Anthropology: And a Hundred Other Stories

One hundred one short stories, each one hundred one words long, all in the first person with a narrator and his girlfriend. Collectively they amount to an anthropology of modern relationships, capturing the full range of emotions from funny to romantic to sad. But as the stories progress they are increasingly bizarre, dark, and off centered, a trajectory that is mirrored in the increasingly bizarrely named girlfriends.

I read a few stories a day, each one takes less than a minute and reads like a prose poem, and I plan to dip into them again in the future.

Oh my goodness, I LOVED this quirky little book. How incredibly clever to convey a whole range of emotions and tell a story in 101 words. Rhodes has written 101 stories about girlfriends and each story is exactly 101 words. The story of the title was probably my favourite and made me snort with laughter. Close on its heals for enjoyment was 'Faithful'. I can't elaborate without giving the game away as the stories are so short, but the skill of making people laugh or cry in 101 words whilst telling a meaningful story should demonstrate to readers Rhodes mastery of words. I read the book in one short sitting and know that I will return to this book again and again. I intend to buy my sisters copies so that they can share my enjoyment. And show more for those who have read it, two words.... 'handlebar moustache' :::snort!:::: show less

I always think of this as the book to read when you're breaking up with someone (or they're breaking up with you). It somehow makes it hurt a little less. Yes the stories are about love but with the odd exception they don't tend to fall into the typical portrayal of love. The stories are tiny but perfectly formed and probably best enjoyed if you have a black sense of humour and are a little on the cynical side. His narrators tend to be at a loss about the whole thing and often miss the point. Even knowing what the punchline is Pieces makes me laugh every single time. My other favourite is the last story which seems to have wandered in from some other much sweeter book.

The short stories (and I mean short - hardly a page each) were really well written and in some respects quite sad. Dan Rhodes is an excellent writer and although his books could be described as quirky, they are intelligently so (if that's a word).

One hundred one short stories, each one hundred one words long, all in the first person with a narrator and his girlfriend. Collectively they amount to an anthropology of modern relationships, capturing the full range of emotions from funny to romantic to sad. But as the stories progress they are increasingly bizarre, dark, and off centered, a trajectory that is mirrored in the increasingly bizarrely named girlfriends.

I read a few stories a day, each one takes less than a minute and reads like a prose poem, and I plan to dip into them again in the future.

I read this in about 30 minutes and loved every minute of it! The stories range from sad to darkly hilarious. A nice take on how distorted relationships can get if we are not careful to remember our own individuality.

Very amusing with a sly critique of the fantasies of lovers and poignant depictions of the obsessions and little tragedies of the failures of love.