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Don't Read This Book If You're Stupid: Stories
In his first book of short stories, Tibor Fischer examines the lives of loners and failures. With both wit and sobriety, he depicts the trials of a Web site salesman who cannot connect with others, an artist whose career is going nowhere, a failed cowboy, a has-been solicitor, and a stand-up comedienne who has fallen from grace. Laced with exuberant narrative and matchless comic invention, I Like Being Killed reveals the struggle of intelligence to make sense of our modern world.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
About the author
Tibor Fischer
27books160followersTibor Fischer is a British novelist and short story writer. In 1993 he was selected by the influential literary magazine Granta as one of the 20 best young British writers.
Fischer's parents were Hungarian basketball players, who fled Hungary in 1956. The bloody 1956 revolution, and his father's background, informed Fischer's debut novel Under the Frog, a Rabelaisian yarn about a Hungarian basketball player surviving Communism. The title is derived from a Hungarian saying, that the worst possible place to be is under a frog's arse down a coal mine.
In 2009 Fischer became the Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at City and Guilds of London Art School.
Fischer's parents were Hungarian basketball players, who fled Hungary in 1956. The bloody 1956 revolution, and his father's background, informed Fischer's debut novel Under the Frog, a Rabelaisian yarn about a Hungarian basketball player surviving Communism. The title is derived from a Hungarian saying, that the worst possible place to be is under a frog's arse down a coal mine.
In 2009 Fischer became the Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at City and Guilds of London Art School.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 6, 2016
This is a book of (mainly) short stories. Tibor Fischer is an excellent write whose work is filled with wit and learning. However at times this book was too clever clever for me, and the title grates too.
3.5 marked down to a 3.
My favourite story was the first - "we ate the chef". Fischer writes losers brilliantly, and the protagonist is a loser par exellence.
If you are tempted to try Fischer - and do try Fischer -I would recommend theThe Thought Gangover this book
3.5 marked down to a 3.
My favourite story was the first - "we ate the chef". Fischer writes losers brilliantly, and the protagonist is a loser par exellence.
If you are tempted to try Fischer - and do try Fischer -I would recommend theThe Thought Gangover this book
July 4, 2016
Of course I was intrigued by the title, though it's a bit childish ( "hop if you're not stupid" ). Moreover, I'm not quite sure that the content of the book is up to the task of determining:)
I went from liking to disliking it several times and still haven't settled on one opinion. Because there are clever and interesting ideas, but most of them aren't. I'm more than sure that this is not the book I would recommend to anyone, but I would definitely share several short stories, like, for example, Bookcruncher.
I went from liking to disliking it several times and still haven't settled on one opinion. Because there are clever and interesting ideas, but most of them aren't. I'm more than sure that this is not the book I would recommend to anyone, but I would definitely share several short stories, like, for example, Bookcruncher.
July 2, 2014
Generally I like distopian or nihilistic works, but this book was bleak, grey and monotonous without any significant plot movement. While author's language is beautiful to read, the work itself is bleak and boring. Like Soviet Russia.
March 7, 2023
I didn't discover Tibor Fischer until late last year (2022) which is an oversight I much regret and I am doing everything I can to correct, though I managed not to have read anything by this absolutely amazing and first rate author is inexplicable and I can't help feeling a great deal of shame at my tardiness.
So if you haven't read anything by this author I recommend, no I beg you try rectify this failure asap. He is so funny and just overall brilliant. I can't help but make the obvious comment that you would be stupid not read this book.
So if you haven't read anything by this author I recommend, no I beg you try rectify this failure asap. He is so funny and just overall brilliant. I can't help but make the obvious comment that you would be stupid not read this book.
October 25, 2014
Por el amor de dios, que alguien le consiga un editor a Fischer.
Y no me refiero a editor para que le edite el libro (evidentemente tiene uno muy bueno, porque Tusquets le ha traducido todo al español y se lo venden en Argentina). Me refiero a que necesita un editor que le diga "TERMINÁ DE ESCRIBIR ACÁ".
Fischer es un tipo al que se le ocurren buenas ideas, buenos argumentos.
Pero por algún motivo que no logro dilucidar, decide que esa historia que hubiera sido genial en cuatro páginas, se convierta en una tortura de cien páginas (el libro tiene ¡dos! cuentos de más de cien páginas) en las que no hay forma de explicar qué es lo que está pasando porque Fischer decide agregarle otros cientos de mini-argumentos que no agregan nada al conflicto principal. CIENTOS. Y el cuento sigue y sigue y sigue, y termina como el orto, porque es la única forma de que termina algo que estirás hasta lo insoportable.
No por nada los mejores cuentos son los cortitos, los de menos de diez páginas, pero así y todo hubieran necesitado un recorte. "Retrato del artista como asesino furibundo" es el mejor de todos porque mantiene el foco, no se va demasiado de tema en divagaciones al pedo. "Y luego van y te dicen que estás borracho" tiene una primera parte GENIAL (que por sí sola le hubiera merecido una estrella más al libro), pero Fischer no supo cómo terminar el libro, o andá a saber qué le pasó, y dejó la historia colgada y se puso a contar otra cosa que no tenía nada que ver, totalmente aburrida y con un final sin inspiración.
Así y todo, tengo fe en que algún libro bueno de él voy a encontrar. El tipo tiene buenas ideas, y es gracioso. Sólo necesita alguien que lo guíe un poco.
Espero que en alguno de sus otros libros lo haya logrado...
Y no me refiero a editor para que le edite el libro (evidentemente tiene uno muy bueno, porque Tusquets le ha traducido todo al español y se lo venden en Argentina). Me refiero a que necesita un editor que le diga "TERMINÁ DE ESCRIBIR ACÁ".
Fischer es un tipo al que se le ocurren buenas ideas, buenos argumentos.
Pero por algún motivo que no logro dilucidar, decide que esa historia que hubiera sido genial en cuatro páginas, se convierta en una tortura de cien páginas (el libro tiene ¡dos! cuentos de más de cien páginas) en las que no hay forma de explicar qué es lo que está pasando porque Fischer decide agregarle otros cientos de mini-argumentos que no agregan nada al conflicto principal. CIENTOS. Y el cuento sigue y sigue y sigue, y termina como el orto, porque es la única forma de que termina algo que estirás hasta lo insoportable.
No por nada los mejores cuentos son los cortitos, los de menos de diez páginas, pero así y todo hubieran necesitado un recorte. "Retrato del artista como asesino furibundo" es el mejor de todos porque mantiene el foco, no se va demasiado de tema en divagaciones al pedo. "Y luego van y te dicen que estás borracho" tiene una primera parte GENIAL (que por sí sola le hubiera merecido una estrella más al libro), pero Fischer no supo cómo terminar el libro, o andá a saber qué le pasó, y dejó la historia colgada y se puso a contar otra cosa que no tenía nada que ver, totalmente aburrida y con un final sin inspiración.
Así y todo, tengo fe en que algún libro bueno de él voy a encontrar. El tipo tiene buenas ideas, y es gracioso. Sólo necesita alguien que lo guíe un poco.
Espero que en alguno de sus otros libros lo haya logrado...
July 9, 2018
2.5 stars (one star for each story I liked, then a half star for the story I thought was OK)
We Ate the Chef + Bookcruncher are absolutely incredible. The rest, in my opinion, are too much of a try-hard attempt to be philosophical, wry and cynical....they all just come across as being packed overly pretentious prose.
However, We Ate the Chef should be a full-length novel. And Bookcruncher was such a fascinating concept - a very alternative lifestyle!:)
I'm hoping to read some of the author's full novels, I've heard good things about them!
We Ate the Chef + Bookcruncher are absolutely incredible. The rest, in my opinion, are too much of a try-hard attempt to be philosophical, wry and cynical....they all just come across as being packed overly pretentious prose.
However, We Ate the Chef should be a full-length novel. And Bookcruncher was such a fascinating concept - a very alternative lifestyle!:)
I'm hoping to read some of the author's full novels, I've heard good things about them!
November 18, 2007
Simply cannot stop my love for this author. As a novelist, he's genius - The Thought Gang, telling the story of a disgraced and alcoholic professor who turns to bank robbery (with his one-armed sidekick) after he spent his book advance is one of my top three books ever.
The first story in Don't Read This details a vacation in Nice (a recurring locale in his books) gone horribly awry for a cabal of Londoners. Needless to say, in true Tibor Fischer style, a piece of bacon saves the day.
The first story in Don't Read This details a vacation in Nice (a recurring locale in his books) gone horribly awry for a cabal of Londoners. Needless to say, in true Tibor Fischer style, a piece of bacon saves the day.
December 22, 2020
Barely 2 stars
So this started off most promising, and I really got into the first story, although it did jump about a bit. And then it just stopped.
And then the next ones...well, they all started to blend into each other after a while. I didn't know who was who, the author seemed to assume we had a lot of background knowledge to each character that I'd missed (shoudl I have read his other books perhaps?). There was an odd style too, lots and lots of details and information about events or things which hadn't been mentioned before, so I felt like I was constantly playing catch-up.
There were some brilliant one-liners, but too few, and too hidden in the very wordy prose.
And I don#t think the short story is this writer's forte: the "endings" were appalling! Literally like he'd just stopped writing and couldn't be bothered to go on with it any more.
All in all very disappointing.
So this started off most promising, and I really got into the first story, although it did jump about a bit. And then it just stopped.
And then the next ones...well, they all started to blend into each other after a while. I didn't know who was who, the author seemed to assume we had a lot of background knowledge to each character that I'd missed (shoudl I have read his other books perhaps?). There was an odd style too, lots and lots of details and information about events or things which hadn't been mentioned before, so I felt like I was constantly playing catch-up.
There were some brilliant one-liners, but too few, and too hidden in the very wordy prose.
And I don#t think the short story is this writer's forte: the "endings" were appalling! Literally like he'd just stopped writing and couldn't be bothered to go on with it any more.
All in all very disappointing.
Read
March 23, 2023I am a big fan of Tibor Fischer, though admittedly I enjoyed this work a bit less than his others. The title itself perhaps tips the hat to the issue -- it is a book with an undercurrent of aggression running through it. A book of things not working. Many of his books are about failed projects, in one way or another, but I suppose in the past I've appreciated more the grim humor and absurdity that comes in confronting them. If you're a Fischer fan, then this book could sit comfortably on your shelf, but I don't think it will be your favorite, and I think a better in-road to his work might be "The Collector Collector" or "The Thought Gang."
June 2, 2023
Apart from the title (rather pretentious) this book was awesome. I'm a sucker for a good character, and this more than delivered. The man who dedicates his life to reading every book in existence, An artist who pretends to be a serial killer as a form of art, wannabe cowboy with a talent for catching celebs picking their noses. Does it get any better than that? If any of that sounds good to you, pick up "Dont Read This Book If Your Stupid" at your local discount flea market today!
July 7, 2021
This was my first book from Tibor Fischer. Probably not the best choice, I will read some others as he was heavily recommended by Fernando Savater (The thought gang) and I also read some very good reviews on The Collector's collector. This one seemed dull, with stories I forgot as soon as I finished them.
April 17, 2023
Didn't finish. I did not find this funny at all, just depressing. It reminded me of horrible 1980s entitled people. Perhaps they were meant to be so horrid they were funny but the humour was lost on me.
June 18, 2017
Милый, приятный сборник рассказов, хотя абсолютно не помню, про что конкретно ))
May 27, 2018
Portrait of the Artist as a Foaming Deathmonger and Bookcruncher were my favourites in this collection of short stories. Great observation and characterization.
April 7, 2024
Just a collection of extremely mundane and upsetting stories. They’re depressing. Not even a thought provoking way just pretentious and depressing.
September 19, 2012
adoro Londra
vabbè lo ammetto
Londra la idealizzo da un po'
e so bene che è molto peggiorata da quando ci sono stata l'ultima volta
ma non sarà mai come la descrive Tibor Fischer in questi racconti
o meglio, forse lo è per chi ci vive e deve combattere tutti i giorni in metropolitana
comunque i racconti sono discontinui
alcuni molto belli, altri un tantino meno intriganti
ma l'ho letto tutto in due sere e questo qualcosa deve pur significare...
vabbè lo ammetto
Londra la idealizzo da un po'
e so bene che è molto peggiorata da quando ci sono stata l'ultima volta
ma non sarà mai come la descrive Tibor Fischer in questi racconti
o meglio, forse lo è per chi ci vive e deve combattere tutti i giorni in metropolitana
comunque i racconti sono discontinui
alcuni molto belli, altri un tantino meno intriganti
ma l'ho letto tutto in due sere e questo qualcosa deve pur significare...
November 21, 2016
Tal y como indica la descripción, el libro cuenta las variadas historias de personajes que tienen en común ser fracasados, también interesantes, divertidos y tal vez únicos, pero fracasados conscientes de serlo al fin y al cabo.
Lectura entretenida y divertida sin pretensiones ni grandes emociones.
Lectura entretenida y divertida sin pretensiones ni grandes emociones.
August 4, 2011
it was snowing. it was berlin. they talked funny. and then amid an ocean of noise i found what i was searching for all my life. it was tibor fischer. and i will keep him in my box of happiness forever.
November 17, 2011
read the last short story, dont really like it, the due date of the book is coming fast, decided not to dwell on it, so stopped reading halfway..
not included in my 2011 reading challenge, though..
not included in my 2011 reading challenge, though..
March 7, 2014
Après avoir mis deux semaines à lire petit bout par petit bout, j'ai décidé de m'arrêter à la moitié du livre.
Les histoires m'ont ennuyé et l'écriture m'a dérangé du début à la fin. Dommage, je partais pourtant avec un bon a priori sur le livre!
Les histoires m'ont ennuyé et l'écriture m'a dérangé du début à la fin. Dommage, je partais pourtant avec un bon a priori sur le livre!
March 21, 2007
Hilarious and mean stories about life in Britpop-era England, told with great, sustained energy.
April 18, 2009
actually as this is a book of short stories - I started with the one that sounded the most interesting first. It's called "I Like Being Killed" and so far it's pretty darn good.
February 15, 2010
Reading it now. Enjoying it.
November 29, 2010
dreadful
August 9, 2011
Superb collection of stories with acid laden humor.
November 18, 2011
Набор новелл оригинальной формы, без начала и конца
March 6, 2013
Первая книжка за последнее время, которая пришлась настолько по сердцу.
August 26, 2014
It's kinda psychich for me.
April 20, 2015
Enjoyed it
December 8, 2015
простеньке оповідання що нічого цінного з себе не уявляэ. один плюс. коротеньке
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews