Synopses & Reviews
"I am greatly relieved that the universe is finally explainable. I was beginning to think it was me." Woody Allen
Here, in his first collection since his three hilarious classics Getting Even, Without Feathers, and Side Effects, Woody Allen has managed to write a book that not only answers the most profound questions of human existence but is the perfect size to place under any short table leg to prevent wobbling.
"I awoke Friday, and because the universe is expanding it took me longer than usual to find my robe," he explains in a piece on physics called "Strung Out." In other flights of inspirational sanity we are introduced to a cast of characters only Allen could imagine: Jasper Nutmeat, Flanders Mealworm, and the independent film mogul E. Coli Biggs, just to name a few. Whether he is writing about art, sex, food, or crime ("Pugh has been a policeman as far back as he can remember. His father was a notorious bank robber, and the only way Pugh could get to spend time with him was to apprehend him") he is explosively funny.
In "This Nib for Hire," a Hollywood bigwig comes across an author's book in a little country store and describes it in a way that aptly captures this magnificent volume: "Actually," the producer says, "I'd never seen a book remaindered in the kindling section before."
Review
"It turns out that, on the page, Mr. Allen is as funny as ever." Wall Street Journal
Review
"Even when it creaks, Mere Anarchy is nostalgically enjoyable, and most of it sounds timelessly bright....The stories in Mere Anarchy deliver the same joys and foibles that have been with its author from the start." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Review
"Not a story in the collection is a clinker, but some certainly rise above others....It's been 25 years since Allen's last collection of short stories. We can rejoice that the wait is over....Simple geloscopy suggests you'll love Mere Anarchy." Rocky Mountain News
Review
"[These pieces] will please those determined souls who like their humor distinctly old school....The topsy-turvy literary allusions pour from Allen's pen like bullets from a Gatling gun..." Booklist
Review
"One of the myriad pleasures of Allen's stories is the recurring buffet of whitefish, kipper snacks and wurst with which he plies the narrative....It is impossible to forget the celebrity of the writer who penned these sketches and essays....It is also weirdly satisfying to spot cross-genre spillover." Jerry Stahl, The Los Angeles Times
Review
"[A] sometimes dazzling, sometimes disappointing display of essayistic slapstick....Allen isn't an acquired taste. Either you like him or you don't. Although Mere Anarchy is more of the same, for his fans familiarity will probably breed content(ment)." Philadelphia Inquirer
Review
"The purpose of these prose pieces is to divert, not to delve into the mysteries of life. They're small portions, but tasty and satisfying." Miami Herald
Review
"In these short pieces...amusing premises are so overwritten ('he could emend the scenario with sufficient cunning as to manumit you forever') that the humor becomes impenetrable, buried under a pile of obscure synonyms. (Grade: C)" Entertainment Weekly
Review
"Its 18 stories...are variations on a shtick that mines the pomposity and insincerity of the entertainment industry, of which there is no limit....The problem with such a collection is that it reveals Allen's tricks, which work well until you notice the repetition." USA Today
Review
"Now comes Mere Anarchy, Allen's first new essay collection in 25 years. I'm real happy to say it's funny in the same way that Getting Even was funny when I was 16. I will carry this book around with me, but I'm old now, and I live in New York City, where reading Woody Allen isn't quite as surefire with the chicks. But all you kids out there in your school cafeterias, pick up a copy. I know it'll do for you what it did for me." Mark Warren, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
About the Author
Woody Allen's prolific career as a comic, writer, and filmmaker has now spanned more than five decades. He writes frequently for the New Yorker and is the author of Without Feathers, Getting Even, and Side Effects, among other books.