Review of Anthopology by Dan Rhodes

Format: Paperback
Genres: Romance, Humour, Short Stories
Pages: 110
Publisher: Canongate
Release Date: 04/02/2010
Find The Author: Wordpress ¦ Twitter 
Amazon UK/US ¦ Goodreads

In 101 words each, the 101 witty, haunting stories of Anthropology chronicle the search for love in an age preoccupied with sex. Each story is a pure distillation of heartbreak, longing, delusion, and bliss. Each spins speedily, shockingly, to its unpredictable climax. And each is unlike anything you have read before. 
Anthropology's macabre humor builds imperceptibly, story by story and girlfriend by girlfriend, until it reflects with surreal accuracy how we try to complete ourselves through - or at the expense of - another. Read it to laugh and forget your sorrows; read it to recognize and remember your delights; read it to discover a vivid, provocative new talent.

Anthropology is my first foray into the vast and strange world of Dan Rhodes mind and I don't think it will be my last. This 101 page book somehow manages to may every single page story relatable, funny sad and poetic. Ranging from the silly ('My girlfriend was lost in space') to the downright bizarre ('I found my girlfriend smashing our two year old's toes with a rock'), I read the whole book in one sitting but would have happily read five or six.

My girlfriend is so besotted that she can't take her eyes off me. After we've turned out the light she puts on her night-vision goggles, and watched me as I sleep. Quite often I am woken by her sighing and involuntary yelps of happiness. This has been going on for years, and is showing no sign of abating. Once I asked her to stop all this infra-red activity, but it didn't really work; I'd wake up to find her covering me in luminous paint, and softly whispering, 'Sometimes I wonder if you know how much I love you.”

The above quote was the story I bookmarked and it's easily my favourite. Despite many of these stories being downright weird they're also relatable. I did definitely get a Tim Burton feel from these and if you're a fan of his work, this book is definitely for you.

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