Michael Kun's "Corrections to My Memoirs"

Michael Kun's new book is Corrections to My Memoirs: Collected Stories.

Among the early reviews for the collection:

"The cover's spoof of A Million Little Pieces sets the tone for this comic collection of writerly kvetching and obvious corporate parody. Kun (A Thousand Benjamins) is a trial lawyer in L.A.; many of the 22 rifflike pieces satirize forms of legal communication, including the companywide e-mail. There's a weirdly threatening notification of the death of one "Iris Magruder of Albany, New York" (whose "intellectual property" includes sayings like "maybe next time you'll like your mother more"); the lame corporate award: "When I was first informed that I'd been nominated in the category of Best Interoffice Email (Nonviolent) (Nonsexual), I was touched"; and an instruction manual for a paper shredder: "Remember, the Whisper Shred 1600 is not a toy, it just looks like one." Sandwiched between each of the pieces are "Publisher's Notes," the kind of encomium-like letters that sometimes are tacked to the front of galleys: "You can certainly understand why we'd pay $50,000 for that one. Or why the Bloobedy-Bloodbedy Society would award Michael the Blah-Blah-Blabbedy-Blah Prize for it." The Corrections this certainly isn't, and many pieces aren't really stories, either. But there are chuckles to be had as Kun hits huge targets with a birdshot-spraying air rifle."
— Publishers Weekly

“…the delightful absurdity of the experience, along with Kun’s bellyache-inducing wit, makes it a rewarding pursuit.”
— Seattle Times

“…captivating, annoying, fascinating, frustrating, messy, laugh-out-loud tragedy…. [Kun] serves up a character we can sink our literary teeth into. A fine, fun read.”
— Baltimore Sun

Most of the 22 stories found in Michael Kun's Corrections to My Memoirs explore the large divide between the reality of his characters' lives and the ways they wish things could be. In doing so, the author forces readers into the uncomfortable position of alternately laughing at the often-desperate people who populate his stories while uneasily and perhaps begrudgingly relating to them. With many references to disgraced writer James Frey (not the least of which is the book's cover, a blatant parody of Frey's trade paperback jacket depicting a candy-coated hand on a blue-green background), Kun's stories manage to be both amusing and depressing.
— Marc Haeringer, The L Magazine

Read the title story to the collection and another excerpt from Corrections to My Memoirs.

Kun's other books include: A Thousand Benjamins, The Locklear Letters, My Wife and My Dead Wife, You Poor Monster, and The Baseball Uncyclopedia.

Visit Mike Kun's official website and check out the Page 69 Test results for Corrections to My Memoirs.

--Marshal Zeringue