The Fat Artist and Other Stories

by Benjamin Hale

Prize-winning author Benjamin Hale’s fiction abounds with a love of language and a wild joy for storytelling. In prose alternately stark, lush and hallucinatory, occasionally nightmarish and often absurd, the seven stories in this collection are suffused with fear and desire, introducing us to a company of indelible characters reeling with love, jealousy, megalomania, and despair.

As in his debut novel, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore , the voices in these stories speak from the a dominatrix whose longtime client, a US congressman, drops dead during a tryst in a hotel room; an addict in precarious recovery who lands a job driving a truck full of live squid; a heartbroken performance artist who attempts to eat himself to death as a work of art. From underground radicals hiding in Morocco to an aging hippy in Colorado in the summer before 9/11 to a young drag queen in New York at the cusp of the AIDS crisis, these stories rove freely across time and place, carried by haunting, peculiar narratives that form the vast tapestry of American life.

Hale’s work has earned accolades from writers as disparate as novelist Jonathan Ames, who compared discovering his work to watching Mickey Mantle play ball for the first time; Washington Post critic Ron Charles, who declared him “fully evolved as a writer,” and bestselling author Jodi Picoult, who simply called him “brilliant.” Pairing absurdity with philosophical musings on the human condition and the sway our most private selves and hidden pasts hold over us, the stories in The Fat Artist reside in the unnerving intersections between life and death, art and ridicule, consumption and creation.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Literary Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published May 17, 2016

About the author

Benjamin Hale is the author of the novel The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore (Twelve, 2011), the short fiction collection The Fat Artist and Other Stories (Simon & Schuster, 2016), and the nonfiction book Cave Mountain: A Disappearance and a Reckoning in the Ozarks (HarperCollins, 2026). He has received the Bard Fiction Prize, a Michener-Copernicus Award, and nominations for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award. His writing has appeared, among other places, in Conjunctions, Harper's Magazine, the Paris Review, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Dissent and the LA Review of Books Quarterly, and has been anthologized in Best American Science and Nature Writing. He is a senior editor at Conjunctions, teaches at Bard College and Columbia University, and lives in a small town in New York's Hudson Valley.

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There is such a thing as a 'fame drive'. Or call it 'glory drive'".

I thought about the above sentence in the title story, ""The Fat Artist".
Is it true that anyone who becomes famous has it? A drive for fame or glory?
Can having this type of personality feel like a curse for the person....admiring the
more 'normal' person?

Why are some people doomed with the obsessive drive that no matter how much fame, or money, or sex, it's never enough? Why are they never happy?

In "The Fat Artist", this topic was explored. I thought about the theories suggested
about early childhoods.
Is it possible that if parents tell their children they are wonderful - but then treat them as if they are never good enough, they are planting seeds in their child for spend the rest of their lives seeking ways to fulfill their self-image hunger?
I thought this story was so well written...( realistic and heartbreaking)

When people wonder why bright, educated, successful, talented, ( famous artists), financially secure people gain tremendous amounts of weight, are depressed, have drug additions, pull away from their public life...to stay home and eat large quantities of food, smoke, engage in pornography, sleep the day away, barely dress, ignore personal hygiene, almost never leave the home, .... basically drop out of society - disconnect from family and friends--
having created a vacuum for themselves ... what's going on?
There is much more to this story- turning in a direction I didn't expect it to go..but really quite compelling.

In the story, "The Minus World", Peter needed help. He's an "unfinished, fucked up,
rejected programmer". Other than staying up all night doing drugs and play Nintendo, he really isn't good at anything.
At one point he tells his friend, that Buckminster Fuller didn't talk for a year, and that he too, wants to give up talking. Peter says he wants to be silent to get his shit together.
His friend Greg asks, "If you can't figure shit out talking, why do you think you'll be able to figure it out not talking"? Good point?/!/?

"Don't Worry Baby", is the first story. A married couple, ( outlaws), travel with their baby, and their girlfriend with forged Canadian passports- all travel under fake names ....by boat from Tangier to Algeciras - train to Madrid to Paris - an American flight with a brief layover in Miami, to Mexico City...where they would be offered asylum. Or would they?
Traveling with a screaming baby - ( for the entire flight), ... what do you think happens when they arrive at their destinations? I thought about this story for sometime.
I read it a second time after I finished the last story. What type of scars stay with people who change their name and location - even when they've escaped the law?

Each of the stories left me questions to ponder. I could definitely read each story again--and discover something new. These are interesting discussion stories.
The author said he wrote them 'slowly' over a 10 year period or so.
I've been reading these stories non- stop...for hours with little break.
They are fascinating and enjoyable but ( but not in a traditional sense). Let's face it... These stories are out-of-the-box- kinda-odd! I kinda like 'odd'.. so these stories were definitely worth my time to read.

As for the cover of this book: I'm guessing most people might feel uncomfortable (I did). At the same time, it caught my attention, and I wanted to know more.
My question is this? Does a cover like this help or hinder sales? It's certainly an interesting debatable choice.

Most characters have dysfunctional behaviors, addictions, drugs, criminal records, sexual and or relationship issues. Creative descriptive writing. ( crude and graphic graphic as well)

"No matter how badly you fuck up, you cannot press the reset button and start over". All you can do is pull the plug."

Thank You Simon and Schuster, Netgalley, and Benjamin Hale

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh that cover, provoking and yet so intriguing...

The titular story is one that makes you drop that bag of chips and stop munching while reading it. An artist who needs to reinvent himself because he is broke, decides to attempt the world record of the fattest person alive. How he wants to reach that goal is certainly questionable.

All stories feature characters who are just not there yet. Due to circumstances they find themselves in dubious situations or they make some questionable decisions. A young man, new on the job as a driver, needs to restrain his love for booze. A dominatrix finds herself with a dead client. A young mother lives in a foggy world of drugs, sex and alcohol...all realistic situations you could find yourself in.

Excellent writing and interesting story lines, yet I'm a little on the fence about this book. Most of these seven short stories had an ending that made me wonder if I missed certain things. I certainly don't mind ambiguous endings, there was one that stood out to me that made me laugh when I saw it coming, the rest left me hanging considerably. Maybe they were just too good and I wanted more, maybe there was a deeper meaning to them and I didn't catch it...

I would like to read more by this author, though. He has a knack of captivating and immersing the reader completely into the story.

3.5*


Review copy supplied by publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a rating and/or review.


Read this for our May Short Story Month Marathon, a personal challenge during which Alex and I will be going through our short story collection in this last week of May. I'm adding a little twist to it by reading books by authors I haven't read from before.

[Em Naylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't Worry Baby - 4*

If I Had Posession Over Judgement Day - 4*

The Fat Artist - 5*

Left Overs - 4*

Venus At Her Mirror - 2*

Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful Boy - 3*

The Minus World - 4*

[Chris Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Irish is as Irish does

Inside Paddy O'Rotten's Bar

Shannon: "Ah, boyos, did you glut on the hear-tell?"

Mac: "What's that then?"

Timothy: "Hear what?"

Sean: "Give already."

Crazy Eileen: "Don't be dragging on Shannon."

O'Dooley: "God save the Queen!"

Everybody shoots him an IRA look.

O'Dooley: "Don't ya mind me lads. I'm standing up drunk."

A derelict to Crazy Eileen: "Buy me a draft, wontcha lassie?" She picks-up a heavy leaden leprechaun statue off the bar and drives it into his face.

Bartender: "And stay down you worthless bum."

Shannon stands up and announces: "Ol' Benjamin O' Hale has quit writing. He's got a dose of that looking in the mirror disease. He won't be boring the lot of us anymore!"

A great big roar goes up and spontaneously the the bar rats break into a jig and sing a liquor sloppy rendition of, "When Irish Eyes are Smiling."

Chris Roberts

[Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few years back I was obsessed with Chuck Palahniuk, and when I had read everything he had put out, I started reading books that belonged to the transgressional genre. During this time, I ended up reading a lot of one-hit wonders. Authors who had that one great book and then disappeared — at least for a reader in India. The list includes — Monica Drake (Clown Girl), Katherine Dunn (Geek Love), Craig Clevenger (The Contortionists Handbook), Gary Shteyngart (Super Sad True Love Story). Of course, these authors have written more, but I never found them reaching the same heights — and most of the time couldn’t even find their books in India. One of these one-hit wonders was Benjamin Hale, whose debut novel The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore was an inspiration.
So, I was very happy when I finally got my hands on his follow-up work — The Fat Artist and Other Stories. Bruno Littlemore was a 580-page behemoth, choc-a-bloc with allusions and love for literature. I don’t think the short story format works well for his style of writing. But wherever it does, it leaves a nagging thought in your head — making you wonder who we are as a people.
In these stories we meet drug addicts, revolutionaries, drag queens, mistress and her client, and — of course — the fat artist. The most disturbing meeting is with the fat artist — in a story that takes Kafka`s masterpiece and turns in upside down in every sense possible. He spirals down towards a death as inevitable as Devdas`s — but in a story that is as artificial as the worst of Marquis de Sade. It is simultaneously boring and disturbing, and still manages to make you feel sympathetic towards the fat artist. I don’t know if I am making any sense any more.
In another story, a mistress finds her client dead in her arms. And this turns out to be a very touching account of love in the time of consumerism. The tenderness after an onslaught of painfully lost characters is therapeutic even. This collection is not for the faint of heart, but not for once would you doubt the authenticity of the characters etched out on paper. How I wish more of the stories had closure.

[Penny Schmuecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fat Artist by Benjamin Hale is a five star read!

I will start off by saying that I don't read many short story collections and it isn't because I don't find them enjoyable. For me, short stories often end too soon, just as I'm getting to know the characters, just as I'm beginning to crawl inside their skin. I'm often left unsatisfied because the author can't devote as much time to character development as can be done in a 300 page novel.

This is where The Fat Artist differs. Benjamin Hale is such an eloquent writer and the characters in these seven stories come alive on the pages. Although the characters in each story are wildly different, each is like someone you might have met before. They're very relatable characters: the hippie revolutionaries who've been living off the grid in Morocco, as in Don't Worry Baby; the soon-to-be-retired Phil who lives in Houston and is having an affair, as in Leftovers; or the recovering addict, Peter, who takes a job as a truck driver, collecting squids for research at MIT, as in The Minus World. Most of the characters are living life on the fringes or have something undesirable in their pasts.

And then there is the Fat Artist, not to be mistaken with the fat artist. Well, that is not entirely the case. Tristan Hunt, a successful artist drops out of the art world for a year, spending much of the time eating pizzas, Pringles, and ice cream while watching porn. His weight balloons to nearly 500 pounds and his bank account shrinks to almost nothing. Forced out of early retirement as a result of his diminished funds, he admits that, in essence, he has been begun work on his "most ambitious and important project to date:" himself. He will attempt to become the fattest human in history, and will put himself on exhibit at a New York City museum in a specially designed chamber where museum-goers can watch him consume food that they bring in for him to eat, while he attempts to gain more than 1100 pounds.

While it sounds like a circus sideshow gone bad, Hale's writing is so spot-on and so detailed that you, too can take in this spectacle from your armchair. This was my favorite story of the collection although I can't say that there wasn't one of the seven that I didn't enjoy.

I look forward to reading future works from Benjamin Hale and will definitely check out The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, his first novel.

Thanks to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for allowing me an advance copy.

[Audra (ouija.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review with a cuddly surprise here: http://www.shelfstalker.net/blog/the-...

There is something about reading a short story that really gives you a feel for someone's ability as a writer.

I think it has to do with the space, or the lack thereof. In a novel, there's room to hide inadequacies, to write in a roundabout fashion if necessary. But in short fiction, space is paramount. Like living in New York City, I imagine, or one of those 240 square-foot Ikea apartments.

In the seven stories in this collection, Hale crafts seven very different little worlds, full of characters with their own backgrounds, longings, worries, and lives. He is able to put all of this together with the greatest ease, precise characterization, and compact usage of language. All in such a way that draws the reader into the story, wanting to learn more about these people.

Where Hale really succeeds, for me at least, is in the finish. He has a knack for the surprise ending—for setting up every detail so perfectly and then pulling out that one Jenga stick that topples the whole tower. And he leaves you to pick up the pieces, to imagine what comes next. I really had to take some time after each story to think about what the endings meant, and they really stuck with me! His carefully wrought worlds mattered to me when they all came tumbling down for the characters.

A great collection with writing that rivals Adam Johnson's National Book Award winning collection from last year, Fortune Smiles. Definitely worth picking up if you love short stories. If you tend to turn up your nose, think again. They are the mark of a truly great writer and you don't want to pass this one up.

[Latkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brilliant collection of short stories by an American author. Each one features characters who are flawed and yet still likeable. There is quite a high body count, death seems to feature prominently in this work, and yet it's also quite funny at times. The title story sees a modern artist perform the reverse of Kafka's short story The Hunger Artist - instead of starving himself to death he decides to eat as much as possible in a bid to become the heaviest person who has ever lived. I won't go into the details of all the stories, but these are wry, readable tales.

[brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I kinda hate the cover, so I was glad that I was reading this as an ebook rather than in a physical copy, because this is one that would get strange looks in public. The stories in this collection are full of strange, flawed characters and the endings are often abrupt. However, I found myself thinking about the characters and their situations days after I finished the book, so it had some of effect on me.

[Stephen Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Stories. All of the stories in "The Fat Artist" are all about people you'd avoid if you met them in life. This is the best description of American "losers" I have ever read. Also, see the Los Angeles Times review: "Benjamin Hale treats troubled characters with care in The Fat Artist and Other Stories."

[Mishelle Beagle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved these shocking, Kafkaesque, fascinating stories!

[Jenny Chisnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The titular story makes the entire collection well worth the read.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book Review
The Fat Artist and Other Stories by Benjamin Hale
Picador Books
7 out of 10
The stories found in The Fat Artist are not for the squeamish, they are not for the delicate of stomach or sensibility, they are not for the easily offended, or people with a fixed opinion of beauty, humanity or decency. They are however, stories for people who like things that are out of the ordinary, things that are outside the narrow confines of modern taste.
Over the seven stories in the book, we are introduced to a number of different characters, from the slightly strange to the desperate, people looking for a way out of jobs, relationships, maybe life even.
The title story looks at the plight of Tristan Hurt, an artist who becomes his own nightmare installation. Gorging himself on dangerously high levels of food, he becomes the heaviest man who ever lived. His naked body, becoming bigger and bigger with every day, every viewer bringing him food to eat, he lives in the room, his every need taken care of by staff and technology. As the novelty of his installation wears off, so do the audience, until he has gained a certain amount of notoriety, of fame even the most toxic type cannot fill the void in his life.
In Don’t Worry Baby, Miles and Odelia are a couple with a young child on the run, and their new lives come to an abrupt during an eventful holiday, and the plane ride that takes them far away from the town and the life that they once knew.
In If I had Possession Over Judgement Day Caleb struggles to hold down two jobs, one involving the transport and care of live squid, and when a different, easier type of life beckons, he takes the easier way out, which leads, unsurprisingly to catastrophic results.
The writing in this collection is of a uniformly high standard, touching on the types of characters that populate the work of Bukowski. Benjamin Hale cares about both his readers, and the characters in his book, and he is a definite talent to watch out for.

[Owen Townend · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like this collection, I am split down the middle.
While the first three stories are excellent in both style and execution, for various reasons the last three really aren't.
Without giving too much away, the first three stories are tight, well-contained narratives with some fascinating subjects. The last three stories, however, fail in leit motif, dedication to the subject matter and, above all, a proper ending.
Hale creates some vivid images: squids on a roadside, a silver-painted teenage girl visiting an elderly woman and, of course, a grotesquely obese man at the centre of an art gallery. However, in the latter stories, he seeks to hold up such images as the official endings without even attempting a couple of short sentences to wrap up character relationships and other consequences.
I genuinely enjoyed the first half of this book which is why I felt so cross by the end. What's worse is the fact that apparently these were written in chronological order and at least one overseen by Tobias Wolff, a short story master.
I wish more work had been done.

Notable Stories

• If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day - it took a while for the plots to come together but what a collision!
• The Fat Artist - it grants the idea of turning one's own pain into art greater and more egotistical meaning.
• The Minus World - while the past plot has a sufficient conclusion, the present is literally left by the roadside.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent - that is the word that came to mind when I finished this collection. Clearly the title story is the one that has attracted the most attention and comment, possibly to the disadvantage of the rest of the collection, but I can't help wondering if behind the cleverness, the pyrotechnics, there is anything really substantial. I just can't help feeling there is something lacking in this collection. I hate to say this but at times I find the output of authors from places like the Iowa writers programme lacking in something - put crudely a disconnect from reality, from a real visceral lived experience, I'll be honest and say I can't really define it. I am also aware that trying to be recognised as an author, or to exist as author, outside of the academic programmes is almost impossible these days. So my reservations are probably unfair. But I can't help feeling that the technical excellence hides an absence.

[Gsus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't really expect to enjoy reading this since I bought it waay back when BBW had an online book sale & I dunno this just peaked my interest because of the cover & because it's a short stories collection. But it was nice I guess. Breezed through it. The writing as well as the stories didn't feel flat, I'm not sure if they were engaging or anything new or profound for the matter, but it has something that doesn't make you hate reading it. Took me 5 days to finish it because I was going out & hanging out with people. Life is so good right now.

The stories ranked in order from most liked to just like enough goes:
1. Venus at her Mirror
2. Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Boy
3. The Fat Artist
4. The Minus World
5. Leftovers
6. If I had possession over judgment day
7. Don't Worry Baby- a very slow start, but very digestible

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 , round to 4
The subject matter of the stories is disturbing and some language but the writing is fantastic, the storytelling such that I kept reading - like passing a wreck on the road. Disturbing but you can't not see what happens to the characters. Not an "uplifting and light" read. Definitely not for everyone but I found I read to the end of every story.

[Yasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing collection of short stories. Although most stories are based around the east coast of the US, it's easy to relate to the characters grappling with the expectations of modern society. I adored all of them, immersing myself in the horror and hypocrisy and delights of the vastly different worlds. Definitely worth jumping into.

[Sheryl V · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of stories were genuinely an interesting bunch. Probably the best short story anthology ive read so far. Should be considered for one of the "sex & death" books that ive read so many of yet never had enough sex or death in them.

I plunged into this right after reading classics, which was a bit of a pace changer. All these weird modern words I've never heard about!! We get it Hale, you have an exemplary vocabulary! All of these stories had a weird, sometimes disturbing, graphic touch to them. Which I enjoyed.
Hale's writing style is very prominent and lyrical; and i loved the modernity he brought to the prose and descriptions of his stories.

I struggled hard with this rating, I would consider is a 3.5/5, veryyy close to a 4 (i just have high standards) but definitely a book i would recommend to people who enjoy weird stories!

[Donna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like short stories. My Goodreads library tells me I have munched my way through 89 collections and anthologies; yet I can tell you that there is nothing even remotely similar to what Hale offers here. Thanks go to Simon and Schuster and Net Galley for permitting me to view the DRC for the purpose of an honest review. You should get a copy May 17, 2016 when it is released, so that when it is immediately banned by various school boards you will know what they’re screaming about.

The ribbon that binds these brilliant, bizarre tales is that each of them features a social outlier as a protagonist. We start with the airline flight from hell in “Don’t Worry Baby”; you have doubtless flown at least once on a flight with a small child whose mother you long to smack upside the head for her dreadful parenting skills, but this one wins the prize. The second story that deals with Judgment Day didn’t work for me; first there were some hyperliterate science references that zinged right over my head, and then the sick factor got the better of me, and so I skipped that one and moved on to the title story. Having read the rest, I am inclined to chalk that second one up to my own quirks rather than Hale’s skill set.

When I came to “The Fat Artist”, I could only bow in awe. I was overcome with frustration because no one else in my household enjoys literary fiction, and so I couldn’t share. In a nutshell, the protagonist, a performance artist, seeks to eat himself to death while setting a worldwide fatness record. I actually gasped several times while reading this one.

Although the writing within this collection provides outstanding examples of every imaginable literary device, those that teach high school literature would be wise not to place it on classroom shelves unless you work at an alternative school. A very alternative school. A very, very, very…well, hopefully my meaning is clear. There is so much edgy material, from language, to explicit sexual description, to sexual roles and gender ambiguity, that I can see the villagers coming with their torches, their hot tar, their pillows. Teachers, don’t do this to yourselves. Get a personal copy; take it home and enjoy it; then pass it on to someone that can be trusted to appreciate it. Seriously.

Four more stories follow, and they’re all strong. “Leftovers” deals with a middle aged man in the midst of an extramarital affair when his problem child unexpectedly appears, ready to ransack the family vacation home for valuables to sell in order to feed his addiction. The way this tale unfolds gives me goose bumps.

The next two tales deal with sexual roles and ambiguity. I came away from “Beautiful Boy”, which made me realize, whether by the author’s intention or not, that men that choose to cross dress only as a diversion are looking at the best of both worlds, never having to confront the glass ceiling because they’ll be at that office meeting clad in their conservative suit and tie like always; it reminds me of white actors that wore black face.

The final story of a troubled brother that lands in the basement of his brother, the MIT researcher, and is provided with a job driving squid from the docks to the laboratory, is as brilliant as all the others, and equally esoteric.

Hale is wholly original, but if I were to compare his writing to any other author, it would be to that of Michael Chabon.

Bring your literary skills to the feast that Hale has laid for you; you will need them. It’s one hell of a banquet.

[Lindsey Lawntea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fat Artist features seven short stories that are pretty bizarre and remind me a bit of Chuck Palahniuk, particularly Haunted, which is my favorite work by him. The titular story is a twist on The Hunger Artist by Kafka.

I lost my story notes and it has been a while since I read this, but I did enjoy it as I rated it at the time. Please be aware I cannot speak on any triggers or whether there was anything problematic/disrespectful, as it has been so long since I read this book. I do recall that many of the stories were shocking or pushed boundaries but I don't recall it being in an offensive or problematic way, but please be aware topics such as drag queens, substance abuse, obesity, unhealthy relationships, and sex work are all mentioned throughout the book (as well as I THINK there may have been some old creeper man in one of the stories), so you may want to take caution if any of those topics deeply affect you. I do recall The Fat Artist being my favorite story. I remember the first story, Don't Worry Baby, wasn't my cup of tea, and then I remember one of the story was loosely about aliens, and it took a while to come together but it had a cool twist. All of the characters are broken, desperate people who end up in absolutely wild scenarios as a result of their flaws and pain.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Review first posted on nudge-book.com as they were kind enough to send me a review copy.)

Benjamin Hale’s The Fat Artist and Other Stories is a collection of seven short stories with some unusual characters. Most of the stories feature either flawed main characters or characters with flawed plans for their future, from the fat artist of the book’s title to Peter, trying to get his life back on track in the last story in the collection, ‘The Minus World.’

I really enjoyed reading this collection of short stories. The first one, ‘Don’t Worry Baby’, about a mother on an aeroplane flight was the one I enjoyed the least. The stories get better as you progress through the collection, with my favourites being ‘Leftovers’, about a man having an affair; ‘Venus at her Mirror’, where the narrative is about a female dominatrix, and ‘The Minus World’, which tells the story of Peter and his attempt to keep his new job transporting squid.

Benjamin Hale perfectly captures the inner voice of his varied characters, and the result is a wonderful eclectic collection of stories which are well worth reading. The collection is worth reading for ‘The Minus World’ alone. Benjamin Hale saved the best for last!

[beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, simply, my favorite book. Ever. I cannot recommend it enough. 6 stars.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven stories in this new-t0-me author's collection: young American fugitives living and traveling abroad (Don't Worry Baby); a fateful, late summer night encounter among a group of down-on-their-luck people (If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day); a heartbroken performance artist attempting his greatest work (The Fat Artist); a recent retiree's relationship with his mistress and estranged son (Leftovers); the choices a dominatrix must make immediately following the death of her politician client (Venus at Her Mirror); a drag queen and his network of friends and acquaintances (Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful Boy); and an addict in recovery trying to rebuild his life at a new job transporting squid (The Minus World). When this book was recommended on The Readers Podcast, I was intrigued because the author is originally from my home state of Colorado. The characters in these stories are damaged and hapless but also relatable. Their stories are at once odd and familiar. There is a logical progression that links the well-written and enjoyable stories.

[Patricia Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

received advance uncorrected proof to read and write review

loved this short story collection except for the Fat Artist..that one was a little gross with all the excessive eating and elimination...the rest were just pretty wonderful..loved the painted girl and older photographer with UFO in the sky..the last one with Peter always coming up on the loosing end of life..would read another book by this author

[Jonathan Rimorin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had bought this book after reading Hale's short story "Don't Worry, Baby" in the Paris Review. It was strongly plotted, vividly characterized, every sentence necessary, wonderfully free of the ostentation of stories ground through the MFA mill. Most of the rest of the stories in "The Fat Artist" share these strengths of narrative surety and surprise. A worthy read, and probably the quickest I've read a short story collection since Vonnegut's "Welcome To The Monkey House."

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of 7 short stories that cover a lot of ground: addiction, kink, modern art, murder, marriage, and squid. Hale is a terrific writer and I loved Evolution of Bruno Littlemore. The stories start strong and have great "middles," but the endings are often abrupt and unsatisfying.

[Jane]

Fascinating, disturbing. Also, reminds me why I don't like short stories. I feel rushed through them. I want to know MORE about everyone and what happened.

[Robert Morgan Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this guy's writing from the first story of his I read in The Paris Review. The collection did not disappoint. Funny, macabre, ironic, touching.

I recommend.

[Jessikah Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seven stories which were a bit mixed. I really enjoyed the title story but 2/3 let the collection down a little.