This is a collection of short stories written by the Waco Kid, Gene Wilder. And though Wilder has shown incredible writing ability in his memoir “Kiss Me Like a Stranger,” this book does not deliver.
The short stories are all about love, which is nice, but after a certain point they all feel the same. Boy meets a girl, they hit it off, they have sex. Or, in the alternate version of the story, they don’t have sex and the relationship abruptly ends.
Also, Gene Wilder writes about sex. I don’t have an issue reading about sex. It’s just weird to imagine Willy Wonka typing passages about putting his finger on some girl’s clit. It’s hard for me to disconnect the author from his work.
And that’s what makes this book disappointing. I love Gene Wilder. I, a 26-year-old man, wrote him a fan letter after reading “Kiss Me Like a Stranger.” But, it’s hard for this mediocre work to live up to the legend that is Gene Wilder.
Stick with “Kiss Me Like a Stranger” and “Young Frankenstein” and you’ll be better off.
