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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 818.602
EAN: 9780312326760
ISBN: 0312326769
Label: St. Martin's Press
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 256
Publication Date: January 01, 2005
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: November 25, 2004
Studio: St. Martin's Press
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com Review:
Book Description
Ed is an aspiring writer. He really wants to be published. But Ed Broth's problem is that he writes short pieces and send them in to the wrong places. For example, Ed writes a story about his clothesline and then... sends it to Fencing Quarterly. When the editor writes back explaining that his magazine is about fencing rather than clotheslines, Ed does what any ambitious writer would do: he revises. And then resubmits his story--now containing hilariously ham-handed additions about fencing--to the same editor. Stories From A Moron collects not only Ed's work but the letters between Ed and the beleaguered editors of the publications he submits to. It's nutty humour at its deadpan best.
"Welcome to the world of Ed Broth. I think we can all use a warm clear liquid with a faintly chickeny smell right about now." --Jerry Seinfeld
Product Description:
"Sorry, there's no way we can use this."
- Plumpers Magazine
"As a word of advice, it always helps for writers to be familiar with the publications they submit material to."
- Fencers Quarterly Magazine
Ed writes short stories. He's prolific. And desperate to get published. But he sends his stories to the wrong magazines. As for the magazines? Well, they don't mind telling him so:
"Dear Ed: I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry..."
"Dear Ed: Thank you for your recent submission to Steamboat Magazine; it was wonderful to hear how much our magazine has touched you..."
"Dear Ed: We do not publish stories about individuals like Conugal Cal, or about underwear-no matter how often references are made to fencing."
"Dear Mr. Broth: Thank you for providing the editors with an opportunity to review your manuscript, 'Luau Lester'..."
"Dear Mr. Broth: Thank you for the opportunity to review your article, 'My Car Ride with Daddy,' for possible publication in Mushing..."
With this book, Ed Broth finally sees his work published. His "Stories of Hope & Inspiration" and his "Stories of Meaning & Sacrament" plus his passionate pitches to place his writing in our nation's premier publications-from Pest Control Magazine to Arthritis Today-are all to be found in the book you hold in your hands.
Some might have advised Ed not to send his story "I Love Dogs" to I Love Cats Magazine or to stop submitting revised stories to editors who have already turned them down. But, well, that's just not the way Ed's mind works. Studded like a rich cranberry strudel with nuggets of genius -from cartoons and advertisements to actual newspaper articles from across the country - Stories From a Moron is an addictive journey into the mind of a great talent.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
Wow! This is like the craziest book I have ever read. It is that FUNNY! These are truly stories from a moron. I love Ed Broth! Whoever he is.
He just keeps adding revisions to his already ridiculous story so that it becomes some weird mutant concoction that a magazine editor has no use for. Yet they patiently try and explain that to him. But Ed just keeps going on. Got a story about dirty laundry, sending it to a steamboat cruise company? They say it's not right for them. They're about fun old tyme cruises. Ed adds some steam boating, banjo playing, and good time Mark Twain fun to his dirty laundry story and re-sends it back to the Steamboat Magazine. They patiently explain it's now even more wrong for their readers. Ed then sends that mess to an Exterminator Magazine. They write him back & say they're a magazine that goes to exterminators and their readers want bug spray info, not steam boating or dirty laundry. Ed adds some exterminating and bug squishing to the story and resends it to the Exterminator Magazine. And so on and so on...
This is a hilarious exchange of stories and letters back and forth between smaller magazines and a moron. A true comedy gem. Who is Ed Broth? This book is sensational!
Rating: -
The best thing about it is the stories inetrtwine. You'll be reading one, not sure if the guy is totally on drugs, and a few chapters later something will come up that causes tears to well up from laughter.
A perscription to cure depression and bad moods.
Rating:  -
When I ordered "Stories From A Moron", I was very excited because I've enjoyed the Letters from a Nut series so much. I expected a similar experience. While the book is not a total loss, I did not feel like it lived up to the Letters series of books.
The premise of the book is that Ed Broth is crafting these silly stories and sending them in for review by publishers. The book is composed of the stories and the exchanges sent back and forth regarding the stories. It's a humorous premise but the execution was lacking. The stories are short, rarely more than 2 pages, but they, as you work through the book, become a bore to work through. It seemed like every story had the same set of themes. So, each new story that is presented is like re-reading the same thing over again. This goes on throughout the book. Of course, one can skim the stories and just read the replies. Sadly, the replies received are rarely more than just form letters. Editors probably receive plenty of terrible stories like the ones in this book all the time and so few bother to respond with a personal remark.
So that left me with the fact that I was reading these terrible stories and the payoff of a humorous response never came from the editor. In contrast, Letters from a Nut works because Seinfeld is writing to customer service depts that have to deal with each request separately. In this book, he's just sending the same question [Will you publish this?] over and over again. The response is always going to be no so there's nothing to really laugh about in the responses.
There are a few bits in the book that made me laugh and at the bargain price I got it for from Amazon, I'm not terribly upset with the book, I would have just preferred another volume in the Letters series.
sincerely,
R.C.
Rating:  -
Having read the Letters from a Nut series, I was excited to see this title. After reading though, the main problem is the length of the stories. The letters were just the right length to get in some absurdiy, then let the targets reply. In this book, the Stories drag on forever, with people regurgitating things, men trying to kiss the male narrator, his girlfriend and chihuahua sharing a name, leading to reader boredom. Halfway through, I started thumbing for the replies.
Rating: -
I read "Stories from a Moron" recently, and I laughed so hard at times that I couldn't catch my breath. If you like absurd humor - you'll love this book. If you think that "Letters From A Nut" is funny, you haven't seen anything yet.
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