NOISY OUTLAWS, UNFRIENDLY BLOBS, AND ... -- Ted Thompson, ed

full title:
NOISY OUTLAWS, UNFRIENDLY BLOBS, AND SOME OTHER THINGS THAT AREN"T AS SCARY, MAYBE, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT LOST LANDS, STRAY CELLPHONES, CREATURES FROM THE SKY, PARENTS WHO DISAPPEAR IN PERU, A MAN NAMED LARS FARF, AND ONE OTHER STORY WE COULDN'T QUITE FINISH, SO MAYBE YOU COULD HELP US OUT
edited by Ted Thompson, with Eli Horowitz
McSweeney's Books -- hc
San Francisco -- ©2005 -- 207pp
ISBN: 1-932416-35-8

An odd collection of stories, maybe aimed at younger readers, and then again, maybe not.

Introduction -- Lemony Snicket
-- Illustrated by Brett Helquist
"Small Country" -- Nick Hornby
-- Illustrated by David Heatley
"Lars Farf, Excessively Fearful Father and Husband" -- George Saunders
-- Illustrated by Juliette Borda
"Monster" -- Kelly Link
-- Illustrated by Shelley Dick
"The Contest at Cowlick" -- Richard Kennedy
-- Illustrated by Jan Van Der Veken
"Each Sold Separately" -- Jon Scieszka
-- Illustrated by Lane Smith
"Seymour's Last Wish" -- Sam Swope
-- Illustrated by Heinrich Drescher
"Grimble" -- Clement Freud
-- Illustrated by Marcel Dzama
"Spoony-E & Spandy-3 vs. The Purple Hordes" -- James Kochalka
"Sunbird" -- Neil Gaiman
-- Illustrated by Peter de Seve
"The ACES Phone" -- Jeanne DuPrau
-- Illustrated by Rachell Sumpter
"The Sixth Borough" -- Jonathan Safran Foer
-- Illustrated by Barry Blitt
Crossword Puzzle -- David Levinson Wilk
dust jacket story starter -- Lemony Snicket

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This is how a book should be put together! The actual, physical property of this book is beautiful. The binding is strong and firmer than most hardcovers. The cover (not the dust jacket) itself is an illustrated work. Lavishly illustrated in full color! All books should aspire to this kind of quality.

The stories themselves are rather uneven. As one might suspect, the stories by Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman are among the best, but the others vary in quality. "Spoony-E & Spandy-3..." is a cartoon/comic which is so strange that I get the feeling that I'm not part of the inside joke. The Scieszka "story" feels as though it was a little something he had hanging around that he couldn't sell anywhere else.

"The ACES Phone" was quite interesting and unlike anything I'd ever read, and "Grimble" was interesting as well.

I'd like to support McSweeney's Books based solely on the physical properties of this book, but it wouldn't hurt if the inside contents were a tad more consistent.