''Side Effects'' is an anthology of 17 comical short essays written by
Woody Allen between 1975 and 1980, all but one of which were previously published in, variously, ''
The New Republic'', ''
The New York Times'', ''
The New Yorker'', and ''
The Kenyon Review''. It includes Allen's 1978
O. Henry Award-winning story "The Kugelmass Episode".
Contents
# Remembering Needleman
# The Condemned
# By Destiny Denied
# The UFO Menace
# My Apology
# The Kugelmass Episode
# My Speech to the Graduates
# The Diet
# The Lunatic's Tale
# Reminiscences: Places and People
# Nefarious Times We Live In
# A Giant Step for Mankind
# The Shallowest Man
# The Query
# Fabrizio's: Criticism and Response
# Retribution
# Confessions of a Burglar
Some of the tales in detail
*"Remembering Needleman" is a one-liner- and non-sequitur-filled obituary for Professor Sandor Needleman.
*"By Destiny Denied" presents the reader with notes for a fictional "eight-hundred-page novel—the big book they're all waiting for."
*"My Apology" is Allen's tale of a recurring fantasy/dream of his where he imagines himself in the sandals of
Socrates during the philosopher's final days in prison.
*"The Kugelmass Episode" is about a
CCNY professor, Sidney Kugelmass, who, thanks to the powers of an obscure magician, is projected into ''
Madame Bovary'' to carry on an affair beyond the scrutiny of his overbearing wife.
*"My Speech to the Graduates" is a parody of platitude-laden
commencement speeches.
*"Nefarious Times We Live In" concerns the events that lead its protagonist, Willard Pogrebin, to fire a
Luger at President
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
. They involve at least five kinds of drugs and three cults.
Running jokes
Throughout the book, frequent references are made to composer
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
. In addition, numerous gags are made with an implication that people bear an innate knowledge of
Dutch. Characters' love interests are compared to a grotesque,
golem-like Aunt Rifka in two separate stories.
References
External links
Profile on Google BooksWoody Allen's bibliography
1980 short story collections
Comedy books
American short story collections
Short story collections by Woody Allen
Random House books
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pt:Side Effects