43 stories in 183 pages, (or on 3
audio CDs).  Each story is of course
nasty, twisted and unpleasant.  One or
two of them are funny, and several may induce a wry smile.  But on the whole these are tales that are
best taken in small doses.   In the
audiobook, Yourgrau drolly reads his own tales, clearly taking pleasure in his
own eccentricity.  My favorite story was
very short and simple, and resembles a nightmare.  In "Train," a girl gets on a train, but then realizes
she is on the wrong train.  She decides
to get off at the first stop, but it is a long time until they get there, and
when she gets on the platform, she finds it a deserted hostile place, and the
next train is in 100 years.  Other
stories are more complicated, with a boy learning not to pick his nose from
seeing other people have long worms come out of their noses, a boy kill his
girlfriend and a judge by tickling them, and then killing himself in prison, by
tickling himself, and a Hollywood star turning into a gerbil after drinking a
strange brew at a party.  Nastybook
is certainly different from most other children’s books, but the difference is
worth locating carefully.  Nearly every
interesting young adult novel features a major life difficulty, including death
and suffering.  In those stories, the
young characters eventually learn from their experience and reach safety.  In Roald Dahl’s stories, the violence and
cruelty is prominent, but normally the victimized children get the upper
hand.  In Lemony Snicket’s Series of
Unfortunate Events, the Baudelaire children lose their parents in a fire
and are pursued by the evil Count Olaf, yet while the children use their
intelligence and creativity to survive, there is no promise that they will
eventually find peace.  What
distinguishes Yourgrau’s little sketches is the complete lack of hope and
justice, or even humanity.  These
stories are, as advertised, exercises in nastiness, with occasional flashes or
wit or humor.  Some young people may
like this … but if they do, they should be locked up.  Readers may find that their nastiness is
fueled by reading Nastybook. 

© 2005 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.

Christian Perring, Ph.D., is
Chair of the Philosophy Department at Dowling College, Long Island, and editor
of Metapsychology Online Review.  His main research is on
philosophical issues in medicine, psychiatry and psychology.

Categories: Children