{"id":2127,"date":"2025-02-28T00:53:31","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T00:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=2127"},"modified":"2025-02-28T00:53:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T00:53:31","slug":"book-review-a-good-day-and-other-mostly-humorous-stories-lists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=2127","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: A Good Day\u00a0And Other (Mostly) Humorous Stories & Lists"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

A Good Day<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Radu Guia\u015fu<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Literary Fiction \/ Short Story Collection \/ Humor<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9781039194946<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 222 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Friesen Press<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Amazon<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Bookshop<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Toni Woodruff<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>A smartly funny collection of lists, quips, and critiques<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It takes an experimentalist to write this kind of literary fiction\u2014a collection that dabbles, that dances, that reflects the rush of our slow everyday lives. An academic in mind but a human at heart, Radu Guia\u015fu is our qualified experimentalist here. And he\u2019s ready to poke fun at just about everything, with sharp punchlines, funny concepts, and entertaining lists.<\/p>\n

This book is a hodgepodge of creativity. You already know about the lists in the collection, but that isn\u2019t the only alternate form the stories take. Some are fictional essays; some are all dialogue; some are an absolute riot.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking at you, \u201cSave the Yellow-Bellied Scumsucker!\u201d Oh man, this story. The titular fish thrives on scum\u2014on gross rivers and streams, on the negative effects humans have had on it. But we keep cleaning it! Sure it might sound good to clean all the rivers and streams, but what if you\u2019re destroying a species? This is a fun, lighthearted play on conservation efforts, but it doesn\u2019t even knock it in the end. It acknowledges our role in it, that we are funny and worth laughing at, and that life impacts life, no matter how.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I didn\u2019t talk about what a loser I am, I would have nothing to say.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Guia\u015fu\u2019s creative forms take on varied subjects, but many of them are cutting up academia, publishing, and why people do the things they do. Some stories are joke forward while other stories lead with their heart and have jokes in tow, like \u201cRolls Royce Silver Shadow,\u201d a meaningful story about childhood, memory, and artifacts. Other highlights include \u201cThe Date\u201d and \u201cThe Day the Bear Came.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot to like in this collection, but some of the lists can feel a bit repetitive and some are more effective than others. Since all of them come in during the second half of the book, it creates for a swift reading experience, but I can\u2019t help but wonder what it would have felt like if only the best of them were interspersed with the other story forms instead of one after the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The book\u2019s best lists tell stories and make us laugh at the same time, like \u201cThings You Probably Should Not Say at Your 40th High School Reunion.\u201d This one gives us glimpses into various characters and what could happen on a single night with a bunch of very old semi-friends turned strangers. I loved these lists. There isn\u2019t much scene-setting and character-building for all those who ask that of their story collections, but readers are rewarded in other ways here.<\/p>\n

A Good Day\u2026 <\/em>is a fun foray into form-bending short stories. Guia\u015fu does an excellent job of keeping things light while still absolutely scorching them. If you\u2019re looking for good jokes and inventive storytelling, you can\u2019t go wrong here.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Amazon<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Bookshop<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Thank you for reading Toni Woodruff\u2019s book review of A Good Day And Other (Mostly) Humorous Stories & Lists <\/em>by Radu Guia\u015fu! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Book Reviews<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>IBR Blog<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n

\n\t\t\t\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/span>Resources for Writers<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

\t\t\t<\/p><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Book Review: A Good Day\u00a0And Other (Mostly) Humorous Stories & Lists<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Good Day by Radu Guia\u015fu Genre: Literary Fiction \/ Short Story Collection \/ Humor ISBN: 9781039194946 Print Length: 222 pages Publisher: Friesen Press Amazon Bookshop Reviewed by Toni Woodruff A smartly funny collection of lists, quips, and critiques It takes an experimentalist to write this kind of literary fiction\u2014a collection that dabbles, that dances, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}