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Fractured Fairy Tales By A.J. Jacobs ( Bantam )
Release Date: 1999-01-05
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $14.00
Price: $11.20
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Product Description
Long before there were "Politically Correct Bedtime Stories", Americans were getting their giggles from "Fractured Fairy Tales", a regular feature on "Rocky and Bullwinkle" in the 1960s. Now, for the first time, these delightfully warped parables are available in read-aloud book form, illustrated with classic art from the show.
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 Jejune, Vacuum-Cleaner Stuff
The 25 tales that comprise Fractured Fairy Tales are jejune in all three meanings: lacking in nutritive value, dull, and juvenile. Maybe the stories reflect that stage in the author's development (about 29 years old at the time). Any reputable publisher should have rejected such stuff -- unless one has connections ("the network"?). Further, the book's typeface is annoying. In sum, the book should have been a vacuum cleaner! I'm glad to note, however, that when Jacobs deals with his own actual experiences, as in The Know It All and The Year of Living Biblically, he excels. He does not do so in writing fiction.
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Old Favorites ( claudia51 )
It was a joy to read the fairy tales I remember watching on TV with my children when they were very young. The best ones were at the beginning. The ones toward the end weren't as cute, which made it tougher to finish the book - although I read it at one sitting. I will loan this book out instead of suggesting someone else spend their money on it.
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Um, Haha.
Fractured Fairy Tales, by A.J. Jacobs, is a slightly offbeat, occasionally funny book of fairy tale parodies. I rate it three out of five stars because the tales are parodied, which makes the writing style inconsistent. Though the changes to the tales make them funnier, after a while they seem repetitive. These are the main reasons I dislike this book.
Though as a collection of stories, I dislike this book, a few of the remade tales are absolutely hilarious, like The Seven Chickens, where a prince finds seven chickens and must tell which chicken is a princess. Unfortunately, when he finds the princess he is disguised as a woman, and, well...you better find the rest out yourself. Another hilarious story is called Prince Hyacinth and the Dear Little Princess, in which there is a prince born with a nose like a casaba melon. He will always have his weird nose until he says, "I have a nose like a casaba melon". Also making an appearance is a fairy godmother...with a New York accent? Funny stories like these, along with some funny changes to the some of the stories salvage my overall rating of the book.
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 Great Parodies of well known Fairy Tales ( blue_fenix )
I thought I've read every kinds of fairy tales rewrites out there, but boy I was wrong! I can't bring myself to put this book down after I started reading it. Unlike any usual "polite writing" of the fairy tales, I do not recommend parents to let their young children read it until they are teenagers or so, cause this book focus more on the comedy rather than focusing on the moral aspect of the original book.
A few parody stories from this book would be, the frog prince, Hansel & Gretel, The Golden Goose & Aladdin's lamp.
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Prefectly fractured
If you enjoyed the cartoons on Bullwinkle or if you just have a flare for the zaney, you'll like it!
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