Reviews of Shelf Monkey

"I’ve often wondered how a novel’s characters might assess the book they’ve been thrust, unwillingly, into -­ like victims of a kidnapping. Well, now it’s actually happened to me. Yes, Eric McCormack appears as a character in Shelf Monkey. Once I got over the shock of finding myself there and settled in for the long haul, I thought: What a literate, witty, suspenseful, alternate world Corey Redekop’s created. I’m not so sure I want to be rescued from it!"
Eric McCormack, author, The Dutch Wife

"A playful — yet very serious — ode to bibliophilia. Corey Redekop writes with energy and imagination, deft little jabs that go straight to the solar plexus. I laughed, and thought — a great deal — reading Shelf Monkey."
Paul Quarrington, author, Galveston, The Ravine

"I read several promising first novels in 2007, all so different that I am unable to choose a favorite...Corey Redekop provided this year's gonzo fun with his Shelf Monkey, an utterly enjoyable novel about radical bookworms."
Jeff Vandermeer, author, City of Saints and Madmen

"... stylistically playful ... reminiscent of Stephen King's approach in Carrie. That it feels neither redundant nor artificial is a testament to Redekop's control over his material and his ability to push his story effortlessly forward.What is most praiseworthy about Shelf Monkey is its tone, which is blackly comic, and not afraid to get its hands dirty ... bracing and edgy and skirts the line of cruelty without ever quite tripping over it ... Redekop plays with this tension nicely throughout the novel, providing a critique of a literary culture that prizes shallowness and false sentiment over an authentic engagement with difficult texts, while at the same time assuring all of us who love books that, whatever our literary tastes or predilictions, and for better or for worse, we're all in this together."
Steven W. Beattie, That Shakespeherian Rag

"The surprises are worth the price of admission. There is a good bit of social satire, and the characters are exceptionally well drawn. Highly recommended."
Nick DiChario, author, The Valley of Day-Glo

"[T]he book's dark comedy and witty language play directly into its themes to make the satire sting . . . There's a lot to enjoy here."
Micah Toub, Quill & Quire

"[A] misfit's revenge fantasy...crackling plot and quirky characters...no Shelf Monkeys will be targeting Redekop for crimes against literature."
Bob Armstrong, Winnipeg Free Press, April 15, 2007

"It's a savage and funny book, like Fahrenheit 451 meets Revenge of the Nerds, with a little Oprah's Book Club mixed in. It's a Fight Club for bookworms."
Quentin Mills-Fenn, Uptown Magazine, May 31, 2007

"Very funny. This satire has enough snooty literary schadenfreude to satisfy even the most seasoned bibliophile."
Nathalie Atkinson, Chatelaine, July 2007

"[A] savage satire on literary snobs, a pabulum-lapping public and talk-show hosts as deities...There are entire scenes that are so funny, I wish I could reprint them in their entirety. This is not all the book has going for it, though, as Redekop displays a surprising literary depth in this brutally witty slice of wickedness...[T]here’s no mistaking Shelf Monkey's subversive brilliance."
Rod Lott, Bookgasm

"Funny and strange all at the same time, Shelf Monkey is an addictive read by a talented writer."
Ursula Molin, The Scene

"If Dave Eggers and Chuck Palahniuk were to molest Max Barry in some way, he probably would have produced a novel similar to Shelf Monkey."
evondran

"[H]owlingly funny debut novel...if you love books and really need a good laugh in your life, track it down, read it, and then shelve it next to some really serious books which will then automatically lighten up."
Andrew Armitage, Owen Sound Sun Times.

"With what can only be described as something different—and I do mean different—comes Corey Redekop, and his debut novel Shelf Monkey. Redekop’s manic work examines the fine line that separates bibliophiles (lovers of books) from bibliomaniacs (people afflicted with a legitimate psychological disorder that creates an obsession with the obtaining and possession of books). Sure, it sounds goofy—but for those of you with a hate-on for manner in which modern book sales are driven more by media circus than by authentically good work by talented writers, Redekop has answered your prayers."
Kelly Rowntree, Planet S.

"Shelf Monkey is by turns hilarious and disturbing. It may generate a few uncomfortable squirms as well as giggles from readers who might have a few snobbish literary tendencies of their own. Still, it's a fun sort of squirmishness, and the nihilistic cheer that permeates throughout this book is going to make it a big hit among fans of Chuck Palahniuk. I really enjoyed Shelf Monkey and I think that this will be the start of a very promising career for Redekop, especially if the real-life shelf monkeys of our world embrace this book like I think that they will."
Matt Staggs, SkullRing.org.

"The four central characters in Corey Redekop's invigorating first novel are bibliognostic bibliophiles, bibliomaniacal and bibliophagic, who work for a bibliopole and indulge in biblioclasm . . . It is a world in which books are people and more insidiously, as we are to discover, people can be treated as books . . . Shelf Monkey may be [Corey Redekop's] first novel, but it is decidedly more than almost."
Graham Harley, Literary Review of Canada.

"The dialogue is thoroughly witty, Thomas' desires and frustrations feel genuine, the style is quite original, and if you've got any sort of literary tastes or preferences at all, the discussions between the characters over which books are treasures and which ones are trash will have you laughing out loud in recognition. Let's put it this way: if you hate the [obscenity deleted for our more sensitive readers] Da Vinci Code, this book is totally for you!"
Richard Rosenbaum, Broken Pencil