Gina Ranalli

Wall of Kiss had a premise that caught my attention. It's the story of an unnamed woman who falls in love with a wall. The woman in question is apparently insane, and not just for falling in love with a wall. She has sex with the wall, fights with it, yells at it, makes it food, goes on dates with it and calls it continually. If it wasn't for the fact that her lover is an inanimate object, the woman would be a stalker and an abuser.

This book is a quick and fun read. I think it's the best show more love story I've read. show less

I think most people know that overpopulation is a fairly serious problem. In Mother Puncher, Gina Ranalli has a created a bizarre future world where the government has tried to solve the problem by taking over the health insurance industry, and has passing new laws that any child not born in a hospital can't get insurance. If a child is born in the hospital, the parents are allowed to be punched in the face by the mother puncher. Since the fathers usually run off and hide, it's mostly the show more mothers that get punched, hence the name mother puncher.

This is the story of the mother puncher called Ed Means, who is an ex-boxer. Ed isn't actually a bad guy. While Ed does believe that bringing a baby into an overpopulated world is wrong, he doesn't really like punching mothers, and tries to avoid doing any real damage. He really doesn't like the way most fathers run off and hide to avoid their punishment. Really, the only reason he hasn't quit is because he's afraid someone who does like hitting women will take over.

Despite having a job that most people would find abhorrent, Ed comes across as a likable guy, and when bad stuff starts happening to him--because of stalker fans, psychotic rivals, and protesters--you rally can't help but feel sorry for the guy. show less

I was very disappointed with this one, considering all the praise it gets. First, it's not a terribly original story, as one of the most famous cases of 'objectum sexualis' (intimacy/love with an inanimate object) is the story of Wall Winther (not her real name), who fell in love with the Berlin wall. The story made headlines all over the world.

Imagine this: an 80-something page novella about the relationship between a man and a woman. Not an unusual relationship, mind you. There's dates, show more there's sex (really, it's not graphic, and we're just told sex took placee), there's a lot of sitting around watching television, and there's the typical jealousies and squabbles.

That's 'Wall of Kiss'. Except instead of a man, the love object is a wall. And oddly enough, that doesn't really change the dynamic of the relationship. The woman interacts with the wall the same way she would a man, meaning you get 80-something pages of utter boredome (television, dinners, squabbles).

What's strange is that no one really knows what a nut she is. No one comes to her home to experience her lunacy, so there's no interest/tension added to the story.

The author does have a quick and fun writing style, but it certainly didn't save this story. I never would have finished this one if it hadn't been so short. show less

An excellently creepy chapbook blending a folktale vibe with a creepy horror-story twist. There are some subtle nods to Celtic myths of the 'little people' as tricksters blended into the monstrous proceedings. A simple, yet imaginative, story told very well.