorter than t...more
i bought this book because i didnt want to have to return it to the publisher, but i needed the shelf space at work. i do that a lot, and now i need someone to come over here and make shelf space on my own shelves... i liked many of these stories enough to give the book a four star rating, but i know i am not the target audience, because im only feeling a three. these are surreal flash-fiction pieces, and even though they are super-short, their language made me have to read them a few times to "...more
Um... WOW. Something tells me that this author LOVES mushrooms... and I'm not talking about the saran-wrapped, grocery store variety, either. HAHAHA Honestly, I LOVED this book. It's the most intelligent, unique thing I've read in a long time. But yes... it's pretty much an acid trip in words.
Grandbois has been compared to Dr. Seuss, but I don't think that's quite right. They share creativity, to be certain, but Seuss is much more structured and "sensical." Reading this book was more like analyz...more
Grandbois has been compared to Dr. Seuss, but I don't think that's quite right. They share creativity, to be certain, but Seuss is much more structured and "sensical." Reading this book was more like analyz...more
I was on vacation in San Francisco recently and one of the necessary items on my to-do list was a pilgrimage to City Lights Books. While perusing the shelves, I spied a signed copy of Daniel Granbois’ Unlucky Lucky Days. Knowing the man’s name and having heard great things about him from trustworthy people, I decided to plunk down some hard-earned cash.
Grandbois gave me my money’s worth. Even though it is a slim book at 117 pages, Unlucky Lucky Days is packed with 73 short tales. The longest max...more
Grandbois gave me my money’s worth. Even though it is a slim book at 117 pages, Unlucky Lucky Days is packed with 73 short tales. The longest max...more
Jul 26, 2008
Chriss
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommended to Chriss by:
Daniel Grandbois
Shelves:
fiction
Daniel has a keen sense of the bizarre, often overlooked aspects of life. His stories of stains and hairs are told from a perspective few, if any have the pleasure of seeking and the uniqueness factor is high! Not all will understand his art but anyone who is needing a trip down an unconventional road, try Unlucky Lucky Days.
This review originally appeared in the ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news...
Grandbois has ear for music - and words
By Vince Darcangelo, Special to the Rocky
Audiophiles may recognize Daniel Grandbois as the bassist of some of Denver's most interesting bands, such as Tarantella and Slim Cessna's Auto Club, groups that run the gamut from gypsy to gospel to Gothic Americana. It's no surprise, then, that when he trades his four-string for a pad and paper, Grandbois takes a musi...more
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news...
Grandbois has ear for music - and words
By Vince Darcangelo, Special to the Rocky
Audiophiles may recognize Daniel Grandbois as the bassist of some of Denver's most interesting bands, such as Tarantella and Slim Cessna's Auto Club, groups that run the gamut from gypsy to gospel to Gothic Americana. It's no surprise, then, that when he trades his four-string for a pad and paper, Grandbois takes a musi...more
" Unlucky Lucky Days" is a book of 73 succulent stories. Every word resonates with an allegorical style that opens the doors to an unusual universe of objects and characters-- "The Chair," "The Fish," "The Log," "The Yarn," "New Heaven," "The Urge," "The Left Hand.” These stories are astonishing, surreal, satirical, philosophical, written with great humor.
A third of the stories center on humans, but you will meet many other strange creatures here as well, like The Three Cranes--Fly No Oval, H...more
A third of the stories center on humans, but you will meet many other strange creatures here as well, like The Three Cranes--Fly No Oval, H...more
I was so hoping for another book like "I thought there would be cake." I really wanted to enjoy a bunch of short stories. However the stories were way too short, and read like jokes. They each needed a little more depth.
A little too strange for me. A collection of VERY short stories, everyday subjects, that do off-the-wall things, like "sound" that builds a nest in an ear, "urges" that do things, and "mirrors" that wish they could see themselves, etc. At least I didn't waste a lot of time reading it, it only takes a short while.
There were a handful of stories here that I enjoyed, but it wasn't coming together for me. Its oddness wasn't particularly endearing, engaging, challenging, or odd enough to be really interesting. It's too bad, because I really wanted to like this book.
A Best Book of the Year, for sure!!!
Weird. Not even humorous, though I didn't read all the stories. I guess it just wasn't for me. Kinda gruesome, too.
***3.5***
Another book I wish they had half stars for. Some of the stories were hilarious and I read them out loud to my husband. Some were just strange. So while I didn't love the book I did enjoy quite a few of the short stories. He has a unique, creative spin to his writing. "The Left Hand" was one of my favorites!
Another book I wish they had half stars for. Some of the stories were hilarious and I read them out loud to my husband. Some were just strange. So while I didn't love the book I did enjoy quite a few of the short stories. He has a unique, creative spin to his writing. "The Left Hand" was one of my favorites!
Cool-in-a-weird-way, very odd, and extremely short stories exploring what kinds of lives and thoughts animals, inanimate objects, minerals, and plants (to mention a few) would have if they could. I didn't read all, but picked and chose those that interested me. A refreshing, imaginative, and unexpected read.
I really wanted to like this book, but I couldn't get into it. I kept trying and putting it aside and then it was due back at the library and I had to return. I will try again when my life isn't as busy and my brain can focus. I want to like it :)
Danny (Daniel) Grandbois is a friend from high school and an amazing talent. I highly recommend this book. You will laugh and wonder how Daniel comes up with these stories!
I really did try, but this just isn't my cup of tea, though I do enjoy how visual his writing is.
May 06, 2013
Tina Denson
marked it as to-read
Apr 20, 2013
Iroulito91
marked it as to-read
Apr 19, 2013
Hector
marked it as to-read
Apr 14, 2013
Rory
marked it as to-read
Apr 07, 2013
poiboy
marked it as to-read
Apr 03, 2013
Azza A.
marked it as to-read
Apr 02, 2013
Caeli
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Daniel Grandbois is the author of the story collection Unlucky Lucky Days (BOA Editions, 2008); the art novel The Hermaphrodite: An Hallucinated Memoir (Green Integer, 2010), illustrated by Alfredo Benavidez Bedoya; and the omnibus Unlucky Lucky Tales (forthcoming October 2012, Texas Tech University Press), illustrated by Fidel Sclavo. His writing appears in many journals and anthologies, includin...more
More about Daniel Grandbois...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
updated Aug 24, 2008 01:23pm