The Shape of Every Monster Yet to Come by Brian Allen Carr (1-Nov-2014) Paperback Paperback – 1 Jan. 1600

Well, not what I expected from this publisher but so glad I bought this. These short stories are in-your-face reality, little chinks of life and truth that are at once familiar and fantastic. The language is lyrical and quick, almost poetic. The tales are honest and intimate. The reader is transported into the lives of the characters, however briefly. This book is a treasure. Do not let this one pass by.

These are fabulous short stories: immersive, emotional, entertaining. I will read everything Carr publishes. Strongly recommended.

A TOP SHELF review, originally published in the December 12, 2014 edition of The MonitorThe latest collection from South Texas professor and award-winning author Brian Allen Carr is The Shape of Every Monster Yet to Come. The book opens with a mother telling her son to go into the backyard and fetch her a stick with which to beat him. When he returns with a magnolia flower instead, she tells him, “I guess I’ll use my fists.”This introductory vignette sets the tone for the following series of brutal tales. The reader stares on in horrified wonder as a parade of disaffected, broken, often sociopathic men flail and flounder in a bleak world, often unable to connect to each other or the women they objectify. Humiliation and conflict are carried well beyond the limits of sanity or the ability of the flesh to abide. The death of a violent loved one leaves a sibling in perpetual limbo, while in a pair of stories the passing of a young man brings guilt to the surviving friend who was encroaching on the departed’s romantic territory.Though most of the pieces are unexpectedly short, they stay with you for a long time, like an unexpected punch that drops you in seconds to the concrete. A few glitter with the biblical ferocity that characterizes Carr’s public reading: “We All Become Something,” which I have heard him perform, remains one of the single most affecting portraits of a violent man I have ever read.Amid the bleakness, there are hints of fleeting joy, of course: a husband and wife who playfully sword-fight in a curio shop in Nuevo Progreso, a man who wishes everyone “sweet dreams” regardless of time of day as if such a mantra could undo wrongs. Above all, however, the steady drawl of one of the most honest writers in Texas will be there as you peruse the darkness of existence with him, whispering “[Life] can’t dance if there’s no music. It’s not going to smile just because it sees me.”

Fantastic collection. Carr is one of the most interesting writers around and his short fiction hits all over the place. Sometimes brutal, sometimes scary, sometimes so damn beautiful.If you've read anything else by him, you'll love this. If this is your first look at Brian Allen Carr, you need to grab some of his other books.

Every time I crack open THE SHAPE OF EVERY MONSTER YET TO COME--and this would be the third, fourth time--there's a new story in it that sucker punches so hard its impact lingers for days, or longer. "Stamp 3," the introduction story, was the first to do it, and I still think about that mother grinning, cracking her knuckles when her kid brings her that flower. Then it was "Lemonade Tycoon," because a kid peeing in another kid's face is just such a striking image and could be a metaphor for almost any aspect of humanity. This time, though, "We All Become Something" resonated loudest. That guy who'd once upon a time done that awful thing, when he is years later pressing his face against a twentieth-floor window with his niece--I've felt like that guy, had lots of those window-gazing moments.Which is to say, I know MF SHARKS and THE LAST HORROR NOVEL IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD are Brian Allen Carr's most talked about, but THE SHAPE OF EVERY MONSTER is definitely not one that should be left in the dark. I highly recommend copping this ish if you haven't already.