Customer Reviews
Poor - By: pkx166h, 15 Apr 2008 
I was brought up with Belloc, Gorey, Carroll, Lear, Nash et al & this really is pretty second rate stuff. There are a few nice rhymes (I hesitate to call any 'poems') but mainly it's all rather 'rumpty tumpty tumpty tum, dumpty dumpty dumpty dum' with a few 'weird' & 'dark' words thrown in. There is no craft to most of these & certainly the 'story' is lackingin many. A lot of rhymes are no more than 4 lines of about 4 words which is fine if it the words make a clever point or have nice twist & if there are only a few. All a bit too formulaic & the book only got the attention because of who it is written by. This stuff will be forgottenin a week after reading. Curiosity value only - read itin the book store. One star for the production value & one star for the illustrations.
amazing - By: Naddy, 01 Oct 2007 
Never thought a girl with far more then the usual two eyes could be charming?
And that kinkiness could have applicable consequences - not for children, full of antiheroes a collection of bitter sweet poems.
I bursted out laughing & feeling sad at the same time.
woah! - By: fast review, 03 Sep 2007 dark,funny poems by tim burton the director of the nightmare before christmas (this is not for little children)
Just go and read it a hundred times! - By: C.G., 27 Dec 2006 "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy: And Other Stories" is a book for which you can say "I have read it more than a hundred times!".
And indeed you will.
Sometimes simple is more complicated, it also leads the art to be more everlastingin our minds.
The simplicity & harmony I findin Tim Burton's creations is one of that kind.
Every single word echoesin my mind.
Dark, Quirky & Strange ! - By: cluricaune, 21 Oct 2006 
"The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories" is a collection of 23 poems written & superbly illustrated by Tim Burton - the director of, amongst other things - "Sleepy Hollow", "Beetlejuice" & "The Corpse Bride". It features a number of characters such as Oyster Boy (obviously, I guess), The Girl With Many Eyes, Stain Boy & Anchor Baby. For the most part, the poems are very short - many are only a few lines long, while "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" is pretty much the longestin the collection. There are a few others - like "Robot Boy", "Anchor Baby" & (my favourite) "Mummy Boy" - that make it past a couple of pages.
There's a pretty gruesome thread running though the book, plenty of strangeness & a smattering of sad & / or lonely characters. While I wouldn't describe it as scary, I wouldn't neceaasrily recommend reading it while eating cheese just before going to bed ! Fans of Burtom's films - especially "The Nightmare Before Christmas" - should enjoy this.
