James R. Gapinski

James R. Gapinski's collection of short stories can be described as a cabinet of curiosities for the broken-hearted. If you've ever felt like your life was a series of car crashes in slow motion, then this collection is for you. The Museum of Future Mistakes is less a traditional short story collection and more of a haunted house where the ghosts are just versions of ourselves we haven't disappointed yet.

Gapinski operates in a strange liminal space where familiar reality and the impossible show more collide. In these stories, grief isn't just a feeling (it's something you can zip up in a plastic bag or watch sprout from your own skin). Whether it's a cat laying an egg or a character literally coming apart at the seams, Gapinski writes about the bizarre with a pragmatic tone that makes the surreal feel more dangerous than whimsical.

Two standout elements elevate the collection above its peers. The first is humor: despite its dark themes of alienation and body horror, the book maintains a surprisingly light touch throughout (a mischievous wit that pokes fun at our desperate attempts to find order in a mad and chaotic world). The second is the body horror itself, woven through visceral imagery that never feels gratuitous. Here, the grotesque serves as a powerful metaphor for the scars we carry with us through life.

Overall, the collection was a unique read that left me moving between amused and grossed out in equal measure (sometimes within the same paragraph). Gapinski has a rare gift for making discomfort feel like entertainment, and The Museum of Future Mistakes lingers long after the last page. If you have the stomach for it, this is one cabinet of curiosities well worth opening. show less

Wow… Just. WOW!

Edge of the Known Bus Line is a novella about a woman who’s been going through her days just kind of floating through life. She rides the same bus to work everyday with the same people, but she doesn’t know any of their names. (Well, I guess that isn’t entirely true…she gives them her own made up names, but I’m not sure that really counts.)

One morning she goes to get on the bus and the marquee reads “Out of Service.” Since it’s the same bus with the same show more passengers as every other morning, she thinks it’s obvious the marquee is some funny mistake. SPOILER ALERT: She’s wrong.

She ends up in a super twisted place, but she’s kinda twisted herself. Anyone else who got off of that bus would have freaked out but she seems almost unfazed!

Edge of the Known Bus Line is one of those reads that sticks with you long after you’re finished reading. And when you’re done, all you can think is “What the heck did I just read?”

I don’t mean that in a bad way. I really enjoyed the book, but…

It’s disturbing.

There’s cannibalism, murder, cults…it’s crazy. And gruesome. And a little scary. And somehow funny at the same time…

I’ve never laughed so much at a book filled with so much darkness.

This is definitely NOT a family-friendly read, but I recommend it to anyone who enjoys getting the creepy crawlies with laughs!

I received a copy of this book from LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. This in no way influenced my review.

Full review at https://jesscombs.com show less

Fruit Rot is a modern fable about capitalism, philanthropy, and selling out. It's quite short -- a mere 24 (small) pages -- but I found that the plot escalated quickly, carrying the main characters from perpetual broke-ness to supervillain-level wealthy in a matter of a few months. Occupying the narrator's brainspace for the brief span of this story was an uneasy feeling for me; his matter-of-fact justification for the increasingly bananas actions they took to protect their assets was show more chilling. I felt that the ending was telegraphed far in advance, but this did not spoil my experience; for me, the discomfort of watching events build to this inevitable point was Fruit Rot's greatest success. show less

I have been trying to figure out how to describe this book without the expletive that kept coming to mind as I read it, but I can't really so I'll just censor myself and say it----Edge of the Known Bus Line is a total mind-f***.....but in a good way (if that's possible!). This novella captured me from the beginning, dragging me to that stark Out of Service world full of violence and hopelessness. The straight-forward narrative was brutal and sardonic, yet there were still glimmers of show more humanity and hope that kept the narrator and myself going (and believe me, there were a few times I questioned my sanity for reading on and enjoying it). Fair warning----if you are at all squeamish with scenes of disembowelment, cannibalism, or bleeding gums then this book is probably not for you. Otherwise, I recommend this very twisted dystopian tale....board the bus (exact change only) and enjoy the ride. show less