Synopses & Reviews
A collection of stories for wise young people and immature old people,
written by favorites of all ages: Nick Hornby (
High Fidelity, About a Boy),
John Scieszka (
The Stinky Cheese Man), Neil Gaiman (
The Sandman, American
Gods), and many others. Each story features color illustrations by a
different artist, including Barry Blitt, Marcel Dzama, and Lane Smith.
Lemony Snicket adds an introduction and a story of his own at least, he
starts one, and then it is up to the reader to finish. The story appears on
the inside of the dust jacket; you add your own thrilling, joyful, or
disgusting ending. The jacket then folds up into a fancy envelope, addressed
to us. Our favorite ending will receive a fabulous prize of some sort.
Synopsis
Interspersed with charts, graphs, and various crossword puzzles,
A Book of Noisy Outlaws, Evil Marauders, and Some Other Things . . . features some of today's best authors spinning new tales ranging from the spooky to the strange. George Saunders tells the story of a father who takes caution to dangerous extremes in "Lars Farf, Excessively Fearful Father and Husband." In "ACES by Phone," a small boy finds a cell phone that lets him listen in on the thoughts of dogs, and in "Small Country," Nick Hornby introduces a country too small for a postal system but, unfortunately for one bookish boy, just big enough for a football team. Each story features full-color illustrations by artists including Barry Blitt, Lane Smith, David Heatley, and Marcel Dzama.
The collection includes previously unpublished children's stories from Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated), Nick Hornby (High Fidelity), Neil Gaiman (Sandman), George Saunders (CivilWarLand in Bad Decline), Kelly Link (Stranger Than Fiction), and Jon Scieskza (Stinky Cheese Man). The dust jacket folds into a unique aerogram, which factors into a special contest involving a story written partly by Lemony Snicket, partly by thousands of children.