I just received a really good review of SOCKWORLD that I’d like to share with you.  By calling it a “really good review” it seems I am reviewing the review.  Is that legal?  Not sure.  It also raises the question: if I had received a really bad review, one that said my book stinks on ice, would I share it?  Probably not, unless it was written by a relative.  I suppose every review, good or bad, is of some value.  I’d love to get a bad review in the New York Times Book Review.  Their reviews are always amusing.  They always seem to be written by the person who should have written the book.

     I’m sure some works we consider classics got bad reviews when they first came out.  I can imagine The 10 Commandments got mixed reviews when it first came down the mountain:

“The 10 Commandments is a quick read that starts out with a bang but loses steam at the end.  It begins, ‘I am the Lord thy God… Thou shalt have no other gods before me.’   Well, you can’t argue with that, unless you want to be turned into a pillar of salt.  It’s followed by number 2, ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.’   That really knocks the bottom out of the Moses bobblehead market.  ‘Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, steal,’ all pretty solid.  But it ends with, ‘…Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass…’  Aren’t several of those already covered under number 7, adultery?  A good editor could have cut this down to six Commandments, tops.  — Shlomo the Critic”

Here, then, is a review of SOCKWORLD that will appear shortly in the US Review of Books, for your review:

Sockworld
by Cary Grossman
Kallisto Gaia Press

Book Review by Carol Anderson, US Review of Books

“Purdy screamed when he realized that he had been tapping his chin with the stick he had been using to scrape dog poop.”

Purdy is a seventh grader who lives with his mother in a trailer park in a small town in Arizona. Like many kids, he wants to be a superhero. While he’s intelligent, he’s bored with school, so he spends his time writing stories and trying to stay away from Creighton, the class bully. One day, Purdy meets the new girl in class, Savitri. Her father runs the store where Purdy gets his candy to help with his dizzy spells, which are attributed to low blood sugar. However, these spells turn out to be something much more exciting. Purdy starts hearing a voice no one else can hear, someone from another plane of existence. Purdy names him “Joe,” and so begins the real story of this book. Purdy and Joe have numerous adventures that involve others and directly affect Purdy and his mother. Can Purdy learn how to go to this same plane of existence, a plane he calls “Sockworld,” and what adventures might this incur?

This is a delightful, laugh-out-loud tale that is so engaging that the reader won’t want to put it down. Meant for teenagers, it will also be a great read for adults as well, as the storyline is unique and so well written that it will take one’s mind off any problems that may be floating around in the head. While the tale examines family, morals, humanity, and the search for meaning, as well as life and death, love, and bullying, the way these issues weave in and out of the story in such a humorous and thoughtful manner means one won’t really think about them until later. This highly recommended must-read is for those who wish to be greatly entertained for a few hours.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review of Books