
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century
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Narrated by:
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Piper Goodeve
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Sean Patrick Hopkins
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Samara Naeymi
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Gary Tiedemann
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Jeena Yi
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By:
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Kim Fu
About this listen
In the 12 unforgettable tales of Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, the strange is made familiar and the familiar strange, such that a girl growing wings on her legs feels like an ordinary rite of passage, while a bug-infested house becomes an impossible Kafkaesque nightmare. Each story builds a new world all its own: A group of children steal a haunted doll; a runaway bride encounters a sea monster; a vendor sells toy boxes that seemingly control the passage of time; an insomniac is seduced by the Sandman. These visions of modern life wrestle with themes of death and technological consequence, guilt and sexuality, and unmask the contradictions that exist within all of us.
Mesmerizing, electric, and wholly original, Kim Fu’s Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century blurs the boundaries of the real and fantastic, offering intricate and surprising insights into human nature.
©2022 Kim Fu (P)2022 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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An excellent listen.
- By Mark on 04-11-22
Fascinating & Darkly Engaging
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Eerie, strange and beautiful
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Masterfully Original and Compelling
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Into itttt
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Strong, Though a Bit Uneven
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Fascinating speculative fiction, excellently read
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The other stories all present an interesting premise that has some sci-fi/supernatural angle, but they either overstay their welcome just a little bit or just feel like a bit of a drag to listen to at times. Not all, but some and your mileage may vary.
Ultimately, I think what I don't like about these least interesting stories is what makes the better ones stand out. Each is read like a theatrical performance piece of sorts. This works great when characters are interacting with other characters but gets too drawn out and enters a realm of experimental prose at times in the audio audiobook format when the main character is narrating to themselves.
Overall. despite my seemingly harsh rating, I'm still going to recommend this one to those who have read this review this far. If you're someone wistfully nostalgic for weird period pieces about..um, girls starting their peripds or haunted dolls and metaphors for growing up. These stories particular are worth experiencing. if you're also someone deeply interested in bleak futures, these stories will also be for you.
In fact, the final story sort of combines both of these into a synergy of sorts - one obviously heavily inspired by the phenomenon of people losing their sense of taste during Covid-19. The main character is one of many in her generation who gets fixated on the nostalgia for the taste of food while her daughter and her peers have largely forgotten about what the big deal was and have moved on to whatever lies ahead in their future.
it's a great conclusion and tying together of the collection's themes and motifs, but...the performative prose just doesn't do it for me.
For fans of Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone
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it hooks you
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BLAH
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Just not for me
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