Explore The Collected Short Fiction Of Bruce Jay Friedman Originated By Bruce Jay Friedman Formatted As Digital

best stories by my favorite contemporary comedy writer,

Some of my favorites are missing from this collection, but not too many, Entertaining funny stories. The stories don't slow down so they are engrossing and you get lost in them, So you can read a few to several of them in one sitting, One of the better short story writers I've read, Full disclosure: my parents were friends with the Friedmans when I was growing up, They had Bruce Jay Friedmans first two novels, STERN and A MOTHERS KISSES, which I read, Once, on a visit, their children, Josh, Drew and Kipp, gave me their Mad paperback collection, SON OF MAD, For these things alone, I am forever in the familys debt, So, why did it take me so long to read THE COLLECTED SHORT FICTION OF BRUCE JAY FRIEDMAN I dont know, Shuddup! I finally did read it and the span of works from the earlys to the mids are remarkable, Theyre like extended jokes that

build to a punchline climax, a literary standup act, Other stories capture characters that have before then eluded literature, The humor, of course, is black, and the characters are often unlikeable, But so what My least favorite as I read were the Harry Towns stories, sort of like Friedmans Nick Adams, There are about a halfdozen throughout the book, but the more I read, the more I liked them, even favored them, Friedman builds a complex character who reflects his times, Hes featured in a novel, too, which I guess Ill have to get now, Personally, these pieces all were evocative of my childhood, The people, places, even situations, the way everyone talks and acts reminded me of my relatives, All that seems dated now because its gone, I dont know if thats a good thing, But its very good that these stories are still here to read, I keep coming back to this book every couple of years, so some of the stories I read as far back asyears ago.
that said, I always enjoy Friedman's writing and find him very funny, He writes about the lives of American Jews alot, mostly set in the's and's, and so for this he could be compared to a lighthearted Philip Roth, full of anecdotes after a couple drinks.


shoutouts michael cera for making a short based on one of his stories, which is how I found this book,
American comic author whose dark, mocking humour and social criticism was directed at the concerns and behaviour of American Jews, After graduating from the University of Missouri inwith a B, A. in journalism and serving in the U, S. Air Force for two years, Friedman worked in publishing for several years before achieving success with his first novel, Stern, The title character is a luckless descendent of the biblical Job, unable to assimilate into mainstream American life, Virtually all of Friedmans works are a variation on this theme most of his characters are Jewish by birth, but they feel alienated from both Jewish and American culture.
His works are also noted for focusing on absurd characters and situations, Encyclopædia American comic author whose dark, mocking humour and social criticism was directed at the concerns and behaviour of American Jews, After graduating from the University of Missouri inwith a B, A. in journalism and serving in the U, S. Air Force for two years, Friedman worked in publishing for several years before achieving success with his first novel, Stern, The title character is a luckless descendent of the biblical Job, unable to assimilate into mainstream American life, Virtually all of Friedman's works are a variation on this theme most of his characters are Jewish by birth, but they feel alienated from both Jewish and American culture.
His works are also noted for focusing on absurd characters and situations, Encyclopædia Britannica sitelink.