Tim Chapman

I found this a rather enjoyable story, and a good debut novel from the author.

I think he did a really nice ob keeping the three storylines within this book separate, and his pacing was well-done. It can be hard to juggle storylines, but the author pulled it off nicely, and I liked how in the end he managed to bring all three together well. The book itself is a bit short, but I found myself consistently interested and turning the pages, because the author has a good way of describing things show more without becoming boring or overbearing. I kind of figured out the truth in the book, but I would surmise this is because I read too many books, haha.

I would definitely be up to reading more books from this author, as this book was a very solid debut from him. show less

[Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography (cclapcenter.com). I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.]

Regular readers of this blog know of my distinct lack of enthusiasm when it comes to reviewing books of short stories, and Tim Chapman's Kiddieland is unfortunately a perfect example of why: for while the book itself is perfectly fine, not too terrible and not too great, not too long and not too short, show more I find myself with literally nothing else to say about it besides, "Yep, that sure was another book of inoffensive short fiction with an academic bent." And in a world where there are already literally, literally ten million books that already exist that can be described in this exact same way, as a reviewer I find it nearly impossible to get excited about that ten millionth and first example, or to be able to come up with a compelling reason why you should go out of your way to read this ten millionth and first. Certainly not a waste of your time, it's also far from a title that could be defined as a "must-have" or "one to specifically seek out;" and while I absolutely recommend picking it up if you'd like to be a supporter of this hardworking local author, I'm finding it hard to argue why you should care if you have no such local connection. It should all be kept in mind when deciding whether or not to buy a copy yourself.

Out of 10: 7.5 show less