Egg and Spoon

Every sentence is a pleasure to read. His prose are superiorly entertaining. MaGuire has the gift of using irony, humor, sarcasm and wit in everything he writes. His characters are smart and speak volumes for all social classes and their challenges. MaGuire makes you think. His characters are strong. His characters shine with common sense and the wisdom that is found by living and making due with what fate hands them. "Egg & Spoon" is a shining light on the goodness of humanity while facing difficult circumstances. Like all of Maguire's books, "Egg & Spoon" is a thinking persons book. It's more than just fantasy. It's real life sufferings being met by the best of the human spirit. "Egg & Spoon" is a must read for all ages. If your a young adult there are many life lessons to be learned. If your an adult with all the trappings and stresses thereof, then it's a soothing tonic of escapism with brillant writing. MaGuire does not patronize nor talk down to his audience, he elevates them by engaging the reader to think and "read between the lines" with a wink and nudge to both the young and old. "Egg & Spoon" is quite simply, a brilliant piece of literature on a higher plain than the recent norm in the young adult genre. Teen werewolves and dystopian societies are entertaining. We all enjoy junk food from time to time, however it's nice to finally be fed from the hands of a gourmet chef. "Egg & Spoon" is pure gourmet literature that should be studied in classrooms everywhere from here after.

I don't have much patience for regular speed on audio books, so as usual, I listened at 1.25x, which was perfect. A monk, the narrator of the story, is amusing with his asides and humor in telling the story. Couple this with the outstanding voice narration of Michael Page, and the story is taken to a higher level of enjoyment. Page seamlessly voices the numerous characters where males sound male, females sound female, and witches sound witchy! Speaking of witches, Baba Yaga steals the show. What a hoot she is! She is a perfect counter to the prim and proper-ness expected in civilized society, and her character made the book for me. There are so many different levels to this story -- there is the fantastical and the the practical, smoothly woven together by Maguire to create something for everyone to enjoy. Folk tales and fairy tales are good for all ages, and though this is categorized young adult, there is definitely adult appeal in Egg and Spoon. While the reading could be challenging for some younger readers, the richly drawn characters and setting, along with a basic plot that's highly unusual and interesting, are going to keep readers engaged. Advanced readers are likely to get a different experience from others because it's really quite a complex story with statements on social injustice and inequality, the environment, the life, death, and more. The book goes longer than it needs to with some extraneous and seemingly random parts which could have been left on the cutting room floor. I feel like had I read this instead of listened, there definitely would have been some skimming. Even so, it's a wonderfully creative story and listening was time well spent. I have several of Gregory Maguire's books on my TBR shelf, and Egg and Spoon is incentive for me to move them to the top of the pile. Thank you to Audiofile / SYNC Audiobooks for Teens free summer audio book program for providing this download with absolutely no strings attached. As always, my honest opinion is the only kind I give. If you like this review, visit my blog Hall Ways for book views, reviews, and news you can use - or not. [...]

Gregory Maguire is a genius (if you don’t believe me you’ve obviously never visited the incredibly detailed world of Wicked), and his first foray into Young Adult literature doesn’t disappoint. Full to the brim with mistaken identity (of the Princess and the Pauper variety) and coming of age antics, the story is also steeped in both Russian Folklore and History (Baba Yaga and her moving house, as well as Rasputin and Tsar Nicholas II, make appearances). Baba Yaga, the most underrated witch in all of folklore, takes the main stage with some of the best lines in the novel – from bowling with Charlemagne’s skull to reminiscing about future Broadway hits (I, for one, can’t resist a Damn Yankees reference) – she constantly shocks and delights her audience, both within the story and outside of it. Maguire proves that he can twist any story (including actual history) to fit his fancy in this raucously fun tale that you won’t be able to put down. Rating: 9/10 See themathom-house dot com for more book reviews like this one

The book arrived in really good condition, and faster than expected.

This was a fabulous book. As a kid I read many fairy tales featuring Baba Yaga, and always wondered what her side of the story might be. She is always portrayed as an evil being with no real personality. In this story, her personality and her wit shine through. Baba and her familiar, the kitten Meowster, are absolutely hilarious, and the tale itself is a romp through a magical world that made me wish for more.

Best book I've read in a long time. Nobody tells a tale the way Gregory Maguire does. His imagination, his humour and his compassion make him, I my humble opinion, one of the greatest writers of our time.

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