Review by Kaleigh S., 19 years old, from Tuscon, Az.
The Human Fly and Other Stories is a collection of stories written after 1974. Some of the stories are very strong and well written. There are some allusions that I do not believe many of the readers are likely to catch on to since some of the stories were written more than thirty years ago. There is a huge varietyof stories in this book which may limit the age appropriateness to about 15-16 and up, perhaps even older depending on the maturity level of the reader. It focuses strongly of the struggles of adolescence. The targeted audience is young adolescents but the content of some of the stories is very inappropriate for its intended age group (12+.) Some references are too mature in content. The book has an odd combination of stories some targeted exclusively toward girls and some exclusively towards boys. The writing itself is very good, descriptive, easy to read, and most of it enjoyable and entertaining. Some of the stories were wonderful, and easy to relate to, and some of the others were a struggle to get through. They were either a hit or a miss. I would rate this book a 2.5 out of 4. While it was not unenjoyable to read it did not capture you the way a really good book does, since this collection lacked strong and coherent narrative. There was simply too much variety to the stories, but I would still recommend a few of the stand-outs for an isolated read.
Posted on 2012-03-30
The Human Fly and Other Short Stories by T.C. Boyle