Shelter

by Marty Asher

Novel written in short snippets, usually less than half a page of text per page of the book.

From the jacket: "A marvelous novel about a young man who is so worried about the threat of nuclear holocaust that he is forced to solve the problem all by himself, by decoding the messages John Lennon left for him in song lyrics."

Genres: Fiction

136 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1986

Reviews

[Ellen Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a unique book. I may have enjoyed it more if I was very high, but it was still funny and creative.

[shrutsiv · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. The form factor of this book already did not set it up to be great, and while there were some well-placed lines that genuinely took me out with laughter (the idea of literally painting a target on your head to get out of the Vietnam war, for example), the satire didn't work for me precisely because it was underdeveloped. I pretty much only cared about the main character's best friend as a person, and the clipped nature of the prose lent this detached feeling to the text, as if it was listing a series of events, which I know is the intended effect but it doesn't really work for me here. What are we satirizing? Getting high? Escapism? Liking the Beatles?

[Nir Singher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just about as entertaining as books can be. I liked the formatting and the style.
Read through in one sitting and am not sorry for lost sleep.

[Atara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Billy, the protagonist, wants to save the world from annihilation by nuclear war. He is using the lyrics of Beatles songs along with hints and encouragement from John who appears from time to time. This book is short. This book has a serious message, while at the same time being a laugh-out-loud book.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok - mildly entertaining & extremely quick to read. An interesting idea that should have been fleshed out into an actual story.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Billy is out to save the world using songs by the Beatles.

This is kind of written like a diary. Little hard to follow. Short book.