The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure

by Jack Pendarvis

Book Overview

You've Met the characters in The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure. They're the quirky visionaries and misguided dreamers we all know... and might even be. From the self-appointed historian... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1596921285
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: MacAdam/Cage
• Length: 187 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Funny as old Billy Heck

I love this book. Pat Walsh let me read the manuscript years ago and I just fell out of my chair. Our Spring Catalogue and About the Contributors are just classic stuff. If you're a writer or a writer wannabe, get this book. If your writing sounds like anything described in these two chapters, please consider putting yourself out of our misery. Pendarvis is a genius.

I liked it.

I enjoyed this book. There are a couple of little pieces in it that I didn't like too much, but I went ahead and gave it a five-star rating anyway because of how much I liked the rest. I mean, it's funny stuff. I will watch Jack Pendarvis very closely and read anything else he puts out.

A Treasure Trove

If you like well-written, hysterical short stories, Jack Pendarvis's "The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure" is for you, and likely will raise your bar. The wit is dry and the twists twisty, for sure, but it's tough to piegeonhole the writing, much like a unique and terrific ice cream flavor, which is to say that Pendarvis is an original. The collection is the short story equivalent of the smartest episode of "Saturday Night Live" you've ever seen. My favorite was "The Pipe," a thirty-or-so-page story of the men guarding the breathing apparatus of a radio personality buried alive for a month as a publicity stunt. I also liked the much briefer mock-publisher's catalogue of new offerings where the editor shares a little too much of his feelings. I look forward to more or the same from Mr. Pendarvis, or more at all.

I'm still laughing

Jack Pendarvis truly grasps the pathetic human condition with an acuity that makes you both pity and abhor his characters all at the same time. Not only did I laugh out loud reading every story, but the 2nd and 3rd time reading them as well. Actually, just thinking about the stories makes me laugh out loud.

Possible Choking Hazard

I laughed so hard when I read this book, my daughter asked me, "Daddy, what's wrong?" It's very funny. I think Mr. Pendarvis is out of control in the way Mark Twain was out of control, or Donald Barthelme, or Buster Keaton. Or maybe it's the opposite: they stuck to the rules no matter how absurd. Anyway, I put these four in a class together, and I loved this book.