Cruel Shoes

A collection of short stories so short that they would be called “flash fiction” today, Cruel Shoes highlights Martin’s absurdist sense of humor. The title story involves a shoe store clerk offering every pair of shoes in the store to a client and then saying “you’ve tried everything except for the cruel shoes,” which turn out to have non-Euclidean twists and turns and the client thinks they’re perfect. I’ll be honest, most of the stories make very little sense, but somehow they are still entertaining. Also, Steve Martin looks like a total badass on the cover. It’s a really quick read and I imagine any Steve Martin aficionado will enjoy it.

Excellent short book of parables, stories, fragments, and literary absurdities from Actor, Comic and Musician Steve Martin. I am happy to have had time to read this now as I think it was well done. It probably couldn't be written now due to Sexism (Chapter titled, She Had the Jugs) and violence (suggestion to destroy works of art in Comedy Events You Can Do).
This book seems modeled on Jonathan Livingston Seagull's wisdom-on-every-page parable. The book design mimics the popular edition of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. It also seems modeled on Alice in Wonderland's logical non-sequiturs for its dry humor (for example The Complete Works of Alredo Francesi). Martin has written other works which since this aspire to higher seriousness, but show more this is short and still worth reading even now.
B&W Photos. show less

I totally get Steve Martin. I think. His humor isn’t always funny, but that’s what makes it so funny sometimes.

When reading Cruel Shoes, a collection of shorts written by Martin, I found myself sometimes laughing out loud, to the concern of my family. Other passages were so funny that they warranted non-laughter. Still others were unfunny, and at this, I had to make a decision as to whether I should laugh anyway or not, just in case somebody saw me reading the book, not laughing, and wondering “Does he even get it?”

Steve Martin is quite a character: a musician, a writer, and actor, and often, all three at once. He can sputter sheer gibberish for 30 minutes and make it funny. While other comedians may try this as well, it show more typically fails. I think the key differences is that we KNOW that Martin is intelligent. He has a track record. With the other comedians, we wonder if they’re just “special.”

Nevertheless, Martin shows off his skill with the pen in this collection, and his skill compares to his mastery of acting, or even of banjo playing. Ultimately, if you enjoy his work, for whatever media that may be, you may also enjoy this little volume. show less

Brilliant in its subtle absurdity, Cruel Shoes is a comedic tour de force. My parents had a copy when I was growing up (I actually think that the copy I have was theirs), and I always loved to thumb through and read a story every so often.

I am particularly fond of the title story, and "She had the Jugs." Soup folding is good, too. They are all short, to the point, and done at a point in Martin's career when he wasn't yet TOO full of himself.

More hit than miss, like his stand up, and delightfully '70s in tone.

So the good news it is Steve Martin, and this particular copy is from my grandparents - I remember my grandfather re-enacting 'well Ex-cuuuuuuuse me' and being a a 'wild and crazy guy'. I love Steve Martin now, saw him in concert a few years ago with the banjo. I wonder how well the act ages - written down, doesn't seem to be much here. Which of course was the point, all along. Its funny if you feel like laughing.

At least it was a quick read now I can go out and threaten artwork with a razor blade while shouting ding-dong.