The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories
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The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories

3.59 of 5 stars 3.59  ·  rating details  ·  389 ratings  ·  55 reviews
Steve Almond, the man whose candy jones fueled the bestseller "Candyfreak," returns with a collection of stories that both seals his reputation as a master of the modern form and risks getting him arrested. The cast of characters in "The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories" includes a wealthy family certain they have been abducted by space aliens, a sexy m...more
Paperback, 233 pages
Published April 28th 2006 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill (first published 2005)
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Andrew
Andrew rated it 2 of 5 stars
Should Steve Almond bother you? Should you find it condescending that he’s got a reading comprehension test on his website? Should you get the icks from Almond’s writing about teaching the sexy, sexed-up female students in a writing workshop very much resembling his own at Boston College? Should you down some ipecac because his most assured writing in The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories is in a story called “The Idea of Michael Jackson’s Dick”?

Ugh, yes. Steve, you have freaked us out....more
Bird Brian
I don't know whether the stories in this collection just got better towards the end, or whether Steve Almond's style grew on me. It would be interersting to know who decided the B.B. Chow story should be the title- it isn't the best story here by a long shot. That distinction would go to I Am as I Am. I started off reviewing all the stories, but it is clear that would make this overlong and uninteresting. Here are the highlights, as I see them:

I Am as I Am- Don't ask me where the tit...more
Sharon
Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars
I had the great pleasure of hearing Steve Almond read a slightly abridged version of his story "Appropriate Sex" from this collection and promptly decided I must jump into his stories headfirst. Overall, I was not disappointed.

The short stories in this book are heartbreaking, some in beauty and others in despair. Almond's humor and ability to push the reader right to the edge keep these stories from becoming maudlin, particularly when we are forced to look inside ourselves th...more
Sandra
Sandra rated it 3 of 5 stars
This is a humorous collection that deals with a wide set of issues like love, death, and politics, with some historical fiction thrown in. Almond’s use of slang and colloquialism in the narrative give the stories a sense of accessibility, but left this reader feeling there is something missing from the narrative, some important emotional element. Not all of the stories feel this way; some are powerful and linger in the mind after reading them. The story, “I am as I am,” is one of these, a coming...more
The Awdude
It's always nice to find a writer who knows how to be funny. Being funny isn't easy. Especially when you're a writer, since writers tend to take themselves super seriously. But Almond does take his characters seriously, which is what really makes these stories good, because most of his characters could easily be diagnosed with a variety of psychiatric conditions. But their author isn't worried about classifying them. He doesn't want you to know them in terms of how they don't fit in or the ...more
Taylor
I had never heard of Steve Almond until a couple of weeks ago, and now I will read everything he has published--he just put out a new book about music. This is a collection of short stories, though, and it is really great. His command of voice is shockingly assured. All of the narrators/characters in these stories are wildly different and yet they all feel equally authentic. Some stories were definitely stronger than others--the title story, "I Am as I Am," and "The Problem of...more
Kaijsa
Kaijsa added it
Shelves: short, stories
The stories here are really varied. I think I was expecting a theme to emerge, but there really wasn't one except maybe that all the stories dealt with relationships of some sort. One particularly strange one is "Lincoln, Arison," which is about a relationship between Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass. A page or two into it, I was really tempted to skip it, but I was drawn in by the characterizations of both men. A couple of pieces really didn't work for me, like "The Soul Mol...more
Zach
Zach rated it 5 of 5 stars
This is an outstanding collection of stories. It starts out in the humorous, biting tone that Almond is best known for, but then it hits you, all of a sudden, with a couple really touching pieces, thoughtful and, dare I say, heartfelt. The story, "Lincoln, Arisen," is one of the best I've ever read. It's still stuck in my head days after reading it. It's such an original concept executed flawlessly, and it's probably the best example of Almond's versatility as a writer. The last t...more
Cherie
Cherie rated it 1 of 5 stars
Almond is a local 'celebrity' in my new town. He teaches at a well-respected university. How all this happened I don't know.

These short stories could have been written by any of his students. They are filled with stereotypes. I started to wonder about the author's life and his lifestyle. Does he HATE women?

In the book, you find a spinster at a woman's magazine with a flaming-gay assistant who says snarky, clever things. Sounds like Will & Grace! He's even called "...more
Ciara
Ciara rated it 2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: short story enthusiasts?, i can't really say
Shelves: read-in-2007
another blank. i think this is a collection of short stories. i don't remember much beyond that. i will say that i have read some other steve almond stuff, & he's very competent & often very funny. i believe he teaches writing at boston college. so this book is most likely a collection of short stories that are written competently & designed to be mildly funny, & i seem to also recall that they are a little off-kilter in a poor-man's-jonathan-sfaran-foer-school-of-weird-characters way. you know?...more
Brandy
There are some stories in this collection that will stick with me forever, and others I'd forgotten almost as soon as I'd turned the page. But that's any anthology, really. Almond's writing blends quirky characters and situations with a certain sensitivity to how people think and react--it all sounds very real, and even the funniest bits are tempered with a bit of sadness when you recognize just how true the reactions are.
Sarah Etter
even though the story "lincoln, arisen" left me a little cold, the rest of this collection was so damned good i couldn't take a star away. expertly narrated and structured - almond is a master of convincingly writing from the perspective of women, men, everyone. each story was tightly wound and left me feeling like i'd been punched in the face by a life lesson. adored this.
Zach VandeZande
Steve Almond writes stories that are funny and powerful and generally involve putting a character in an extremely embarassing/sad/awkward situation, sometimes all at once. He often ends these stories in a pseudo-epiphanic way. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Sonja
Sonja rated it 5 of 5 stars
Re-reading these stories tonight, I was reminded how much I enjoy the warped, interesting mind of Steve Almond. With The King of Pop recently buried, the story about Michael Jackson's ... "manhood" seemed topical all over again.
Debbie
Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars
Book of short stories. They really aren't usually my thing, but since I never have time to read anyway, I may have to gain an appreciation for them. Anyway, Steve Almond is pretty cool shit. But, I just didn't get the Lincoln story at all. Seriously, wtf?
Timothy Faust
"Summer, as in Love" is the king here, with "Larsen's Novel" in a close second. Then you've got "I Am as I Am," "Skull," and maybe "A Happy Dream." The rest were great, sure, but don't stick out in my memory.
Ilana
Ilana rated it 5 of 5 stars
Best short story collection I've read in quite a while. Steve Almond has a great way of incredibly humanizing every character he creates, despite their individual flaws and stories.
Kim
Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: own
Great and imaginative collection of short stories by a fantastic writer. Cynical at times, and whimsical as well. Hysterically funny and sort of weepy too. I have to read it again to recall my first impression but I do remember it was a very good one.

PS: I met Steve Almond, who is a friend of the English professor and head editor of my college literary club. He came to read some of this (freshly published) book to us and to meet us all, and just an FYI: the guys pretty hot. I mean, rea...more
Michelle
at times laugh out loud funny and than some stories turn so heartbreakingly real. This is a great book.
Joe
Joe rated it 4 of 5 stars
The rare collection of stories a reader can enjoy from cover to cover without it seeming repetitive.
Leah
Leah rated it 3 of 5 stars
some good stories in here although i thought 'My Life in Heavy Metal' was more consistently enjoyable.
Jack Cheng
Some great stories here, although I have to admit they are not as funny or caustic as I was expecting (having heard Almond speak and having read some of his non-fiction). In fact, there is a lot of compassion in these stories of oddballs and weird relationships.

Recurring themes: literature and its discontents, sex and how it dis/functions, the sexual attractiveness of Chinese men. Maybe that last is why I liked it.

Seriously, lots of weird memorable characters and situati...more
Daniel
Ah...another Steve Almond collection.

I really do enjoy this man's writing, though I don't think this collection was a strong as his earlier, My Life In Heavy Metal, collection. Still, it was nice to read some short stories that were intelligently written, and not ponderous.

It's hard to pick a favorite, though the title story is quite good. "Summer, As In Love" was good, but I wanted more resolution.

"Lincoln, Arisen," did not work for me. Fr...more
Marc
Great collection of short fiction, similar in many ways to the work of George Saunders (another favorite of mine!).
Kimmyh
A few of the stories here were very good, but, overall it was just an 'OK' read.
A.Jay Wagner
The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories by Steve Almond (2005)
Erin
Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars
A great collection of short stories. A Happy Dream made my Top 5.
Stefanie
So-so, was expecting more because I enjoyed Candyfreak so much.
Tuck
Tuck rated it 4 of 5 stars
crazy weird, uh, read in 2002, maybe. guess not, 2005.
Che Herrera
I loved these short stories. Good stuff.
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The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories (Hardcover)
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Steve Almond is the author of two story collections, My Life in Heavy Metal and The Evil B.B. Chow, the non-fiction book Candyfreak, and the novel Which Brings Me to You, co-written with Julianna Baggott. He lives outside Boston with his wife and baby daughter Josephine.
More about Steve Almond...
Candyfreak: A Journey through the Chocolate Underbelly of America My Life in Heavy Metal: Stories Which Brings Me to You (Not That You Asked): Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us (with Bitchin' Soundtrack)

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