Woody Allen is a living legend, and I approached his latest novel with awe and curiosity. While I've seen and enjoyed many of his films, this was my first experience with his writing and I was sure it was going to blow me away. However, almost as soon as I opened Mere Anarchy and started to read, I had that sinking feeling I was in for a course correction of the unpleasant sort. From the first page on, I realized that Random House had taken a real gamble on Allen's latest collection of stories: Yes, it was written by a man of undeniable genius and fame, but No, it is not really worthy of the man who penned it. Can Allen's cachet save his book? Probably so, because even his grocery lists might be deemed of public interest by some.

Book Description

Mere Anarchy, Allen's latest published volume (2007) is a collection of short stories. It is aptly described in the inside jacket as "the perfect size to place under any short table leg to prevent wobbling." Also, according to the jacket, Mere Anarchy is supposed to "answer the most profound questions of human existence;" unfortunately I felt few insights were revealed by reading the book, only questions raised. In my experience, this collection of stories is painfully lacking in depth, substance or entertainment value. Allen's prose is so intellectual I found it nearly impossible to follow--it's as if the author swallowed the Oxford English Dictionary and Roget's Thesaurus and regurgitated it, word by word, in every sentence. I suspect that Allen is truly as intellectual as he portrays himself; however, his intellect doesn't translate well into readable prose in my opinion. Instead, a jumble of highly uncommon words creates a sort of linguistic gumbo, which caused me to take a step back in the text for every two steps I read forward.

Writing Style: Samples from the Text

From the very beginning, I felt Allen's phrasing required dissection to understand. Here's one example from page 35:

"Falukner and Fitzgerald too leased their gifts to ex-schmatte moguls who stacked the Garden of Allah with scriveners brought west to spitball box-office reveries. Apocryphal or not, the mollifying lore of geniuses who temporarily mortgaged their integrity gamboled around my cortex some months ago when the phone rang as I was adrift in my apartment trying to tickle from my muse a worthy theme for that big book I must one day write."

I found Allen's writing style to be verbose, lofty, and taxing to read. And, I feel terrible for saying that, because I believe his intent was to entertain and amuse with this book. Allen peppers his prose with Yiddish, German, French, Latin and other languages. Here are just a few of the less tame words I almost looked up in the dictionary:

fubsy, Farrago, hondle, amanuensis, provender, fressed, quondam, ratiocinate, zoetrope, myrmidons, susurrus, panatela, tergiversating, corybantic

Now, I'm sure these are real words and he didn't make them up, but they detracted from any semblance of flow or rhythm to his writing. I don't want Allen to dumb down his writing just for me, but if you didn't know what most of the above words mean, you might feel the same way about Mere Anarchy as I did-- confused. In other words, I felt they detracted from, instead of adding to, the stories.

The Stories: Synopsis and Analysis

Allen draws from his Jewish/Yiddish heritage, Acting/Writing/Directing background, and upper-crust New York City life for most of the stories. This wouldn't have been a problem if the plots were more readily apparent and characters better developed. Here's a synopsis of the plot in "Nib For Hire": Flanders Mealworm, writer of obscure books, is hired by E. Coli Biggs to write the Novelization of a Three Stooges movie. Actually, this one did contain some amusing play-by-play description of Moe, Larry and Curly's physical moves.

Another story, "Calisthenics, Poison Ivy, Final Cut" is a series of letters from a Film Camp director to the camper Algae's parents, regarding the rights to profit from a movie the "Wunderkind" shot at camp. This story was a real downer for me, as it consisted of two neurotic camps hurling barbs, threats and insults to each other with little entertainment value.

In "Nanny Dearest" I found Woody Allen's version of "The Nanny Diaries", both the book and the movie. That's not to say that Allen's version isn't original, just that I felt a sense of deja-vu while reading it. Synopsis: Harvey Bidnick's nanny, Miss Velveeta Belknap is writing a tell-all about her experiences at her Park Avenue job. Predictably, the parents are furious and embarrassed and plot revenge, with ironic results.

"The Rejection" pokes fun at the exclusivity of New York City pre-schools and the absurdity of being interviewed at age three and required to perform well on tests like block stacking and fingerpainting. In this story, I Allen makes some valid social commentary: The misguided notion that for some, acceptance to the "right" elite preschool is the only ticket to Ivy League admission and a prestigious career.

"On a Bad Day You can See Forever"-- has some amusing moments. Allen's character notices that contractors were left out of Dante's Inferno. He unfolds a tale of remodeling woes by hiring a contractor: "a waxy little ectomorph with the glinting eyes of a claim jumper in a Republic western."

Here's a brief rundown of what you'll find in Mere Anarchy:

A shopping and levitating adventure; an acting part in a remote, Indian movie; the purchase of a high-tech suit; the novelization of three stooges movies; a vitriolic exchange between camp director and parents; nanny troubles; a culinary private-eye caper; commentary on religious profiteers; a screenplay; NYC preschool exclusivity; a contractor nightmare; the confluence of physics and lust.

Conclusion

My observation from reading the parodies in Mere Anarchy is that, behind his flowery prose, Allen hides the fact that he doesn't really have many keen observations about the human condition (at least, not lately), nor does he build characters with much personality or substantial plots. Not surprisingly, Allen's angst is evident in almost every paragraph.

I feel terrible that I wasn't able to write a glowing review of Woody Allen's book. If you're a fan of Allen's other books there's a good chance his latest work will appeal to you. I'm willing to admit that perhaps I'm simply not intellectual enough to truly comprehend the book. I believe that Woody Allen meant well by writing his latest book; however, I wish that his editors and publisher had looked beyond their client's celebrity and edited his work for clarity. My experience won't stop me from reading other Woody Allen books for comparison-- I'm sure that his genius shines through in his other writings.

Note: I wrote this book review in honor of Laurashriti's Library writeoff. If it weren't for libraries, I would be penniless, having spent all my money on books! I checked out Mere Anarchy from my local library, and I'm glad, because now others can read it, too. I believe libraries are crucial for the "reduce, reuse and recycle" equation. Libraries encourage sharing resources, and I am bringing up my children to take advantage of them too!

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Mere Anarchy
Author: Woody Allen
Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Random House (2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1400066417
ISBN-13: 978-1400066414
keywords: mere anarchy, book, review, woody allen, opinion, rating, epinions, short story, fiction
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Recommended: No