What do you think?
Rate this book
In the Springtime Everything is New All Over Again: A Dark Humor Short Story
Poor Carl has a crappy life...on purpose! An unnamed author is desperate to write a book that will interest the wealthy Tuesday Book Club ladies. So, she does what any author would she creates the most fascinatingly awful character she can think of, a character the Tuesday Book Club ladies are sure to enjoy scapegoating for society's bad luck Carl! When Carl's author shows some compassion by bringing in a love interest, everything begins to change. As the tough-luck character tries to get his life together, will the Tuesday Book Club ladies finally root for Carl to win? Or will their deeply rooted classism get the better of them? In the Springtime Everything Is New All Over Again is a triple-layered metafiction short story. If you like curious perspectives, peeks into the writing process, and a heavy dose of pathos, then you'll love this short story from Esmerelda Q. Jones. "This story rolled right over me like a witty bulldozer. Sharp. Poignant. Intelligent. Fresh. Her dark, cutting wit reminds me of Vonnegut at the height of his whimsical powers. Simple yet enthralling." -- Amazon customer "A great, readable, fun, short story." -- Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer Fans of dark humor, metafiction, Kurt Vonnegut, George Saunders, or Eudora Welty will enjoy In the Springtime Everything Is New All Over Again -- buy it today!
26 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 12, 2016
2 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 6, 2016
A creative story with a clever concept: following the stream of consciousness as a writer creates a character. The tale is prefaced as "dark humor" and rightly so. The tone certainly takes a negative and sarcastic bent. However, I found in it an interesting reflection on our current culture. While some may dismiss what the "Ladies at the book club" enjoy as over-generalizations, one can find in them an insight into what society now finds entertaining and sensational, and an invitation to take a step back and reflect rather than simply going along with what has become the norm. Finally, the tone and the structure of the story seem to express the writer's own struggle between writing what the market calls for and writing what has truly taken shape in the imagination.
January 13, 2017
I enjoyed this hilarious book. As Esmerelda Q. Jones writes, this is "A Dark Humor Short Story," it is humorous. However, I would add: "A great, readable, fun, short story." Really funny and clever too.
We read that the author is trying to develop her character for her story and its plot. The ideas she comes up with are zany - good zany. As a result, we get many stories within a story. For example, should Carl be a pedophile or a good grandfather type?
Another example, one time she thinks to write that Carl has to ride in a "nasty bus because in order to buy bus cleaner fluid the city would have to raise taxed 0.0001 percent and the voters vote NO on that one, so sorry! no clean bus for Carl."
We read that the author is trying to develop her character for her story and its plot. The ideas she comes up with are zany - good zany. As a result, we get many stories within a story. For example, should Carl be a pedophile or a good grandfather type?
Another example, one time she thinks to write that Carl has to ride in a "nasty bus because in order to buy bus cleaner fluid the city would have to raise taxed 0.0001 percent and the voters vote NO on that one, so sorry! no clean bus for Carl."
December 6, 2016
I wanted to write a review, but I thought, "a glowing review would just feed the vanity of the author, and we couldn't have that." But no, on the other hand, a good review might make more people read the book and they could see how Carl evolves at the whim of his creator (poor fool!) Oh, does that refer to Carl or the author? (Damn you grammar, anyway!) And how would I describe the crazy-ass writing and perspective of this stream-of-consciousness-short-story-meta-fiction? At any rate, at least the ladies of the Tuesday afternoon book club can be content with the result. Pardon? You don't understand my review? Then maybe you should read the book.
January 20, 2017
This short story has an unnamed narrator who is a writer. Based off a running joke with her (since they share a room) sister, the narrator names her protagonist Carl. The she spends the rest of the story coming up with the plot and plot twists for poor ol’ Carl.
I didn’t think it was funny, and it rubbed me the wrong way. Basically because it goes against the basic rule of fiction writing: Nothing is more boring than a character sitting around thinking and not acting. Granted this is a writer thinking, but it’s just as boring.
The one saving thing about this short story is just that: it’s short. That’s why I give In the Springtime Everything is New All Over Again: A Dark Humor Short Story 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.
I didn’t think it was funny, and it rubbed me the wrong way. Basically because it goes against the basic rule of fiction writing: Nothing is more boring than a character sitting around thinking and not acting. Granted this is a writer thinking, but it’s just as boring.
The one saving thing about this short story is just that: it’s short. That’s why I give In the Springtime Everything is New All Over Again: A Dark Humor Short Story 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.
October 28, 2016
A request to review this very short story, In the Springtime Everything is New All Over Again by Esmerelda Q. Jones, popped up in my inbox. Since I am presently at a writer/reader conference in UBUD, Indonesia and I am not following my schedule of posting once per day, I thought I would accept this unicorn’s request for a quick review. The writer self-identifies as a unicorn, claims peanut butter to be a favorite color and identifies an author home to be in “all the usual places.” I have a feeling that I would not ever be able to find the author since our definitions of normal are probably divergent. And peanut butter as a favorite color evokes images scatological.
This is an author in search of a definition for the main character. Esmerelda throws out possible character backgrounds for “Carl.” At the conclusion, all we know about Carl is that he (presumably) is named Carl. And he wasn’t named for anyone. Esmerelda and sibling sister just thought it was a cool name for an imaginary pedophile that they could play with when they were children. That is already creepy. Esmerelda grows up, decides to write a story about Carl, and decides Carl will not be a pedophile in the book planned for children. This shows that Esmerelda has successfully grasped the idea of maturity. “When I was a child I wrote as a child, but when I became a unicorn, I wrote as a uni….” OK, it fails a bit at this point.
Esmerelda realizes that something horrible must happen to Carl because readers have filthy minds. Esmerelda presumes to know me. But I keep reading so the unicorn’s assumption has been validated. Carl must have a job. Walmart is too high on a scale that might match Carl’s education but it could be one of his jobs (out of three). There must be a love interest and Esmerelda has chosen the name Edwina to be just right for Carl. So, then we have the stage for the author to write about sex. While there could have been a non-female sex interest, the fact that Edwina is female makes the introduction of Oscar, the lovechild of Carl and Edwina, easier. Oscar was named after Carl’s grandmother, who was a man. From this, readers might get the impression that unicorns should not be allowed to write books, novels, novellas, short stories, or flash fiction unless they could offer proof of having attended several writers’ workshops. Or at least associated NanoWrimo activities.
This is an amusing distraction which I read between conferences at the UBUD Writers/Readers Conference. By posting this I felt better about not falling so far behind in my posting schedule. Thanks to unicorns.
This is an author in search of a definition for the main character. Esmerelda throws out possible character backgrounds for “Carl.” At the conclusion, all we know about Carl is that he (presumably) is named Carl. And he wasn’t named for anyone. Esmerelda and sibling sister just thought it was a cool name for an imaginary pedophile that they could play with when they were children. That is already creepy. Esmerelda grows up, decides to write a story about Carl, and decides Carl will not be a pedophile in the book planned for children. This shows that Esmerelda has successfully grasped the idea of maturity. “When I was a child I wrote as a child, but when I became a unicorn, I wrote as a uni….” OK, it fails a bit at this point.
Esmerelda realizes that something horrible must happen to Carl because readers have filthy minds. Esmerelda presumes to know me. But I keep reading so the unicorn’s assumption has been validated. Carl must have a job. Walmart is too high on a scale that might match Carl’s education but it could be one of his jobs (out of three). There must be a love interest and Esmerelda has chosen the name Edwina to be just right for Carl. So, then we have the stage for the author to write about sex. While there could have been a non-female sex interest, the fact that Edwina is female makes the introduction of Oscar, the lovechild of Carl and Edwina, easier. Oscar was named after Carl’s grandmother, who was a man. From this, readers might get the impression that unicorns should not be allowed to write books, novels, novellas, short stories, or flash fiction unless they could offer proof of having attended several writers’ workshops. Or at least associated NanoWrimo activities.
This is an amusing distraction which I read between conferences at the UBUD Writers/Readers Conference. By posting this I felt better about not falling so far behind in my posting schedule. Thanks to unicorns.
October 11, 2017
This was a very strange short story. I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review, and I wasn't really sure what I was getting myself into. It seemed interesting and imaginative enough - is is described as 'dark humor', I can get behind some of that. Sadly this one was not for me.
The book is written as a writer thinking about the story they will tell about Carl - so you don't really get a character but the idea of a character that the 'author' is going to write about and about all the bad things that will/could happen to him. I read the story waiting for this to stop and get to the tale itself - and that was my mistake, this thought-process IS the tale. I think this could have been fun but it was not, I didn't really feel like it was funny and I was not finding the humor in another the author was choosing for the Carl character.
That all being said, it was a very imaginative concept and something that I have never read before - I think that there are many people that will really enjoy this story and I think that if you are a writer then this stream of consciousness about creating a character might even be entertaining for you. I think that if you are into the weird for the sake of being weird, again this might be for you.
Some positives, the book is a short story, so it was a quick and easy read and you don't really need to get emotionally invested in any characters - sometime that is a win too. Overall this book just was not for me. I think that others might enjoy its creativity though.
The book is written as a writer thinking about the story they will tell about Carl - so you don't really get a character but the idea of a character that the 'author' is going to write about and about all the bad things that will/could happen to him. I read the story waiting for this to stop and get to the tale itself - and that was my mistake, this thought-process IS the tale. I think this could have been fun but it was not, I didn't really feel like it was funny and I was not finding the humor in another the author was choosing for the Carl character.
That all being said, it was a very imaginative concept and something that I have never read before - I think that there are many people that will really enjoy this story and I think that if you are a writer then this stream of consciousness about creating a character might even be entertaining for you. I think that if you are into the weird for the sake of being weird, again this might be for you.
Some positives, the book is a short story, so it was a quick and easy read and you don't really need to get emotionally invested in any characters - sometime that is a win too. Overall this book just was not for me. I think that others might enjoy its creativity though.
November 26, 2016
Received this book as an advance reader copy. The author brings the reader through her writing thought process and tries to write what she thinks every audiece wants to read.
I was a bit creeped out by the genralizations made by the author on what she thinks keep readers engaged. However, the fact that I finished the book in one sitting may be saying a lot.
Quick read on the author's writing process.
I was a bit creeped out by the genralizations made by the author on what she thinks keep readers engaged. However, the fact that I finished the book in one sitting may be saying a lot.
Quick read on the author's writing process.
February 3, 2017
a quick and fun read, this is satirical meta fiction that most writers should readily identify with. who is Carl? while the author sets out to create the character inserting a level of social satire and commentary. Whilst entertaining, it does rely little heavily on clichés and generalisations. A fun enough read - but not one i would have paid for.
received from author to review. will correct capitalisation in review when back on proper keyboard.
received from author to review. will correct capitalisation in review when back on proper keyboard.
May 2, 2017
Short stories are an odd format to write in. Due to the short length and often experimental nature of the format, readers generally fall, quite easily, into one of two categories for a given story. They either get it, or they don't.
Of course, while saying that, I realize that for this particular short story, I got it...but I wasn't exactly sure if I cared.
Simply put, In the Springtime Everything is New All Over Again reads like an A.D.D. nightmare. Jones gives us a glimpse into the mind of an author attempting to come up with their next story. But about the only thing they seem to be certain of is that the main character will be named Carl (something I can stand behind, as it's a name I often find myself immediately tossing on new characters before coming up with something more fitting).
While the concept is fun and certainly speaks to the author in me, the one thing I couldn't quite get behind is how little I really cared about how the story was going to play out. While well written and a fun concept, I just couldn't get on board with the author's constant jumping from idea to idea. Perhaps it's just my hyper-organized brain wanting to scream out to the author character that they should just calm the F down already instead of jumping on everything single thought which pops into their brain.
Or maybe it's simply because it reminded me too much of where my brain goes before heading off to sleep, filled with the constant stream of thoughts of stories and characters, unable to latch on to a single one, and ultimately making rest much more difficult to come by.
Final thoughts: If you want a brief glimpse into the mind of an author, this story certainly does that well. I have a feeling that my own personal aggravation with the protagonist in this tale is that I may have related with them a little too closely.
Of course, while saying that, I realize that for this particular short story, I got it...but I wasn't exactly sure if I cared.
Simply put, In the Springtime Everything is New All Over Again reads like an A.D.D. nightmare. Jones gives us a glimpse into the mind of an author attempting to come up with their next story. But about the only thing they seem to be certain of is that the main character will be named Carl (something I can stand behind, as it's a name I often find myself immediately tossing on new characters before coming up with something more fitting).
While the concept is fun and certainly speaks to the author in me, the one thing I couldn't quite get behind is how little I really cared about how the story was going to play out. While well written and a fun concept, I just couldn't get on board with the author's constant jumping from idea to idea. Perhaps it's just my hyper-organized brain wanting to scream out to the author character that they should just calm the F down already instead of jumping on everything single thought which pops into their brain.
Or maybe it's simply because it reminded me too much of where my brain goes before heading off to sleep, filled with the constant stream of thoughts of stories and characters, unable to latch on to a single one, and ultimately making rest much more difficult to come by.
Final thoughts: If you want a brief glimpse into the mind of an author, this story certainly does that well. I have a feeling that my own personal aggravation with the protagonist in this tale is that I may have related with them a little too closely.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews