Rating:  Summary: Amusing and entertaining Review: I liked this collection of short stories, but it wasn't enthralling. Some of the stories were really good and very interesting. A few of the stories just didn't strike a chord with me and seemed too pretentious, forced and tried to come across deeper than the story really is. All of the stories are worth a read since they aren't very long, are extremely entertaining and amusing. My favorites are Rats Eats Cats and An Island of Boyfriends . I didn't care too much Beauty Treatment and The First Men. If I could I would give it 3.5 stars out of 5, but amazon's rating system only allows whole stars so I am giving it 3 stars.
Rating:  Summary: Fair, not great writing Review: I stumbled across this in a library last year and was instantly interested by the title. I was thinking 'date with satan hmmmm. ok, I'll give this a try, always wanted to know where the devil hangs out.' So I rented it. There wasn't much to it, I finished it in under an hour, (granted I skipped some stories). I liked some of the stories, the title one was my favorite, because I liked the man character. I didn't like the story about the island of boyfriends it seemed very unrealistic, and I hated the one about the aliens. The cat lady and the rat boy, (forget the title) was pretty good also. The collection of stories however, isn't very well written, but some of the ideas have promise. In the hands of a capable story teller this book may have reached the New York Times best seller list. Prehaps one of the things working against it was the fact that it is a collection of shorts, in place of a novel. I would recommend that you borrow this from the library or a friend before buying it. Prehaps it conforms to your taste, prehaps not, but at least give it a try. There will be at least one story you enjoy.
Rating:  Summary: Hilarious! See the world as it really is for the first time! Review: I stumbled across this one in a used book store and started reading. It was so wonderful I read three stories before I took it to the counter and bought it ($3). This woman is nasty and sharp and just holding the book could cut your skin into shreds, but there is so much heart underneath the razor blade prose, the whacked characters, the untethered world we live in now. Try Beauty Treatment or Rats Eat Cats. Just say no to all the murky, self-serving, hand-wringing prose that passes as contemporary lit, and say yes to elegant, viscious, artful writing at its best.
Rating:  Summary: Pop Culture with an edge Review: I'm jealous of Ms. Richter. Let me say that first. No one should be this clever and witty. But she is - and a damn fine writer, too. Her stories are a blast to read; they create a sense of inclusion between the writer and her audience because of her references to current culture. At the same time, she gives the familiar a twist that makes you see the average/everyday in a whole new light. Like most good books I've read, I insist on reading passages and full stories to my friends. Because of this book, they no longer like me.
Rating:  Summary: Highly recommended: smart and funny Review: I've recommended this book more than any other over the past few years. "The Beauty Treatment" is a classic, a story I've re-read several times.I recently read a new story by Stacey Richter in Zoetrope, and I'm happy to say that it was as good as the stories in My Date With Satan.
Rating:  Summary: Are You Easily Amused? Review: If you're easily amused by anything that hyperactively draws attention to its "cool" sensibility, this book is for you. Stacey Richter obviously went to one too many writer's workshops where they pat each other on the back for their inside-ness and forget what real literature can be. None of her characters reveal any depth or texture. What little thematic substance the stories have is as fuzzy as a fly-away wisp of pink cotton candy. Instead, what you get is exaggerated, absurd sequences rooted in cultural fetishes and fantasies of abnormality or violence. Richter lacks the discipline or patience to build a real-life scenario; she wants to take shortcuts by way of cultural references, precious oddity, and patronizing first-person narration. Incidents tumble forward like an upturned toychest of kitschy knick-knacks collected and lovingly polished, then laid out on a tacky folding table for you to fawn over and call art. The word that best describes the whole thing is "shallow." It's as if Richter were writing moment-to-moment, giggling over her cleverness, probably sipping an Orbitz because it's "so stupid, it's sublime." After smart people start seeing through this one-trick literary con job (I'm looking down at my watch), perhaps Richter can get lucky and land a gig writing pop-up windows for Blind Date.
Rating:  Summary: A.M Homes meets Bret Easton Ellis! Review: If you've ever thought there was something sinister about Hello Kitty, or wanted to hurl on a bourgeois "gangsta"--Richter is for you. My Date with Satan is like a tomale pop-tart for the mind. Pissed-off but not humourless, overeducated, hip young women everywhere will find this book a refreshing alternative to the precious bull---- generally passed off as good women's writing. Richter combines the astute awareness of female complexity and contradiction found in A.M Homes stories (about women) with the sinister and consumer-driven cultural observations of Bret Easton Ellis. If you were to read only one or two stories out of ...Satan, I would highly recommend "Beauty Treatment" and the title story. Although one might be tempted to compare Richter to Tama Janowitz, this is not fair to either. While at times a little self-consciously cultero-referency, the writing is good. One more thing, girls: If you enjoy magazine's like Bitch and Bust you'll definately like Richter.
Rating:  Summary: i feel a little empty Review: Richter has some terrific ideas, but I felt as though I had missed something after about half of her stories. While "Rats Eat Cats" should not be missed, I wouldn't buy this book if you like short stories for the concise way that they are able to paint a small part of the world.
Rating:  Summary: Primetime for Misfits Review: Stacey Richter's "My Date With Satan" reads like a lite sitcom version of Katherine Dunn's "Geek Love." While the book's star "The Beauty Treatment" is primetime Emmy material, the rest of the stories might be better considered in the daytime soap category. Lite and silly, yet well-written, "Satan" is a good read for college undergrads on spring break.
Rating:  Summary: Primetime for Misfits Review: Stacey Richter's "My Date With Satan" reads like a lite sitcom version of Katherine Dunn's "Geek Love." While the book's star "The Beauty Treatment" is primetime Emmy material, the rest of the stories might be better considered in the daytime soap category. Lite and silly, yet well-written, "Satan" is a good read for college undergrads on spring break.
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