75 books
—
135 voters
Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.
Start by marking “Shelf Monkey” as Want to Read:
Shelf Monkey
by
Corey Redekop (Goodreads Author)
Thomas Friesen has three goals in life: get a job, make friends, and find a good book to curl up with. After landing a job at READ, the newest hypermegabookstore, he feels he may have accomplished all three. All is not peaceable within the stacks, however, as discontent steadily rises, aimed squarely at talk show host Munroe Purvis, whose wildly popular book club is progre
...more
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Reader Q&A
To ask other readers questions about
Shelf Monkey,
please sign up.
Be the first to ask a question about Shelf Monkey
Community Reviews
(showing 1-30)
I didn't know whether to laugh or shudder reading Corey Redekop's Shelf Monkey. So I did both.
The novel tells the tale of failed lawyer turned bookstore widget Thomas, who finds his soulmates in an eccentric group of fellow employees at hypermegabookstore READ. The only problem is they're more crazy than eccentric. They hold secret meetings where they burn offensive books -- you know, Michael Crichton, Candace Bushnell, the Left Behind series -- while assuming the monikers of beloved fictional c ...more
The novel tells the tale of failed lawyer turned bookstore widget Thomas, who finds his soulmates in an eccentric group of fellow employees at hypermegabookstore READ. The only problem is they're more crazy than eccentric. They hold secret meetings where they burn offensive books -- you know, Michael Crichton, Candace Bushnell, the Left Behind series -- while assuming the monikers of beloved fictional c ...more
I finished this book last night and then let myself think about it awhile before posting my review. At first I was appalled by this book. Book burning? BOOK BURNING!?!?!?!!! You can't... I mean... No... Didn't we learn anything from Fahrenheit 451? Book burning is bad.
But it was being done by people who proclaimed a love for books and literature. Shouldn't they know better?
Most of a day later and I see that it is less about the books and more about people and the lengths we'll go to prove a poin ...more
But it was being done by people who proclaimed a love for books and literature. Shouldn't they know better?
Most of a day later and I see that it is less about the books and more about people and the lengths we'll go to prove a poin ...more
So I'm 90% done and enough to give 4 stars...
It got 3 stars just for coming up with the word "Literati" Everything else was just icing on the cake. Like code name Yossarian Nice!
Reminds me much of Plato's Allegory of the Cave;
Chained masses staring at simple books (read wall of cave with shadow forms... there is an awesome claymation on utube that is a great intro to the dialogue)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69F7Gh...
Shelf monkeys try to inform them to redirect gaze.
Masses reject offer.
And th ...more
It got 3 stars just for coming up with the word "Literati" Everything else was just icing on the cake. Like code name Yossarian Nice!
Reminds me much of Plato's Allegory of the Cave;
Chained masses staring at simple books (read wall of cave with shadow forms... there is an awesome claymation on utube that is a great intro to the dialogue)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69F7Gh...
Shelf monkeys try to inform them to redirect gaze.
Masses reject offer.
And th ...more
Dec 30, 2012
Kait
rated it
really liked it
Recommends it for:
Fans of Palahniuk & Elitist readers alike
Great book from a great Canadian. Reading each page left me thirsty for more as I joined the narrator in elitism, letter writing and the run from the law. Hoping for lots more from Redekop.
Shelf Monkey is an entertaining and iconoclastic look at the world of books.
It’s a little like Catch-22, but instead of bombers and Italian prostitutes there are big box book stores and people eating pizza. The role of Yossarian is played by a confirmed and inveterate book nerd (named Thomas).
Thomas has recently quit his career as a lawyer, and decided to work at a book store, because he loves book. At least, he THOUGHT he loved books. Turns out, he only likes good books. And working at a big- ...more
It’s a little like Catch-22, but instead of bombers and Italian prostitutes there are big box book stores and people eating pizza. The role of Yossarian is played by a confirmed and inveterate book nerd (named Thomas).
Thomas has recently quit his career as a lawyer, and decided to work at a book store, because he loves book. At least, he THOUGHT he loved books. Turns out, he only likes good books. And working at a big- ...more
2.5 stars, really. Black humour, definitely a book for book nerds, but also a bit snobbish. I'm surprised that Redekop is from Manitoba and not Toronto (OUCH! did I type that! haha). But in all honesty, the book is pretentious in a dozen ways, thank goodness the narrator/protagonist has a bit of integrity or I would have just given this novel one star.
Lots of name dropping of authors and books, it was almost as if the author was trying to be a bit too heady, or send the reader straight to a goog ...more
Lots of name dropping of authors and books, it was almost as if the author was trying to be a bit too heady, or send the reader straight to a goog ...more
This book made me laugh out loud so many times by making me remember my days as a bookstore employee. However, when I read parts out loud to a family member or friend that has not ever worked in a bookstore, I got blank stares and fake chuckles.
As wonderfully amazing as this book is, it is of this writer's opinion that it is not for those who have never worked in a bookstore. Some of the common yet ridiculous questions asked, or books requested would be lost on those who have never worked in a b ...more
As wonderfully amazing as this book is, it is of this writer's opinion that it is not for those who have never worked in a bookstore. Some of the common yet ridiculous questions asked, or books requested would be lost on those who have never worked in a b ...more
Reading this novel made me feel less crazy about my addiction to literature. I am still torn on the debate raised in this book as to whether all authors deserve respect regardless of the quality of the work. My feeling is that if someone has written a book with the intent of creating debate or raising important questions and remain true in their intentions(meaning that they are not simply hoping to cash in) then they deserve respect even if the work is flawed. But hey that is just my two cents.
...more
This book was insane and brilliant in equal measure; I recommend this to anyone who has ever worked in a big-box bookstore, or who is a bibliophile with a delightfully twisted sense of humour.
Sep 20, 2012
Lisabee
added it
UGGGGHHHHH
Worst read of the year, maybe even of my life. Do not waste your time.
Worst read of the year, maybe even of my life. Do not waste your time.
A strange and wonderful book. The story is just odd but compelling and there is something joyous about it all. I look forward to future books.
Shelf Monkey is one of the more unusual books I've ever read, and I'd have to describe it as weirdly entertaining. At times I found it hilarious, at others, uncomfortable. The story unfolds in a series of emails, following the narrative of Thomas Friesen, who has apparently done something very, very bad, and is currently on the run. He is unveiled as a former lawyer who suffers from anxiety, found himself on anti-depressants and was working in a bookshop. He and his bookshop colleagues were well
...more
I picked this book out randomly at the Library. I was looking for something quirky and funny. I was right, it is very quirky and has some humour to it that can be a little hit and miss - but I get what the author was going for and can appreciate it.
On the back there's a quote from Eric McCormack, an unwilling and real life character in the book, "I've often wondered how a novel's characters might asses the book they've been thrust, unwillingly, into - like the victims of a kidnapping. Well now i ...more
On the back there's a quote from Eric McCormack, an unwilling and real life character in the book, "I've often wondered how a novel's characters might asses the book they've been thrust, unwillingly, into - like the victims of a kidnapping. Well now i ...more
I think 2016 was the year of reading books that I found difficult to rate. This one might be the hardest.
I kind of hated the first half of this book. Like, really hated it. Around page 50, I was this close to DNFing this mofo. But I was so close to my year end reading goals, and it wasn't a super long book, so I pushed on through, with mixed results.
Thomas is such a turd, for starters. I am not saying he is an unlikable character, because unlikable characters don't generally turn me off on thei ...more
I kind of hated the first half of this book. Like, really hated it. Around page 50, I was this close to DNFing this mofo. But I was so close to my year end reading goals, and it wasn't a super long book, so I pushed on through, with mixed results.
Thomas is such a turd, for starters. I am not saying he is an unlikable character, because unlikable characters don't generally turn me off on thei ...more
Thomas Friesen has three goals in life. Get a job. Make friends. Find a good book to curl up with. After landing a job at READ, the newest hypermegabookstore, he feels he may have accomplished all three.
All is not peaceable within the stacks, however. Dis content is steadily rising, and it is aimed squarely at Munroe Purvis, a talk show host whose wildly popular book club is progressively lowering the IQ of North America.
But the bookworms have a plan. Plots are being hatched. The destruction of ...more
All is not peaceable within the stacks, however. Dis content is steadily rising, and it is aimed squarely at Munroe Purvis, a talk show host whose wildly popular book club is progressively lowering the IQ of North America.
But the bookworms have a plan. Plots are being hatched. The destruction of ...more
Brilliant! Full of bookish reference and slanders against the ignorant masses, their book choices, and the big box stores. Canadian, and highly enjoyable.
Receiving this as a giveaway win, I was both excited and a tad bit intimidated as I started chewing into this one. I wasn't quite sure why the synopsis made it seem like a light-hearted romp through a serious plot line.
I needn't have worried.
While narrating from the voice of someone who may very well be certifiably insane from the first interview, Redekop maintains a superior point of view in his characters' taste in literature, but doesn't drown the reader in it. Obscure references are explaine ...more
I needn't have worried.
While narrating from the voice of someone who may very well be certifiably insane from the first interview, Redekop maintains a superior point of view in his characters' taste in literature, but doesn't drown the reader in it. Obscure references are explaine ...more
Employees of a big-box bookstore band together to combat bad taste in books, and its avatar, one Monroe Purvis, a talk show host who uses his book club (and publishing company) to promote utterly vacuous books; hilarity ensues.
Shelf Monkey is both fun and funny. The fun is in Redekop's continual allusions and borrowings -- you will have to be fearsomely well read to spot them all, and I'm sure I missed many. and the funny, of course, is in his razor-sharp satire of an age where art is "content," ...more
Shelf Monkey is both fun and funny. The fun is in Redekop's continual allusions and borrowings -- you will have to be fearsomely well read to spot them all, and I'm sure I missed many. and the funny, of course, is in his razor-sharp satire of an age where art is "content," ...more
Shelf Monkeys started off slow. As soon as it started I was trying to figure out where it was going. Not that it's in riddle-form, just that books written through news reports and the like are ones that I tend to have to grapple with more. Anyway, it was a great read. It fired me up and forced me to take notice of the slowly deteriorating brain of society. Seriously guys, Fifty Shades of Grey as the number one bestseller for MONTHS? This book discusses the growing trend of people lowering their
...more
For a book about book snobs, this one sure was bad. It was filled with endless lists of book titles, author names, character names that added nothing to the plot. Speaking of the plot, it was very difficult to figure out what was going on until much too far into the book. Oh yes, and don't plan short reading sessions around chapters because the author clearly doesn't believe in giving the reader breaks. Chapters are many dozens of pages long. Events dragged on infinitely with copious irrelevant
...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
The format of this book was trying at first, and I tended to skip a few of the initial 'news items'. The email and storytelling nature of the style was fascinating and wove seamlessly through correspondence to prose.
All in all, I adored this book. Peppered with all sorts of book-geek goodies, all readers will find bits and pieces that speak to them on a deep, secret level that only lovers of the written word could appreciate.
I should look through for reactions from pulp and casual readers and s ...more
All in all, I adored this book. Peppered with all sorts of book-geek goodies, all readers will find bits and pieces that speak to them on a deep, secret level that only lovers of the written word could appreciate.
I should look through for reactions from pulp and casual readers and s ...more
Had a good laugh. The satirical depiction of that slippery path of nerd-dom: from devotion to pretension then over-zealousness, was hilarious. Also enjoyed and empathized with the dilemmas of the retail clerk.
I wonder if it could have been polished more; it's quite slow in developing mainly due to Tommy's wordiness. But, at the same time, it was perfect for the character and his self-deprecating humour helped smooth my occasional annoyance.
I could probably be harsher on certain aspects, but I s ...more
I wonder if it could have been polished more; it's quite slow in developing mainly due to Tommy's wordiness. But, at the same time, it was perfect for the character and his self-deprecating humour helped smooth my occasional annoyance.
I could probably be harsher on certain aspects, but I s ...more
Really enjoyed this bibliophiles manifesto. It kept me guessing to the end and enjoyed the the outrage of the Shelf Monkeys. Lots of now familiar scenarios are taken to the Nth degree, such as inane book clubs, illiteracy and big box bookstores. A hilarious romp through the actions of one group of booklovers and their line in the sand.
Yes, I could be a Shelf Monkey so easily. This book was such a fun read - I mean it was disturbing at times, but so spot on in its assessment of readers and non-readers. I totally understand the frustration of accepting that everyone has different tastes in reading and those "tastes" aren't necessarily very sophisticated while wanting everyone to appreciate better literature.
Perfect! And wonderful. And funny. And smart!
READ THIS BOOK!!!!! I wish I had thought of this one. Hats off to Mr. Redekop. I cannot wait for the sequel!!! Burn baby burn.
An interesting read, especially recommend for those of us who work with the world of books and the general public. This book wasn't at all what I imagined, but I mean that in a good way...honest!
Perfect book for book snobs. Be sure to have a pen and paper handy and write down everything you have to google later.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Corey Redekop's debut novel, Shelf Monkey — winner, Gold Medal for Popular Fiction, 2008 Independent Book Publisher Awards: a Top 40 Essential Canadian Novel of the Decade, CBC Canada Reads — is either a work of insane genius or an intolerable left-wing screed, depending on which review you read. Husk (ECW Press, 2012) was shortlisted for the 2013 ReLit Award and was named a Top Book of 2012
...more
More about Corey Redekop...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“Literature is a virus.”
—
15 likes
More quotes…
