The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories

by Tim Burton

Book Overview

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy is a collection of charmingly weird tales conjured from the unique imagination of acclaimed filmmaker Tim Burton--a great gift idea for fans of the acclaimed filmmaker.

From breathtaking stop-action animation to bittersweet modern fairy tales, filmmaker Tim Burton has become known for his unique visual brilliance--witty and macabre at once. Now, he gives birth to a cast...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688156819
• ISBN13: 9780688156817
• Release Date: October 1997
• Publisher: Dey Street Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Same as the previous edition, but w/ a slip cover

This is a great collection of drawings and illustrations from Tim Burton which I would definately reccommend. HOWEVER, keep in mind that the HOLIDAY EDITION is simply the ORIGINAL EDITION, with the addition of a new holiday themed slip cover. Remove the slip cover and you've got the same book. Just don't want anyone ordering thinking that it's a new edition with all-new or additional poems and art. Now that that's out of the way, buy this book! (Either edition, and any time of the year!)

Good old scary FUN!

If you are a Tim Burton fan, get this book. It's a collection of fun & demented poems about outcasts and outsiders that makes you feel better knowing you're not in their situations.The book is oddly formatted. Some pages have like one line of verse and a picture on the adjacent side. The book looks like it is written for children, but I don't know if any kids would understand or enjoy it as a young adult like me did.The illustrations gave me the creeps, but they didnt frighten me out of my skin. They are sort of fun, yet disturbing at the same time. I highly recommend this book!

Burton's Dark Success!

I have always admired the on-screen work of Tim Burton but had not known about his literary endeavours. When I was given this book as a present I did not expect much of it even though the title intrigued me and front cover art work was bizarre. I found this to be a collection of surreal accounts of abnormal children but still able to touch and allow the reader to endear to these beastly freaks of nature. The darkness in these stories are reminiscent of much of Burton's film work and the artwork is almost as powerful as the stories themselves. This book works on every possible level as it is simple yet sinister enough to be potent. A definite must-read for all those with a slightly twisted outlook on the world!

You don't have to be twisted to like this book!

You don't need to like dark things in order to like this dark book. You don't even need to be gloomy or sad to read it. This book is just brilliant. It's innocent and child-like tales will transport you to another level of imagination. You will sympathize with the poor creatures in this book, because they need to be loved too. You will smile and laugh and empathize. I highly recommend giving this book as a gift. Everyone i have lent it to, including corporate execs--really liked it. I also highly recommend "Lenore: Noogies" by Roman Dirge for something similar in terms of art and storyline, which Tim Burton also praises.

A "Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" review by Fernando Leal

Tim Burton once again surprises and delights us with his new book, "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories". The book is a subvertion to the children's fairy-tale book genre. If you look at the book and flip through its pages, you'll say it's indeed a children book, and it's supposed to look like one. But the book has several direct sex and drugs references (i.e., the sexual problems of Oyster-Boy's parents, and "the girl who sniffed lots of glue"), and most of the characters of the tales die at the end. Tim Burton, who's given us such wonderful movies as "Edward Scissorhands", "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure", has now made a wonderful book, filled with what he's best at, unusual, misunderstood and outcast characters. "The Melancholy Death..." is a collection of tales of little freak kids who live in deep sadness for not being understood or accepted. The stories are told through melancholic verses and the illustrations (by Tim Burton) are simple and extremely elegant. Once you meet characters like Melonhead, Stick-Boy, The Boy With Nails in His Eyes, Junk Girl, The Pin-Cushion Queen, it gets easier to understand how Tim Burton could come up with such an original and bizarre film as "Edward Scissorhands". It's as though he was one of the kids from the book. The references to sex reminded me of "Batman Returns", where Tim Burton subverted the action-movie genre, turning a Batman blockbuster movie into an expressionist tale of sex and horror. The Penguin, by the way, makes an appearance in the book as a child (The Hideous Penguin Boy). "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" is a wonderful book and a must for any Tim Burton fan.