- Paperback: 208 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate; New edition edition (1 Feb 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1841151947
- ISBN-13: 978-1841151946
- Product Dimensions: 18 x 11.1 x 1.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 991,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Anthropology
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Dan Rhodes' first book Anthropology consists of 101 stories, each around 120 words in length, and all working highly surreal variations around a single theme: relationships. A simple enough idea which is superlatively executed--the range and inventiveness of the texts within the strict format reveal a writer of formidable imaginative powers, able to move with ease from wit to farcical comedy to genuinely heartfelt evocations of loss and love. Each story is almost like a condensed novel, a distilled narrative that focuses on a particular moment, gesture or conversation, humorously unravelling the fragile structures and barely disguised inequalities that characterise the détente between the sexes.
If the stories are individually quirky, bizarre and amusing, paradoxically the incremental effect is one that is surprisingly revealing of the deep, tectonic instabilities in our relationships with partners and lovers.
If the touchstone of Anthropology is, in the end, a kind of disbelieving laughter, it is emphatically not observational humour, nor the bittersweet angst of wry comedy that dominates much contemporary fiction: Rhodes highlights the essential absurdity of heterosexual relationships, the fundamental incomprehension and misunderstandings that divide men and women. The wayward commandments of desire, the desperate mismatches of affection, the hilarious disjunctions of perception, the disequilibria of power, all are scrutinised in turn by the author's cool, deadpan prose; and the superficial equivalence of form mimics the fact that, while relationships may seem similar on the surface, each is uniquely odd, perverse or disfunctional.
The structure of the book is reminiscent of Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, its tone occasionally recalls Donald Barthelme's elegant postmodern short fiction, but Anthropology nevertheless mines a seam distinctly its own: quirky, surreal, often wildly funny and cumulatively profound. --Burhan Tufail
Amazon.co.uk Review
Dan Rhodes' first book Anthropology consists of 101 stories, each around 120 words in length, and all working highly surreal variations around a single theme: relationships. A simple enough idea which is superlatively executed--the range and inventiveness of the texts within the strict format reveal a writer of formidable imaginative powers, able to move with ease from wit to farcical comedy to genuinely heartfelt evocations of loss and love. Each story is almost like a condensed novel, a distilled narrative that focuses on a particular moment, gesture, or conversation, humourously unravelling the fragile structures and barely disguised inequalities that characterise the détente between the sexes.
If the stories are individually quirky, bizarre and amusing, paradoxically the incremental effect is one that is surprisingly revealing of the deep, tectonic instabilities in our relationships with partners and lovers.
If the touchstone of Anthropology is, in the end, a kind of disbelieving laughter, it is emphatically not observational humour, nor the bittersweet angst of wry comedy that dominates much contemporary fiction: Rhodes highlights the essential absurdity of heterosexual relationships, the fundamental incomprehension and misunderstandings that divide men and women. The wayward commandments of desire, the desperate mismatches of affection, the hilarious disjunctions of perception, the disequilibria of power, all are scrutinised in turn by the author's cool, deadpan prose; and the superficial equivalence of form mimics the fact that, while relationships may seem similar on the surface, each is uniquely odd, perverse, or disfunctional.
The structure of the book is reminiscent of Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, its tone occasionally recalls Donald Barthelme's elegant postmodern short fiction, but Anthropology nevertheless mines a seam distinctly its own: quirky, surreal, often wildly funny, and cumulatively profound. --Burhan Tufail --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you remember Revels and how great they were, you'll get some idea of how this book might make you feel.
ANTHROPOLOGY is like a bag of Revels - each story a treat of a sweet; every one a surprise and every one leaving you wanting another. Unlike a bag of assorted-centre sweeties, however, devouring them all at once won't leave you feeling bilious - just a little dizzy perhaps.
The single-paragraph stories contained in ANTHROPOLOGY are pretty odd - sometimes you just can't believe what you're reading; they're certainly surreal; they're poignant. Some are like jokes with sick punchlines; some are like a punch in the stomach; some are impossible to read out loud because the huge lump in your throat stops you from being able to speak.
Sometimes, as I read, the words Spike and Milligan and Brian and Patten spring to mind. In my view, not a bad thing.
There's a photo of Dan Rhodes at the back of the book: he was born in 1972 but doesn't even look young. He looks like a man who doesn't get much sleep. With a mind like that, it's hardly surprising. Maybe it's the lack of sleep that brings on these warped yet perfect observations. He merges utter fantasy with pure mundanity. Occasionally, the stories deliberately miss the point, which makes them all the more entertaining.
I keep my copy of ANTHROPOLOGY on my desk. When there's a lull (and sometimes I create a lull on purpose), I pick up the book an read a story. It stops me eating sweets.
If Dan Rhodes reads this, please get in touch: I need to know more...
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Blissful sums this one up. 101 stories, each 101 words long, the whole thing readable in a couple of hours but it will stay with you infinitely longer. These are very short stories about love, all told from a male perspective, and almost every one is a winner. Some make you laugh, some make you cry, but they all prove that Dan Rhodes is a fantastic writer, and this is a book to treasure.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is short. Each story takes a maximum of 30 seconds. I read the whole thing in an hour. Is it worth the money? Every penny of it. Rhodes has managed the brilliant trick of writing in such a way you have all the emotions associated with love in the space of a few sentences. You also want to re-read them, not for the content, but because they're written so well. I've spent a lot more money on books, and got a lot less pleasure. Buy it and see for yourself!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A great collection of flash fiction.
This collection of 101 tiny stories is truly fantastic and showcases Dan Rhodes ability to get across a lot of meaning in a short space. Read more
Published 5 months ago by UrbicaMortis
A collection of gems
Dan Rhodes writes one hundred and one tales each of exactly one hundred and one words -- including the title -- about every kind of male-female love. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Martin Turner
surprisingly wonderful!
I was dubious about this book, considering I usually don't enjoy short story or romance, but I thought I should give it a try!
I was so surprised! Read more
I was so surprised! Read more
Published on 6 May 2010 by Larewen Evenstar
101 Tales of Love... In All Its Forms
When I first saw my copy of Dan Rhodes collection `Anthropology' I couldn't quite see how in a book of such a small size, for it is small indeed, you could possibly have 101... Read more
Published on 23 Feb 2010 by Simon Savidge Reads
No Queneau, and No Keats
I can't understand reviewers' urge to compare this to Queneau's Exercises in Style. While it's true that both rehash the same idea over and over, Rhodes still has a lot to learn... Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2010 by BookJumper
Terrifyingly Good Tiny Tales
Bitter, twisted, deliciously dark and very, very funny,
Dan Rhodes' collection of 101 tiny tales take us to some
very strange places indeed. Read more
Dan Rhodes' collection of 101 tiny tales take us to some
very strange places indeed. Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2010 by The Wolf
Got it free and was overcharged.
I got this free with a Books Quarterly from Waterstones. I still feel overcharged. It's trite and frankly boring. An awful example of writing at its worst.
Published on 12 Jan 2010 by Adrian Hill
Not for me
I bought this book on the promise of short stories about love, some of them funny. It was to be a gift, inspiring a friend to try his hand at writing short stories. Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2009 by I. Murray
50.5
Certainly a clever idea, 101 stories each 101 words long, with a title requiring a little bit of arithmetic leaving you with... yes, you guessed it, the number 101. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2009 by Nick Phillips
An easy read that will leave you wonder...
Life is short, and so is this book. I found it very readable because it paints life scenes with a few words, the essential ones. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2008 by Yuna
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