The Toy Collector

I dont often write reviews for websites, in fact this is the first time i am doing so, however i feel that this novel deserves my praise. A friend passed it along to me and i enjoyed it so much that i inhaled it in one night and then read it again, but more methodically over the next few days. I dont want to beat a dead horse and say that it was a brilliant tragicomedy unlike anything else i've read, but it was, so much in fact that i bought five copies and passed them out to my friends. All of them loved it and one of them bought five copies and passed them out to his friends. Lets hope for a follow-up book from a very, very promising author.

I just moved in with some new roommates. When we were unpacking I found The Toy Collector by James Gunn. My new roommate kept insisting it was the best book he had ever read. He went on to say that the book was like a slice of his life and no book had ever spoken to him the way this one had. I started reading and I couldn't put it down. I was a little scared to think that my new roommate was anything like the main character James Gunn but I completely understood when he said that the book spoke to him. The book is funny and heartbreaking and dark and makes you cringe sometimes. It also has a lot of love for humanity. Even the dark places and the people often times overlooked. Thank you for a great book.

When I learned about the process of how this book was written, I became relatively sure that James Gunn would either, a] never write another novel, or b] take a REALLY long time for a follow up. On one level I got rather upset, but upon second thought it truly makes The Toy Collector, for lack of a better term, special. James Gunn has made available to the public what appears to be a part fiction, and part non-fiction story that is funny, sad, & flat out brilliant. The humor is scathing, the situations graphic, and the story tragic. This is the best book I have ever read.

I was cautious about reading this book, having recently bought too many stuffy, boring, and poorly written novels given excellent reviews. But "The Toy Collector" is wonderful. Though the story is like drunken romp through murky alleyways, the author manages to leave a light on.Everyone I've passed the book along to agrees they can identify with the lead character in one way or another. A beautifully written novel that evokes laughter, guilt, and nostalgia -- emotions that appeal to The Toy Collector in all of us.Just plain fun.

Hilariously bleak and brutally sentimental, "The Toy Collector" does us all the favor of presenting the life of a modern-day screw-up in all its beauty, horror, humor and pathos without falling into the usual traps of preaching or overly glamorizing the protagonist's 'outsider' status. Honest, unflinching and deeply funny, you'll cringe and giggle the whole book through. Also, it has robots.