Cheat Sheets

by Edward O'Dwyer

108 stories of infidelity

154 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2018

Reviews

[Aaron Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A star for every one million times I screamed "up limerick" while reading this book

[Ali Whitelock · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read Edward O’Dwyer’s incredible poetry collection, ‘Bad News, Good News, Bad News’ I wondered how he’d ever top it. Then he goes and comes up with, ‘Cheat Sheet’––an astonishing collection of vignettes about life, love, lust and relationship, which are jaw droppingly hilarious, tender, strange, potent and weirdly charming––all at the same time. I laughed out loud in public too many times, the laughs often interrupted with sharp intakes of breath, as stories took outrageously i-didn't-see-that-coming turns. If there isn’t yet a law against this much talent in one single human, then there ought to be. Move over Dan Rhodes. If I have any advice for readers when they sit down with this collection, it is this: pace yourself. Like a packet of Nestlé’s Rolos or a family size packet of salt & vinegar crips, you won’t want these stories to end.

[Tanya Farrelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man takes a date to the cinema and ends up kissing an elderly stranger, a woman who insists that her partner "gets serious" is caught philandering with a clown, a female serial-killer insists that she kills for love, while a young lover on a bus turns to see his girlfriend kissing a very handsome stranger... All of these bite-size tales of infidelity are told with a wry and clever wit. Cheat Sheets is a very, very funny study on the absurdity of human behavior, reminiscent of Woody Allen at his best.

[Vicki Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a fan of Edward O'Dwyer's poetry I really looked forward to reading Cheat Sheets. It's such a fun book but that doesn't mean it's totally lightweight. The level of imagination in the short, short stories is quite incredible. When speaking with a friend about the book, it was put to me that maybe I'd be somewhat shocked by it being a 'senior'. No way say I. It is uproariously funny yet doesn't rely solely on humour to make the stories readable and believable. Usually with short story books, I take it as pick up, read one or two and the put down until laterNot so with Cheat Sheets, I keep reading and reading. If time had allowed I'd finish in one sitting but will complete it on the second sitting.
Great turnabout from writing poetry to prose by Edward.

[Caleb Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been a great follower of Edward O'Dwyer's work for the last few years and his first micro-fiction collection which his first jump into prose, does not disappoint at all! The work which is all themed around infidelity offers a humorous, often black and wry, look into absurd situations which seem so feasible to the reader. Very accessible read, funny, and a great pick-up, jump-in book.

[Naomi Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The humour is a little darker than I'd typically go for but these stories are just so much fun. And one of the other reviewers is right calling the stories 'bite-size'. The stories are compact and easy to enjoy right off the bat. To the point, smart, with a healthy dose of easy irreverence.