Disclaimer: I am friends with the authors of this short story. However, I purchased the ebook version for full price.
I have not yet had a chance to read either of the Prison Dad collections that I own, but this short story was a delightful introduction to the world. I was promised ridiculousness, speculative fiction references, humor, and vague body horror, and that’s exactly what I got. This short read flew by, inspiring both giggles and “geeps!”
Because it was so short, more time could have been spent on fleshing out (pun intended) the characters for those unfamiliar with the world (especially since there were so many named characters). I had no physical sense of any of them, and at one point became confused between Les and Jed because of that. However, the world that surrounds them is so quintessentially what we know of the trailer park mystique that this lack did not transfer beyond the characters themselves.
Though I am very much an outsider to that demographic, I felt like the hillbilly cliches stayed on the side of humorous rather than offensive. I especially loved the specific details used, such as a Bush/Cheney 2008 t-shirt.
I look forward to exploring more of the Prison Dad universe soon.
Rating: 3 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.
Currently reading: The Eighth by Stephanie M. Wytovich
Currently editing: 95,562/90k words
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