The Secret Society of Demolition Writers

by Aimee Bender, Alice Sebold, John Burnham Schwartz

What would you write if no one knew who you were? In the spirit of the demolition derby, where drivers take heedless risks with reckless abandon, welcome to the first convocation of the Secret Society of Demolition Writers. Here is a one-of-a-kind collection by famous authors writing anonymously-and dangerously. With the usual concerns about reputations and renown cast aside, these twelve daredevils have each contributed an extreme, no-holds-barred unsigned story, each shining as brightly and urgently as hazard lights. Unconventional and unapologetic, this publishing equivalent of a whodunit features an eclectic group of fictional characters, including a delusional schizophrenic narrator, an egg donor with second thoughts about her decision, a pharmacist who forms a weird crush on a woman who beat both of her parents to death, and a little girl who understands that an old safe is the threshold to another, ghostly, world. Equally diverse and surprising are the authors Aimee Bender, Benjamin Cheever, Michael Connelly, Sebastian Junger, Elizabeth McCracken, Rosie O'Donnell, Chris Offutt, Anna Quindlen, John Burnham Schwartz, Alice Sebold, Lauren Slater, and Marc Parent, the editor of the collection. Never before has such a wide-ranging and talented group of authors been assembled to such explosive and entertaining effect. The Secret Society of Demolition Writers is an intriguing puzzle in itself, but it's also an important addition to the careers of some of our finest storytellers-even if we never really know who wrote what. Its boundary-smashing fiction offers exhilarating proof that for an artist, withholding your identity can mean gaining your freedom.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Anthologies, Audiobook, Literary Fiction

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Aimee Bender is the author of the novel An Invisible Sign of My Own and of the collections The Girl in the Flammable Skirt and Willful Creatures. Her work has been widely anthologized and has been translated into ten languages. She lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the hooks here is great authors without the constraints of their name being associated with the story - a really big deal. Reputation is almost everything to an author. Here they can break free & do what they want. Based on the idea of a demolition derby, I expect thrills & chills. What I got was a bunch of moody pieces featuring sick people that were thoroughly unlikable.

I had no interest in who wrote what since I only recognize a few names & that worried me going in. Rosie O'Donnell writing? I don't care for her as an actress or what she considers comedy. I hope she can write. I expect Michael Connelly to do a great job, but I see "The Safe Man" listed. I've already read it & it was attributed to him. Same story? Yes. Read it elsewhere since nothing else in this collection was worth my time.

"Eggs" - This gal's life sucks & she seems to go insane. Why? I don't know any more than why I should care. Waste of time. 1 star.

"There Is No Palindrome of Palindrome" - Starts out with a tonsil fetish & goes down hill from there. Yes, incredibly enough, it is possible. 1 star.

"The Safe Man" - Definitely Connelly's story I liked this better than the first time I read it probably because it's a ghost story & I wasn't expecting a mystery this time. Well done, especially in this company. 4 stars.

"Sweet" - the ramblings of a mentally ill, homeless guy. Why would an author waste my time with this? I don't care that he thinks his fingers are ants or that he hears voices. I feel sorry for him, but nothing happens & there's nothing to be done for him, so it's a complete waste of time. 1 star

"Deck" - more ramblings that no one could possibly care about. 1 star.

"Wonderland" - A lot of rambling, but at least there was a bare hint of a plot. Totally unlikable main character, though. 2 stars

"Ashes" - more ramblings, dead guy found. There's no reason to care about any of the 3 characters in the story including the dead guy. 1 star

"An Eye for an Eye" - a few hours in the evening of a married couple who aren't getting along well. They go to dinner, come home, & wind up looking at each other through the bathroom door's keyhole. That's it. Another waste of time. 1 star.

There isn't much time left in the audiobook, so the next stories should be short. That's the only reason I'm going to continue. Hopefully something happens in them. The only ' boundary-smashing' most of these stories have done is how they flop in succession.

"The Choking Pearl" -
"Modern Times" -
"Good Sport" -
"A Country Like No Other" -

I'm not even going to bother rating them individually. More of the same, 1 star.

The stories were all well narrated, but only one story was worth the time. Yuck. Skip this.

[Marcia Vanboskerck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Multiple authors anonymously write short stories for the collection. The idea being, that anonymity will give them the freedom to write with abandon. Maybe that build- up was bound to lead to disappointment. And granted, it can be difficult for a short story to build a lot of steam but I normally enjoy these multi-author collections. This collection was not eye rolling bad, just boring. If you know the authors on the list well, you may get a little more enjoyment from trying to put a name to each story but none of them were my frequent reads. Maybe good for bedtime reading. A definite 2 stars.

[Any Length · Rating 1 out of 5]

After all the intro I expected more from this book. I expected the listed writers to excel themselves and write something amazing. What I got was a mediocre collection of short stories which were rather boring and had little to offer. If this had been the first output of an author they would have barelyeven received a rejection letter. Sorry, out of all the stories there was only one I could have said I liked and even that lacked in the twist a good short story ought present at the end.

[Tanya Gold · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the concept of this collection. Giving these writers the freedom to write anonymously allowed them to take risks without consequences. Whether or not this experiment was successful and got the authors to push beyond their boundaries is difficult to tell without knowing who wrote what.
All that aside, there are some jewels in here. My favorites:
Eggs
The Safe Man
Wonderland
A Country Like No Other

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea behind this anthology is intriguing, twelve known authors each submit a story but the reader is not told which author wrote which story, but none of the stories really wowed me—only one was even memorable.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these are jewels. Worth looking at if only to read those few.

[Whitney Maas · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly all very boring and mediocre short stories with no boundary pushing or any reason whatsoever for anonymous authorship.

[Rosanne Randall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a publicity stunt to sell a book and nothing more. This was a collection of stories that could have been more compelling, and many were difficult to get through. While the concept seemed sound enough, the stories were highly forgettable. It would be fun to do it amongst friends and then figure out and maybe dissect who did what and explore and critique the work and the deviation from the norms. But upon completing this book, it feels as if something is missing… dissection or unveiling… the big reveal that helps you understand the reasoning behind or the psyche within the deviation from the norm… or, at the very least, the author of which story belongs to whom. Without that… I feel like it was little more than a lark between potential friends that a publisher thought they could profit from. Thank goodness I only borrowed this book from a library!

[St Fu · Rating 3 out of 5]

While others were trying to guess which writers were which, I was trying to guess what each writer found dangerous. Talking about other writers for some, I think. Lacking an ending? Lacking a plot?

In an actual demolition derby, you not only risk your life, you also risk the lives of others. The risk to others here is that the others might be mistaken for the author of your no so great story. I gave it 3 stars to be charitable, ultimately.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked the concept, really enjoyed some of the stories. I’d love to know who wrote "Wonderland" so I could immediately read more of her/him. "Sweet" and "A Country Like No Other" are also recommended.

[Vivienne Strauss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure why the authors felt they needed anonymity for these stories other than being boring or totally foregettable within minutes of reading them. I LOVE several of these authors so this book was disappointing to say the least.

[Jean Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished and I'm dying to know who wrote what. Even if that mystery doesn't intrigue you, each story is a little gem of fine writing.

[Sully Augustine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio version. All of the stories held my attention reasonably well, most were thought provoking, and a few were excellent.

[Irene Ros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some amazing stories and some exhausting stories. Fun to try and guess who wrote what.

[Rebekah H · Rating 1 out of 5]

I see why they didn't want their names on these stories.

[Poptart19 (the name’s ren) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Mary Berger · Rating 3 out of 5]

As short stories go, most were good. Not sure why the authors stayed hidden but I'm not a writer

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of this book intrigued me but some of the stories I didn't enjoy much.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea that the authors of these twelve stories, by writing anonymously, can somehow write dangerously appealed to me. They would write on the edge, much like any good demolition derby driver drives on the edge. The worries of renown cast aside, these writers would pen daring works of literary merit.

Well, it is a neat idea; but it didn’t really work. Or, perhaps they wrote as they should have been writing all along. I’m not sure which is the richer truth. Don’t get me wrong, the stories aren’t lacking in any way. They are all quite good for what they are. But they do not measure up to the hype. Perhaps they should have been given a reading list before hand; just to stir the pot we call a thought process.

The authors included are: Aimee Bender, Benjamin Cheever, Michael Connelly, Sebastian Junger, Elizabeth McCracken, Rosie O’Donnell, Chris Offutt, Anna Quindlen, John Burnham Schwartz, Alice Sebold, Lauren Slater, and Marc Parent who is the editor. You get to know who wrote for this collection, but you don’t get to know who wrote what. The titles of the twelve stories are: Eggs, There is No Palindrome of Palindrome, The Safe Man, Sweet, Deck, Wonderland, Ashes, An Eye for an Eye, The Choking Pearl, Modern Times, Good Sport, and A Country Like No Other.

Alan Sklar and Ellen Archer narrate this audio edition and they are both excellent selections to read this. I really enjoyed the resonance and candor in Alan’s voice. And Ellen’s voice lends a certain charm that adds to the stories she narrates.

In a lot of collections—particularly in the Best American Short Stories series—the lead story is the best one. The rest come close in one fashion or another, and the last story winds up being a favorite of the editor that might be a little out of the box but still a memorable bit that cannot be excluded. I think the mix in this collection really didn’t hit its stride until three stories in. The Safe Man stuck with me for its perfectly described workings of a safe and how the safe in this story was so different. The sequence of events within the story was so very natural as it unfolded. Give me a ghost of some not too distant future and I’m in for the long haul. It is my favorite.

I haven’t read enough of any of the authors to even bother guessing who wrote what. But all the stories are pretty cool; cool enough to listen to again.

[Vic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting concept. The editor got a bunch of well-known authors (and celebrities, because I refuse to accept Rosie O'Donnell as a legitimate author) to write short stories that would be published anonymously. So you have the creative freedom, in theory, to take some risks that you may not otherwise.

I am a sucker for short-story collections anyways, and this seemed like an intriguing idea. A few of the stories fell flat but overall I liked this book and the way the idea was executed.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This the collection was a sales ploy: 'Ooh, these writers didn't attach their names to the stories and the stories are going to be so cutting edge because of it! Not really. If you think about it, writers are likely to be more daring if they truly write anonymously because here you know it's going to be one of 12 or so people.
The stories weren't any more daring than other collections I've read. On top of that, I thought they were of slightly lower quality.

[Nan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an uneven collection. Some of the stories are anonymous for a reason. I was also misled by the title. The editor, Marc Parent, implied that this was a demolition derby of sorts. I thought somehow the stories would crash into each other and connect better. Alas, they did not. If they did, I didn't notice. The whole analogy of writers as demolition drivers is flimsy and a poor excuse for an anthology.

[Kristyh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love anthologies and the premise of this one was really interesting. It is extremely rare to find an anthology where I love all the stories, and this one was no exception, but there were some excellent ones in there - I especially loved "Eggs".

[Moy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the joy I derived from this collection of anonymous stories was from pinning the authors to their respective works. A general "meh."

[Shara Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book of short stores

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the short story, so this collection appealed to me. I agree that half the fun was guessing who wrote what, but the stories were engaging and the characters interesting.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A compilation of stories of lots of different writers including Michael Connelly and Rosie O'Donnell! Nothing special but interesting and a fast read.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Promising idea to allow writers to publish a story anonymously, and MAYBE some authors took risks they otherwise wouldn't. But I didn't think anyonymity made for any better ideas or storytelling.

[Tom Mueller · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather unique collection of "unsigned" short stories.
It's fun trying to identify the authors; not sure I got any of them right.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

so-so