Book Review: The Hungry Mouth by Isaac Marion

My rating: 3.75/5

From Goodreads.com: "A man and a woman on their first date discover they have amazing powers.

"A Tyrannosaurus Rex enjoys modern life as the guardian and spiritual mentor of Seattle.

"An angry stoplight manages traffic for the lawless humans it despises.

"An immortal and indestructible man discovers the horror and beauty of living forever.

"A serpent exchanges emails with government agencies, confessing to a lifelong murder spree.

"A feral cat sends psychic postcards to the family dog he left behind.

"A child abandoned into foster care grows into a very, very hungry man.

"A boy competes with his older brother for the affections of a girl before discovering a mysterious hole in the bottom of a lake.

"An old man reminisces on his career as a disease engineer for a shadowy world organization.

"A teenage girl and her kid brother make their way through a post-apocalyptic Seattle while being pursued by a large, lonely zombie.

"The black hole at the center of our galaxy delivers a fierce and final soliloquy.

"From the author of WARM BODIES, a collection of strange stories about strange people, strange creatures, and strange objects experiencing joys and hungers that are not strange at all."


The Goodreads summary says exactly what you're getting when you read this book of short stories: an eclectic mix of Isaac Marion. When I read them, I felt I could probably put them in order, from what was written first to what was written more recently, judging by the quality of writing. That isn't to say that any of them are bad, but he still has become a better writer since he wrote some of these shorts. The stories all have very different topics, but the majority had a very similar feel... which could be both a good thing in that the author is identifiable by his writing style, or a bad thing because you're expecting a much different story each time.  I loved Warm Bodies, so of course I enjoyed "Grass through the Concrete," but I think my favorites were still "Emails from a Serpent to Various Government Agencies" and "You Were Once a Wolf."  Great stuff, and I'm glad I got a copy of this book.