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92nd out of 1,871 books
—
3,703 voters
Side Effects
by
Woody Allen
A humor classic by one of the funniest writers today, SIDE EFFECTS is a treat for all those who know his work and those just discovering how gifted he is. Included here are such classics as REMEMBERING NEEDLEMAN, THE KUGELMASS EPISODE, a new story called CONFESSIONS OF A BUGLAR, and more.
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
September 12th 1986
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1980)
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Woody Allen has that way of writing awkward attractions and selfish motivations that is forgiving and neat. He ties up the loose ends, but then at the same time, there is always an absurdity to the tying up. The characters will probably never be content, but somehow I, as their audience, am left content through the catharsis of watching Allen’s characters self-destruct. Despite the dissonance in the character relationships, what was secret is now in the open, the bad guy is murdered or permanent...more
After watching many of Allen's movies, I was more than pleased to read this humorous collection of ALLEN's short stories . His prose is the same as the dialogue that gushes from the characters mouths in his films!
An interesting journey through the absurd mind of such an eccentric nervous genius that enables you to think and laugh at the same time!
An interesting journey through the absurd mind of such an eccentric nervous genius that enables you to think and laugh at the same time!
Nov 03, 2012
Fidel
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2012,
short-stories
Un humilde consejo de lector, Woody, maestro. Un libro no es como un monólogo de humor en directo. No puedes pretender que quien te lee se ría cada dos frases. Y menos recargando el texto con bromas fáciles y planteamientos estúpidos que no conducen a ningún lado. Así sólo consigues que se asombre de tu ingenuidad.
Vale, que a veces las bromas son muy concretas, y que sin un contexto compartido son difíciles de pillar. Pero tío, es que te sobras. Son las típicas bromas de "voy a quedar de intelig...more
Vale, que a veces las bromas son muy concretas, y que sin un contexto compartido son difíciles de pillar. Pero tío, es que te sobras. Son las típicas bromas de "voy a quedar de intelig...more
2 likes · like · see review
Dreadfully unfunny stuff. The humor is on the level of a slightly clever twelve-year-old, going for obvious gags - but occurring, as much as possible, every single line. That sort of thing might work for a roast, or other live-delivered gigs, but that style is completed unsuited for short stories. Consider the following paragraph:
The trial, which took place over the following weeks, was like a circus, although there was some difficulty getting the elephants into the courtroom. At last, the jury...more
I am a huge Woody Allen fan. I adore his movies, and I really wanted to be madly in love with this book, but I wasn't. It was funny--I laughed aloud quite a few times--but only about half of the stories were really memorable, and the last one, Retribution, actually had me a little bit bored. It was an enjoyable, quick read, but isn't on my list of favorites.
My favorite story from the whole book (a sort of dialogue/sketch, really) was My Apology, where Allen imagines himself as Socrates dying for
...more
Уди Алън гротескува в “Странични ефекти”
http://www.knigolandia.info/2012/01/b...
Двама души отделно един от друг ме предупредиха, че Уди Алън на хартия е толкова странен, че няма как да ми хареса. Но като виден фен на “Вики, Кристина, Барселона” (и др.) нямаше как да не пробвам. И се оказа, че колкото е по-странно, толкова е по-забавно. Отдавна не бях попадал на проза, която е до такава степен отделена от обичайните окови на значенията на думите, на начините за тяхното свързване, преплитане и ра...more
http://www.knigolandia.info/2012/01/b...
Двама души отделно един от друг ме предупредиха, че Уди Алън на хартия е толкова странен, че няма как да ми хареса. Но като виден фен на “Вики, Кристина, Барселона” (и др.) нямаше как да не пробвам. И се оказа, че колкото е по-странно, толкова е по-забавно. Отдавна не бях попадал на проза, която е до такава степен отделена от обичайните окови на значенията на думите, на начините за тяхното свързване, преплитане и ра...more
Woody Allen is fucking brilliant. He is a sensitive subject, though. Which makes no sense to me at all. I remember one day telling my old boss of my fondness for the man’s work and receiving a disgusted look in return, as if I had professed to buying used underpants off of the Internet. She told me she would never watch the man’s movies after what he did.
“What did he do?” I asked, eyes as wide as a newborn doe.
“He married his daughter,” she said before she stalked away.
I was perplexed. Initially...more
“What did he do?” I asked, eyes as wide as a newborn doe.
“He married his daughter,” she said before she stalked away.
I was perplexed. Initially...more
19 likes · like · see review
As much as I love Woody Allen, I always felt his short stories work best when he isn't going for the serious-with-punchline-style, as evidenced in The Kugelmass Episode. My Apology and The Query are hilarious; Fabrizio's: Criticism and Response is brilliant. A food critic analyzes a restaurant like it's a film or a piece of literature.
The Lunatic's Tale features one of my favorite punchlines: "My first wife was brilliant, but had no sense of humor. Of the Marx Brothers, she was convinced the amu...more
The Lunatic's Tale features one of my favorite punchlines: "My first wife was brilliant, but had no sense of humor. Of the Marx Brothers, she was convinced the amu...more
I read three quarters of this book and then couldn't take any more of Woody's rambling. I was surprised as I enjoy his movies but I will never touch any of his writing again. The only thing that made me chuckle was the last line of his about the author, "His one regret in life is that he is not someone else."
Reading other Goodread reviews, other people love this book. However, generally when one doesn't enjoy an author they don't force themselves to read the book like I did.
Woody Allen and Tim...more
Reading other Goodread reviews, other people love this book. However, generally when one doesn't enjoy an author they don't force themselves to read the book like I did.
Woody Allen and Tim...more
I felt like the overall quality of the stories in SIDE EFFECTS was more even, or more evenly good, but I don't think any of the individual stories is (for me) as good as some I liked from GETTING EVEN. Standouts for me were THE SHALLOWEST MAN (due in part to the ending, which is basically just commentary on the story by a bunch of different people who ultimately throw their hands up at the whole thing), and THE QUERY which begs the important and boggling question of just exactly where some of th...more
So Woody makes fun of a lot of things... like food critics, fear of death, intellectuals, infidelity (of course), falling in love, whiny wives, existential crises, and for some reason, Abraham Lincoln's long legs. He makes a lot of heavy references in light manners such as philosophers (good ol' Marx, Schopenhauer), literary kings (Proust, Flannery), and historical events (Holocaust, European invasions).
I don't really find this a light read despite the fact it's under 250 pages. You're going to...more
I don't really find this a light read despite the fact it's under 250 pages. You're going to...more
Just finished reading Camus's The Outsider and the book was a peqrfect antidote for the intensity and gloom. Wait a minute, Allen has kind of an existential point of view but through comedy. I recommend pairing the two writers.
Let's just say that his neurotic wit made me forgive the prejudice I held against the perversity of marrying your own daughter... even if she's adopted.
P.S. I'm currently re-reading this for the 10th time.
P.S. I'm currently re-reading this for the 10th time.
Mr. Allen did it again. Just as he had done with "Without Feathers". I frequently laughed aloud in my bedroom as I read "Side Effects". The book bounces around between short stories, sometimes dictated by a humorous moral compass, often concerning relationships, the male nature, and as per usual, a Freudian look on sex. All the stories are usually comical, but some are just downright ridiculous, and when it works, it works well. However, there were some moments when it felt like Woody may have b...more
He's the last of a dying breed. Some people celebrate that fact, but I don't. Cozy up with a vodka tonic, wrap yourself in a warm blanket of self-loathing, and dig into this.
Jan 10, 2008
Clare Bear
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Clare by:
Me
Shelves:
read-ages-ago,
a-classic
Woody Allen has me laughing out loud long after I have finished reading. Apparently I even laugh in my sleep after reading him.
Woody Allen is so good at what he does, whether it's films or books, apparently. He understands slapstick as well as he does solemnity, just as he knows the dance between thoughtful philosophy and throw-away absurdity. This is the first book I've read of his, but I've been a huge fan of his movies for years (as is everyone else who has ever read this book).
The first few stories are wackier than those that come later (still so good), but it seems like Allen figures out what he set out to do prett...more
The first few stories are wackier than those that come later (still so good), but it seems like Allen figures out what he set out to do prett...more
classic, awesome, surreal woody allen - though I think this would have potentially made a better audio book read BY woody allen since every story begs for his signature narration.
"What advice would I give the average home-owner to protect himself against burglars? Well, the first thing is to keep a light on in the house when you go out. It must be at least a sixty-watt bulb; anything less and the burglar will ransack the house out of contempt for the wattage....If it happens that you are going o...more
"What advice would I give the average home-owner to protect himself against burglars? Well, the first thing is to keep a light on in the house when you go out. It must be at least a sixty-watt bulb; anything less and the burglar will ransack the house out of contempt for the wattage....If it happens that you are going o...more
Woody Allen is the biggest boss, his wit his legendary and is creativity is above par. "The Kugelmass Episode" was the icing on the cake the story was so enjoyable that I was angry that it finished. I was laughing like a mad man as I read the book in a bus and I was getting puzzling glances. The stories are what fiction should be a beautiful journey, a good summer, a big harvest. This book ranks in my top list of book to reread all the time.
Woody Allen is one of my all time favorite movie directors, recently I found out that he had several books of short stories and plays, SIDE EFFECTS is the first I read of his. Just like his films, his writing is over the top and hilarious. Side Effects was original because of the way it was done. It's a compilation of short stories, but no two are the same. All over the place with content and style, but all in a good way. Side Effects is definitely the strongest book I have read by him. Highly r...more
Either you like woody allen or you don't, I have always liked him and I still do, the man is amazing. This is one of his first books that he ever wrote and I love it, it is like he is reading it to me. The man is a genius and hysterical, I love his vision, his comedic prowess, his dramas, his films and his wit; I went to a high school in Los Angeles in a jewish neighborhood so I can never get enough Jewish jokes from woody allen.
With all due respect to the very Andy Seven, I wouldn't say this book is better than all of Allen's movies, but it's definitely better than some of his movies. Cough, Small Time Crooks, hack, Curse of the Jade Scorpion, cough, Celebrity... I think my favorite Allenism from this was about how the good sleep better at night, but the bad tend to enjoy the waking hours more.
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This was my first experience with a Woody Allen book . Loved it for its quirkiness and a "different" sense of humour. Loved the story about the man who goes back into time to find the "perfect' woman, retribution, the Needleham case. Highly recommended with people who have a sense of humour and who love things that are not sane. Don't look for anything "normal" in this book. You wont find any!
Although I admire Woody's ability to free-associate everything deep and heavy and mix it with pop culture references and sprinkle in some jarring non-sequiters, this book isn't among my favorites of his works. Maybe it's the distacted mood I was in when I read it, though. Perhaps I'll read it one story at a time in the future. I recall liking "Without Feathers" much more.
Laugh-out-loud funny, as was Without Feathers. "My Speech to the Graduates" is anthologized everywhere, including in serious collections of essays. You have to be able to separate the person from the art in order to truly appreciate his genius, but I can understand those who insist that they just can't do it. But he truly is a genius, a word I don't just throw around.
Allen, Woody. SIDE EFFECTS. (1980). ****. This was the last collection of Allen’s pieces from a variety of periodicals – mostly the New Yorker – which tended to be longer and more thought-out than the earlier stuff. The wit and inanity is still there, but it is more under control. These pieces were planned, less spontaneous. This isn’t to say that they weren’t funny, it’s just that – in general – the humor was more mature. This volume gives us pieces like, “The UFO Menace,” which gathers all of...more
"hırsızlık için girdiğim müzenin zemininde hareket sensörleri var diye halatla aşağı sarkıtıldığım sırada pencereden içeri serçe girdi. yere kondu ve alarm çaldı. hemen polisler üşüştü ve yakalandık. ben 10 yıl, serçe 20 yıl yedi. iyi halden 6 ay kala çıktı ama papazın birini öldüresiye gagaladığı için serçeyi tekrar içeri aldılar, bu sefer müebbet yedi"
This is a collection of short stories from the late 1970s (but the author's themes are timeless). Most of them are very funny. They contain Woody Allen's familiar take on life, and (as in his movies) his obsession with death and, until said death has inevitably arrived, finding satisfaction in an unsatisfying world. It sounds really depressing but he makes it really funny. I like his movies because he is one of the rare filmmakers today who does not insult my intelligence. This book contains the...more
Woody Allen's comedic writings have always been fairly underappreciated, which always puzzles me. He is able to combine fairly advanced philosophical ideas with a crude observational humor in a way that is truly unique. This book, as well as "Without Feathers" and "Getting Even," are a real pleasure to read.
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Woody Allen (born Allen Stewart Königsberg) is a three-time Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor, jazz musician, comedian and playwright. His large body of work and cerebral film style, mixing satire, wit and humor, have made him one of the most respected and prolific filmmakers in the modern era. Allen writes and directs his movies and has also acted in the majority of them...more
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“Kugelmass, unaware of this catastrophe, had his own problems. He had not been thrust into Portnoy's Complaint, or into any other novel, for that matter. He had been projected into an old textbook, Remedial Spanish, and was running for his life over a barren, rocky terrain as the word tener ("to have") - a large and hairy irregular verb - raced after him on its spindly legs.”
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14 people liked it
“I was in bed at my beach house, but could not sleep because of some fried chicken in the icebox that I felt entitled to. I waited till my wife dropped off, and tiptoed into the kitchen. I remembered looking at the clock. It was precisely four-fifteen. I'm quite certain of this, because our kitchen clock has not worked in twenty-one years and is always at that time. I also noticed that our dog, Judas, was acting funny. He was sanding up on his hind legs and singing, 'I Enjoy Being a Girl.' Suddenly the room turned bright orange. At first, I thought my wife had caught me eating between meals and set fire to the house. Then I looked out the window, where to my amazement I saw a gigantic cigar-shaped aircraft hovering just over the treetops in the yard and emitting an orange glow. I stood transfixed for what must have been several hours, though our clock still read four-fifteen, so it was difficult to tell. Finally, a large, mechanical claw extended from the aircraft and snatched the two pieces of chicken from my hand and quickly retreated. When I reported the incident to the Air Force, they told me that what I had seen was a flock of birds. When I protested, Colonel Quincy Bascomb personally promised that the Air Force would return the two pieces of chicken. To this day, I have only received one piece.”
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7 people liked it
More quotes…
Schlong, Jason, schlong.
Jul 20, 2012 07:24am
It's amazing no one ever considered throwing a bunch of them into a room together. Oh, wait.
Jul 20, 2012 07:33am