Twelve strangers, two ghosts, and the Devil–while sharing a long railroad journey–concoct a storybook of tales and trifles as hours of blank pages unfurl ahead of them. Not since Chaucer’s pilgrims hit the road with tongues wagging have travelers had this much babble and gabble to share with their fellow wayfarers. Meanwhile, glimpses of the expansive, crumbling mural referred to as America … to as America flash past the windows, and the lies, the truths, and the grandiose exaggerations keep coming on both sides of the glass.
Talk is cheap and tickets are cheaper, but what are the rules? First of all–as your mother often told you–be sure you are wearing clean underwear because anything can happen. Second, recognize that there aren’t any rules. It’s every passenger for himself.
I was drawn to Sayville Tales because of the art work both inside and out. So I bought my ticket (the book…a physical book) and climbed aboard. I mention this now instead of at the end just in case you skip some of the review. So much will be missed in the Kindle version because not all of the stories, art and photos could be “Kindleized”…formatted so these were omitted. So choose wisely. Sayville Tales is actually a story of several passengers who have agreed to swap stories as they journey on this historical train. Believe me when I tell you that the stories told are not your usual road trip story fare and not all of the stories are told by living passengers. I love nothing better than a good story or two and this motley bunch of passengers did not disappoint.
The characters are both memorable and delightful! Especially the Nightcaps and the Professor who seems a mite odd, out of place and just a bit too slick; but he manages to hold this menagerie of storytellers together…for what purpose?
This book is absurdly ridiculous with just enough satirical sarcasm to drive the point home along with the same amount of truth about human nature to strike a moral chord giving those of us with a penchant for “off the wall” kind of humor to laugh out loud or, at the very least, sputter. There were some passages that were quite reflective and others, through all the satire and ridiculousness…there was a grain of doubt in the “truth” that was told. In the end, I made the journey pretty much unscathed. I want to wish you all a “safe” journey should you decide to step inside the Brown Fox. In fact, I dare you. No, I double dare you to take the journey…
I received an advanced review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I found this to be a surprising read. In that I mean, it wasn’t quite what I had thought it to be initially and took some very different turns still, but I was happily satiated by the end. I found the author’s creative voice in his writing to be the biggest draw, you feel like you’re a part of this very strange journey and you’re hearing some very strange tales, some detailed conspiracy ideals that are twisted into fun retellings, and get peppered here and there with some ethical ideology about today’s social and political climates. The author has a way of enticing the reader’s imagination and curiosity as he weaves these tales that really set the bar higher than most in this normally fact spewing genre. I found myself intrigued for the entirety of this novel, as well as brimming with more questions and curiosity that I didn’t note before in this area of interest. This really did deliver on much more than I planned for it to as well as give a lot of material to ponder. The wit and cleverness of the the way the author twists the tales and delivers bread crumbs to put pieces of a puzzle together for the reader was also a lot of fun to experience. The delivery was neutral for the majority, by cleverly using perspectives these ideals would naturally be founded from, as well as whimsical even at times and overall delivered a very fun but thoughtful read which I believe is a very hard combination to come by. It performs in delivering a well done piece of literature and for that it deserves ever praise.
Sayville Tales is a wild train ride from Manhattan to a town on Long Island. Satan is the verbal and psychological center of the voyage with many animal and human characters from medieval to modern all caught up in a series of high-energy linguistic and psychological maelstroms. For those who like complex worlds of dialects, languages (here mainly English, German, and Yiddish) and moral ambiguities in many historical cultures this book is a wonderful mental trip; no drugs required.
Sayville Tales by Lawrence Jay Switzer is an intricately crafted piece of literary fiction. It is a novel of short stories, or tales, and each flows and weaves seamlessly into the next. It is brilliantly written prose with a unique and witty style that pulls you in as if listening to a talented and animated oral storyteller.
It is a satirical masterpiece, with many of humankind’s follies and vices on full display. Using derision and caustic wit, the author unveils ugly truths and pulls off a difficult task of personifying the Devil, superbly using the setting of a train ride and its many stops along the way to Hell.
If you are a fan of literary fiction, satire, dark humor, sarcasm, or just plain old-fashioned entertaining storytelling, Sayville Tales will not disappoint.
This reminded me of the book my Da would bring home on trade. They were weird and wonderful and filled with mischief.
This book is filled with story after story of how the devil finds himself in the oddest places and creating mischief whenever possible. Eventually, we get on the train to Sayville where a group of friends tell stories to each other. Whether it is a persistent fox or a rebellious nun, or solving the mystery of the Kennedy assassination, every tale is woven with deft wit. The illustrations alone are wonderful and add to the entire feel of the book.
What I liked:
I really enjoyed certain tales more than others and they are permanently stuck in my head as a result. I really enjoyed the tale of the fox and the accidental nun who found herself taking an oath of silence. The entire book was enjoyable and I could read in bulk or take one story at a time in brief intervals. There were also some clever observations about phone usage on a train.
What I didn’t like:
There were a couple of parts where I cringed a little, but they were at the beginning of the book and the storytelling quickly moved on to other more interesting subjects.
Overall:
For this genre, it is some of the best I’ve read, and I highly recommend it for anyone who loves an ingeniously organized set of stories. If a bathroom reader and an anthology had a love child and that child went to University to get a Masters in literature, this would be that child.
This is a wonderfully designed and intentionally written book by an author who leaves no stone unturned along the way in our travels to Sayville. So many things came to mind when it came time to review this book, but I would like to touch on some things that I found especially pleasing.
First of all , PLEASE purchase the print edition of this book if you are considering buying it! The gorgeous design elements all play into the meaning behind the stories. Every page is laid out with painstaking care and purpose. You can immerse yourself into the journey completely with the full version of this book. (I originally bought this as a gift for a friend, but was too intrigued to leave it alone as I thumbed through the pages!)
I typically enjoy reading character driven stories, and in the beginning, it seemed like this would be more of a situational tale, but as I read further, I found myself seeing a reflection of someone I know in each character. Switzer has his “types” down to a T and none of them will disappoint you! What is a journey without baggage? Each of these travelers — and the subjects of their tales — all come with plenty of it. Each story could’ve probably formed into a novella on it’s own, and each character could’ve had a book, too. Perhaps someday we can see a Switzer universe form around these travelers. Several of them had intersecting storylines, which tied much of the book together beautifully.
There is a bit of everything in this book, which is why I wouldn’t dare try to categorize it. Conspiracy, sci-fi, paranormal, romance, action, adventure, drama, comedy — everything can be found in Sayville Tales, but I’d be most apt to call it a social commentary cleverly disguised as a collection of short stories within the form of a novel. Every word is intentional on the part of the author. You will find no fluff here. Every word matters, so take your time on your journey to Sayville and really try to absorb it.
My favorite touch was how real events in history were woven into the story. These pieces made me question whether the fictional portions were actually fiction. The author’s tone is very convincing, yet still light enough to make this a fun book. I can’t lie, though…be prepared for a sobering dose of reality, as it makes us look at ourselves and the people around us in a very realistic light. The human state is so sad that it’s almost comical, and the author knows it.