Objects of Worship

"Objects of Worship" is a great little book. The title story alone is worth the purchase. It's one of the creepiest short stories I've read in a while, and also quite thought-provoking. I've never read Lalumière before, but I thoroughly enjoyed him. His stories can be strange, his takes on things can be wacky, but his sense of humor is dark and excellent, and if nothing else, he is a man with some interesting ideas. I give the book 4 stars, because the collection is a little uneven. Some of the stories are definitely a lot stronger than others, but to be honest, I found I did not totally mind. The Publisher's Weekly review is pretty spot on when they said, "Even when the plots aren't quite enough to carry Lalumière's curious ideas, they're still intensely memorable." So yes, sometimes I felt a like not everything in a story worked, but for some reason I was okay with that. I think that is to the author's credit. Even if I wasn't always right there with him, I was glad to be along for the ride. Table of Contents Introduction by James Morrow The Object of Worship The Ethical Treatment of Meat Hochelaga and Sons The Sea, at Bari The Darkness at the Heart of the World Spiderkid Njàbò A Place Where Nothing Ever Happens A Visit to the Optometrist Roman Predator's Chimeric Odyssey Destroyer of Worlds This Is the Ice Age Afterword: Behind the Scenes with Claude Lalumière