The Jokes
4/5
()
About this ebook
Presented in the form of a most common present-tense--as a series of moments in a social-media-like 'feed'--this collection of very short stories riffs on the form of 'the joke,' but as this might be understood by the best culture-critical comedians of our time: Andy Kaufman, Stephen Wright, Norm McDonald, Jon Stewart, Richard Pryor. And much like those stand-up artists who sanctified the joke-form, these stories deal with sometimes-intense subjects, yet with a kind of SSRI-like placidity that allows readers to cling to each word as the narratives unfold.
In drawing comparisons to Lydia Davis's creatively detached but inventively curious writing, Thomas's The Jokes is a book for thinkers; sad and funny, hopeful and determined, nostalgic and cerebral, these vignettes offer a very personal, yet amazingly relatable entry-point into big ideas that trouble our times--religion, sexuality, life and death, and ways of being in the world--all while coloured by touches of weird otherworldliness that living in someone else's social-media feed can bring.
Fans of metafiction and philosophy, 'alt lit,' artist and academics (particularly students of art history and theory), readers interested in experimental and somewhat cerebral fiction in the vein of Ben Marcus, Lily Hoang, or Maggie Nelson, as well as audiences interested in the uses and abuses of Internet and social media, will connect with Thomas's particular take on worlds within worlds.
"Lydia Davis and Etgar Keret move in together and decide to adopt a son. They settle on Stephen Thomas. He has a pithy style and a funny bone. Years later, at the launch of his book The Jokes, Stephen reads a little story. It packs a novel's worth of material into two short paragraphs. At the back of the room, sipping their red wine, Lydia and Etgar beam." -- Neil Smith, author of Boo
"Stephen Thomas is a writer who's smart, thoughtful, engaging, but also mischievous, like a little kid who knows he shouldn't misbehave, but does it anyway. His debut collection, The Jokes, feels to me like an absent-minded Lydia Davis trying to write deadpan comedy skits for Cartoon Network's Tim & Eric. It's anti-humour that's actually funny, sketches in which nothing is ever resolved, mini-stories that start at Point A and then seem to forget what they were even talking about. This is a book full of surprises." --Guillaume Morissette, author of New Tab
Stephen Thomas
I am a writer, yogi, gardener, traveler, and lover of life. I have worked in ministry, drove ambulance in LA, worked in a mental hospital, and industry (the last two are really quite similar).
Read more from Stephen Thomas
Installing SQL Server 2012 Step by Step Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsImproving Maintenance and Reliability Through Cultural Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Jokes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Call for Something Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Jokes
Related ebooks
Corpus de Crossword Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Infinite Now: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsParables and Portraits Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lion Trees Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDiscount: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Web of Life: Weaving the Values That Sustain Us Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Eighth Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBreathe Automatic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVampires in the Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSome Maintenance Required Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOld School Bones Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHail, The Invisible Watchman Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFreak - The Circus of Horrors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sister Zero Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Retreat of Radiance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsClass Clown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeceiving Wild Creatures Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOnce into the Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Book of the Dead: New Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Italian Romance Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5American Weather Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Haunted Childhoods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Impossible Naked Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReconciliation ~ Heaven and Earth ~ Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Forever Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Raccoon: A Wondertale Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCollywobblers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kids Are Turning Thirty Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlien Blues Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Williwaw: An Anthology of the Marvellous Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Short Stories For You
Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Explicit Content: Red Hot Stories of Hardcore Erotica Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Little Birds: Erotica Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hot Blooded Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lovecraft Country: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hans Christian Andersen's Complete Fairy Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSex and Erotic: Hard, hot and sexy Short-Stories for Adults Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Tuesdays in Winter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Years of the Best American Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selected Short Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas: A Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Skeleton Crew Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sour Candy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The ABC Murders: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before You Sleep: Three Horrors Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Things They Carried Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Past Midnight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Scorched Men Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Jokes
1 rating0 reviews
Book preview
The Jokes - Stephen Thomas
first edition
Copyright © Stephen Thomas, 2016
The production of this book was made possible through the generous assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. BookThug also acknowledges the support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Book Fund.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
library and archives canada cataloguing in publication
Thomas, Stephen, 1982-, author
The jokes : stories / Stephen Thomas.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
paperback: ISBN 978-1-77166-206-2
html: ISBN 978-1-77166-207-9
pdf: ISBN 978-1-77166-208-6
kindle: ISBN 978-1-77166-209-3
I. Title.
PS8639.H6J65 2016 C813’.6 C2016-901041-4 C2016-901042-2
Contents
One
Taken . . . 15
The fall . . . 16
One principle . . . 17
The snake . . . 19
Joined a band . . . 20
Beach sounds . . . 21
The miracle . . . 23
Jesus hernandez-browne . . . 24
Day . . . 25
A fine balance . . . 27
Visitation . . . 28
The fear . . . 29
A little story . . . 31
Flowers for grandma . . . 32
A simple country girl . . . 33
The balloon . . . 35
In the hagia sophia . . . 36
On this day in history . . . 37
Presidential graves . . . 39
Two
Two girls . . . 43
Beer . . . 44
Ethnic joke . . . 45
A hero of a tale . . . 47
Sandbox . . . 48
In the company of others . . . 49
The demon . . . 51
Very strong men . . . 52
The pressure at the bottom of the ocean . . . 53
Edward . . . 55
The voyage of monsieur ronflé . . . 56
Weekend . . . 57
A one and a two
The piercing . . . 61
Things . . . 62
The motives . . . 63
Tree
One path to the lake . . . 67
Extraordinary lives . . . 68
I can’t even remember . . . 69
The moon . . . 71
Fishing . . . 72
Mr. death . . . 73
The deep . . . 75
Lost at the zoo . . . 76
Coming of age . . . 77
Milestones
The wait . . . 81
In perpetuity . . . 82
The liffey . . . 83
The shiny metal bunny, pt. 1 . . . 85
The shiny metal bunny, pt. 2 . . . 86
The shiny metal bunny, pt. 3 . . .