The Exquisite Corpse Adventure: An Episodic Progressive Story Game

by National Children's Book & Literacy Alliance

It all begins with a train rushing through the night. On board, twins Joe and Nancy begin a quest to rescue their parents. Along the way, they will encounter mad scientists, a talking pig, creatures from another dimension, several bad knock-knock jokes, plenty of explosions, a whole army of villains and varmints, and shape-shifting Eggy-Things. Figuring out who is friend and who is foe is the least of the twins’ problems as they piece together the body parts of a Top-Secret Robot who, when complete, will help to reunite their family.



A collaboration between the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and the Library of Congress’s Center for the Book, the hilarious Exquisite Corpse Adventure originated as a national literacy project for young people to help launch the READ.gov website.

Genres: Adventure, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

Audio CD

First published August 23, 2011

Reviews

[La Coccinelle]

DNF @ 51%

I started this one back in April, and read it into May. It's everything you'd expect a book written by committee to be: disjointed, silly, and forced. Some of the installments are better than others, and I chalk that up to the writing ability of the various authors. There are some powerhouses here. Unfortunately, the format is really limiting. If the previous author writes you into a corner, you have no choice but to try to get out of it. This leads to some situations that feel really unnatural, and things just don't flow.

The idea is neat, but this is just way too long. I got just over halfway, and then the authors started to repeat... but the story was just spinning its wheels. I wish the premise had been beefed up in the beginning so the subsequent authors didn't have to try to salvage what little ridiculous plot they could when it came time for their turn.

I was making notes on the individual chapters as I went, but... now that I've DNFed, they're pretty irrelevant. If you want to check this one out, you can (it's free to read online, after all), but don't go in with high expectations. This reads more like a middle-school group assignment for a creative writing class than anything else.

[Limau Nipis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Now, I picked this one because I was intrigued about it. Just because, this one adventure book had 16 different authors and different illustrators for its 27 chapters. I actually try to experiment with new authors, and this is like the perfect book to try the different flavour of writing style of different authors.

So of course, it will be a different style of adventure and writing with each new chapter. Sort of a mathematical puzzle.

I actually was torn to give 2 stars to this book. Just because it has so many adventures in it (but, that's the main problem, it has so many adventures in different chapters, that I have lost the main point of the story). Maybe because of the different writers giving a cliffhanger and new characters in each chapter makes me feel that the book seems to be disjointed from one chapter to another. I only can identify Lemony Snicket's writings, which is actually quite enjoyable, compared to his very depressed A Series of Unfortunate Events, just because his chapter seems to stand on its own, without trying to give another headache to the readers. There are also some writers that I must take note such as Katherine Paterson.

Here, Joe and Nancy are going to save their parents in another dimension, but with the help of a robot. And that robot must be assembled together. Maybe because science fiction is not my cup of tea, and combined with the fantasy element, it actually veered way out of my imagination (anyhow, I read Harry Potter with so much enthusiasm).

Even though I read through this book, I can't remember all the characters that both of them had encountered, because there are so many of them. The villains that stuck in my mind are the gooey eggs things and Boppo the clown. Other than that, it has become forgettable when I was progressing with the story.

Anyhow, I feel that this book has not impacted me much. Hence, the 2-star rating.

[Frederick Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure is a book written by twenty authors. The story is about two circus orphans searching for the remains of a Top-Secret Robot, who can retrieve their parents from another dimension. From that synopsis alone you can see why I read this book.

The title refers to a game invented by the surrealist Andre Breton. A person writes a line on a piece of paper, folds the paper so that only their line can be seen, and passes the paper onto the person next to them. They write their piece, fold it so the next person can only see the line they wrote, and so the game goes on. It’s a bit like Chinese Whispers, really. I remember doing it once in Secondary School, I was the charming kid who wrote the bit where everyone died. (In another life I could have been a troll…)

The Exquisite Corpse in the book’s title also refers to the Top-Secret Robot, obviously.

According to the book’s website, The Exquisite Corpse Adventure was was written on a slight variation on Breton’s method. The authors were allowed to read all the previous chapters. The illustrators could only read the chapters their reading. There are pictures, and they’re pretty good.

As you’d expect the adventure is spotty, inconsistent and surreal. Baby rollerskating in a boxing rink surreal. In TvTrope terminology the book is on some sort of Genre Roulette. There’s science-fiction, fantasy, family drama, comedy and even cosmic horror in here. It’s never too early for a bit of cosmic horror, I reckon.

Susan Cooper was a standout author for me. I was familiar with her writing creepy stuff like The Dark Is Rising, but here she was really funny. She introduces a talking elephant called Hathi.

Daniel Handler, who writes under the name of Lemony Snicket, was another big surprise. I never got into his Series of Unfortunate Events franchise. I started reading the first book, but the events were too silly and the narration too contrived for me. The Jim Carrey film was good, though. Handler writes the best chapter in The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, about a depressed railway safety worker.

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure would make a suitable present for a child who already likes reading, and the blurb says it’s suitable for ages nine to five. This might also be a good book to read to a class of children.

[Suzanne Fournier · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twins, Joe and Nancy find their lives turned upside down as they discover they are not really orphans and to find their parents they must find and assemble the Exquisite Corpse, all the while fighting foes and getting assistance from friends.

I thought the premise of this book sounded interesting, several children's authors write a chapter at a time of a continuing story. It ended up being okay but not a great read. It's for a good cause and that's enough to pick it up once.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: I read a book like this a long time ago when the great mystery writers got together, including Agatha Christie, and did the same thing. This sounded like it would be a lot of fun.

Sixteen different top children's authors played a game where they each wrote the next chapter of an ongoing middle grade adventure story. The book is also illustrated in the same way by five different illustrators. With 27 chapters this has some of our authors writing two chapters while others only write once. John Scieszka starts things off with a wild premise giving the book a plot and many possible scenarios that may possibly happen. Each author was to read the book written so far when they received it and add on the next chapter. It is hilarious seeing how the authors manage to bring the elements together, while using their own unique writing styles. This makes for an adventure-filled plot and each chapter ends in either a cliffhanger or an unknown moment. It had the feeling of one of those old serials they used to play before the main movie back in the old b/w days. Never a dull moment as the authors played with elements that other authors started and managed to keep running jokes going.

The story involves twins Joe and Nancy who have been raised at the circus since infants. On there 11th birthday they discover their parents are alive but trapped in another dimension and they must rescue them by finding the scattered pieces of a robot and reassembling it so it can open the door to said dimension. All this must happen before weird alien creatures from *another* dimension take over the bodies and control of Joe and Nancy's world. An exciting, non-stop action, funny story with a sci-fi adventure theme and some fantasy thrown in for good measure. A really fun ride!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can think of several kids at my school that would love this story. It was a little hard for me to follow but that was just a factor of the way it was written. Of course each individual author and illustrator contributed their own style to the exaggerated story. And in the end who wouldn't love a big pig named Genius Kelly? (Be fairwarned ... here's a quote from later in the story ... "Who named that pig Genius?" (p 98))

Here are a couple of quotes that I liked. Of course there are more! And these are page numbers from a preview copy, so the final may be a bit different.

"Joe .... bravely dived off the bridge into the gorge. Nancy dived after him, even more bravely. (Don't you agree? I mean, she'd had an extra moment to think about it.)" (pp 19-20) This bit was written by Susan Cooper. It made me laugh.

"'In one way, he is' said Einstein, quickly adding, 'but in two way he's not'" (p 33). Word play always adds a fun touch.

On p 37 they describe a lunch retrieved from a Star Wars lunchbox. May the Force be with you! OH! And speaking of ... that's a quote straight from page 59. That's just awesome.

"She bowed automatically before remembering there would be no applause in these villain-infested wood--only certain death" (p 41). Another one that made me laugh. The irony. Another one ... "UNHAND THAT ARM!" (p79) And "I'm so happy for you. The happiest days are always the days when missing legs are found. Aren't they, Joe? Aren't they the happiest days?" (p127).

Some readers might agree with this statement in terms of the book "'Oh,' thought Nancy, sometimes the world is too ridiculous to be borne'" (p134). That's OK. Every book has it's readers!

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twins Joe and Nancy leave the circus where they were raised to look for their missing parents who abandoned them as babies nearly eleven years earlier. Accompanied by a guardian Pig, and encountering many friends, helpers and villains, Joe and Nancy go on the adventure of their lives to rescue their parents, find the parts to “the exquisite corpse” and battle alien invaders. This book was originally published online in serial form by the Library of Congress. The authors contributed their stories one chapter at a time building on the previous chapter written by a different author. Right from the beginning, it seemed the authors were trying to set up impossible situations for the following author to work through, forcing the story to get stranger and more disconnected with each succeeding chapter. Lemony Snicket, in one of his chapters writes, “It’s as if your lives are being written, not by a single, beneficent author, but by a whole team of authors pushing the story every which way, the way an Exquisite Corpse is built from whatever scraps are found.” Unfortunately, while this method of writing make a fun parlor game or language arts activity, it produces a story that is difficult to follow and not very fun to read. I found it silly, incoherent and disappointing.

**Cross posted on http://www.kissthebook.blogspot.com Check it out!

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up because my son's favorite author, Chris Van Dusen, appeared on the list of illustrators. I read it willingly enough over a few days, and will summarize it as "cute."

The introduction to the book explains the concept: "The Exquisite Corpse" began as a party game in the early 20th century in which each player would write or tell a segment of a story, always leaving off with a cliff-hanger. The next player had to build off this foundation as he or she continued the story.
"Adventure" was written in precisely this fashion by a selection of some of the most popular children's and youth authors of today.

Unsurprisingly, the plot (if you could call it that) is choppy, the characters inconsistent, and the situations ludicrous. But each of the authors is well qualified, and somehow everything manages to hold together just long enough to bring to story to a satisfying conclusion. Also, it's quite frequently Funny.

I initially thought it might be something I could read out loud to my five year old, but quickly abandoned the idea: it's too long, and he wouldn't really be able to follow the "plot" or the humor. I'd put this in the 3rd to 5th grade category for independent readers.

[Roselyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure was a cute cute and interesting story.

When I first picked up the book and saw how many authors it had, I was worried that the book would be confusing and that I would have a hard time following the different writing styles. However, the story really flowed and though there was a definite change from one author to the other, it wasn't distracting.

It was a really fun story involving a tons of scenarios and a lot of humour. There was basically a little bit of everything: magic, cool inventions, pirates, inter-dimensional creatures, martial arts, talking animals....

It did get slightly overwhelming at times because there was just so much going on at once, but it all came together nicely at the end.

The main characters, Joe and Nancy are twins but didn't fall into the stereotypes of being completely different or exactly the same. They interacted with each other in the way any siblings would, except that they were super close. All of characters were unique and quirky with interesting lives that became more interesting over the course of the adventure.

It was really cool to read a book like this as you can watch the story keep twisting and changing as each author adds their own ideas to the plot.

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on the surrealist game, this book careens from one improbable adventure to another, from a meatball-juggling clown and talking one-eyed pig to a butt-faced bandit and an angelic pirate with a time-traveling cradle. With little that is sensible or even actually whimsical, the reader is pressed into a constant state of suspended belief (or is that disbelief?). This is clearly a book intended for children but which children? How many toddlers will understand words like “narcolepsy”? How many teenagers will accept handy dei ex machina such as misfortune tellers who can conjure attacking ivy?

Confusing, chaotic and disjointed, the best that can be said for this book is that the individual authors contributing to it give it their all, presenting their unique voices on paper with their usual styles. If your favorite author is in this book, give it a read if only to see how s/he presents his or her talent.

[Marian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough to rate and review this one. The trouble with Exquisite Corpse Adventure is precisely what makes it unique: too many authors working on one story. The initial set-up and mood are fantastic, but with so many different voices and senses of humor at play, it couldn't really be sustained. It's too silly and random a book for some of the more serious writers/chapters, so it ping-pongs between being marvelously funny and strange to just being strange, with the occasional descent into tedium as the story gets bogged down in its own weirdness.

Some of the chapters shine--I looked forward to the Kate DiCamillo and Lemony Snicket ones in particular--but overall, the Exquisite Corpse Adventure feels a little like an experiment that only sort of worked.

[Relena_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

On the one hand, this isn't really Surreal enough, on the other, it's just surreal enough to remain palatable for the majority of readers.

The various authors did a better job of melding the book than the illustrators. The illustrators even seemed haphazardly paired with the authors, putting abstract pictures with very concrete chapters and vice versa.

My favorite parts were the moments when the fourth wall got pulled back a bit and the authors communicated with one another in the book about the nature of the book. Favorite-Favorite Moment: The naming of Roberta, the robot, because there aren't enough female characters in the adventure.

[Salsabrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Narrated by Phil Gigante. Sixteen children’s authors contribute episodes in this progressive story about circus kids Nancy and Joe Sloppy who receive a card on their 11th birthday directing them to save the parents they believed were dead by piecing together a robot. They must run a gamut of motley villains and friends to accomplish their mission before time runs out! Gigante’s vocal work is skillfully dextrous, with an amazing ability to stretch, push and pull as each character demands. An entertaining job, but with so many wacky developments and characters involved in the progressive story format it does take some effort to track the storyline.

[Karen Arendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Advance galley from Netgalley. Joe and Nancy are twins who were left with a circus as babies. Their parents left them there to keep them safe from an alien invasion. A fun and humorous story written by some of today's best children's authors. Originally created as an online book with one chapter published biweekly. Readers will enjoy the humor, knock-knock jokes, bizarre characters, and twists and turns the story takes. Each chapter ends with some suspenseful hook that keeps readers going to find out what happens next. The galley copy did not include the illustrations.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each chapter of this book was written by a different well-known and revered children's book author. I think the authors had fun weaving a collective story like this. A fun idea for students to try with this as the example. The story was outlandish and a bit confusing as each author took it first one way and the next another but in general it was fun to see an author take another's idea and run with it and develop it and bring ideas back or rehash where the story had gone. It was also interesting to see how each authors voice was intact and it became quite a symphany of voices.

[Ed Petersen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a promising idea that turned out to be just about unreadable. I like the concept of the "exquisite corpse" but here, it just turns into an excuse for every different author to come up with some ridiculous, over-the-top cliffhanger to end their chapter. It's like they said, "Let's see how the NEXT guy gets them out of this!!" That just led to one deus ex machina after another, and that is NOT fun reading. Plus, I just wasn't digging the characters here. A talking pig? An evil clown? Assorted bad guys who come and go with the next author's whim? Blah.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the premise of this book was fascinating...each chapter written by a different children's author. And for the most part it worked. The story, while not my favorite, was funny and smart and creative. There were some abrupt changes between chapters and you definitely noticed the different author voices however. This wasn't necessarily unexpected or a bad thing in all cases. Not a bad book, just not a great one. A fun experiment and one I think some kids might enjoy.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this online as it was still being written a VERY long time ago. I was pleasantly surprised to see it was out in a book form! This book has a definitely unique tone to it, thanks to the many authors who helped write it. It was very original. It's not your typical middle grade children's book. It was amazing, and so worth reading. And I'm looking forward to reading it time and time again.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rate this book four stars not for the plot (which is understandably disjointed), but for how fun it was to read. The language was great (I'm looking at you, Katherine Paterson) and it was fun to contrast each author's style with the others. I fell in love with the illustrations, Chris Van Dusen and Calef Brown's, especially.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun idea that resulted in a frenetic mish-mash. Instead of building on the previous author's ideas, most seemed to spend the first part of their chapter negating the previous storyline. And, the final illustration of Boppo the Clown looked way too much like Pennywise. (I still can't walk past sewer grates without shivering -- thank you, Stephen King!)

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so. Most of it kind of bored me, but there were a few stand-out entries. I think the idea is great, but the book wasn't spectacular. However, I think the original format was probably fabulous - getting a new episode every two weeks? That might have relieved the boredom. Plus, the idea is still cool.

[Bridget · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally heard about this at the book festival, but refused to get into something that I would have to read in installments and be kept waiting. Now that the whole story is finished and in book form, all I can say is "good job." Several authors took turns adding to the story as each cliffhanger chapter was passed on to them and they managed to keep it exciting and fun.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far fetched story written chapter by chapter by different, well-known juvenile authors. Lots of humor and wierd fantasy stuff, although the authors all sounded similar, except for Lemony Snicket.
I'd recommend to boys who like offbeat stuff.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Episodic story originally published online by the Library of Congress has contributions by some amazing and excellent authors and illustrators including; Kate DiCamillo, Jon Scieszka and M.T Anderson. I found it disjointed and did not enjoy it much.

[Michael Earp · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Elizabeth Bissell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite silly. Jon Scieszka's opening chapter is too much! The others that followed did a great job picking up all the pieces tossed out there by him. However, my favorite chapters were written by Lemony Snicket.

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. This book had two chapters written by my favorite author Lemoney Snicket. Even though this book had a lot of adventure in it parts of this book were so heartwarming. A example of this is when Nacy and Joe are reunited with thier family.

[Julie S.]

Read on http://read.gov/exquisite-corpse/

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

totally fun - makes me wish I could join in the creative inventing of this story!!

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended for kids grade 4 and up who are in the mood for something completely ludicrous. Good guys read.