Nolan Mercer
August 27, 2026
The stories in Pedestrian Gods concern ordinary people encountering unusual circumstances.
Someone eventually has sex with a jellyfish, which seems avoidable. The writing is controlled, the characters are generally unhappy, and the humor is persistent without being particularly helpful.Several stories also concern grief, loneliness, religion, desire, and the difficulty of being understood. I found the collection entertaining. I also found it mildly concerning that so many of its problems could have been prevented by leaving the house.
Tessa Winslow
August 22, 2026
I did not expect this book to make me feel so exposed.
I expected strange stories and dark jokes, and there are plenty of both. What I was not prepared for was the sadness underneath them. The people in these stories want love, forgiveness, recognition, or simply one person to listen without immediately misunderstanding them. Instead they get demons, stains, tumors, gods, apps, snails, and the occasional catastrophe. I laughed at things I probably should not have laughed at, then found myself thinking about the lonely person inside the joke. A few stories left me wanting more, but the best ones hit with surprising force.
Briar Hollis
August 21, 2026
I liked this book
The humor works because the characters respond to disasters with the same confidence they bring to minor errands. A few endings were abrupt, but the collection is inventive, readable, and useful as a warning against treating reality as a cooperative partner.
Harlan Wexler
August 19, 2026
Yes, this is a very imaginative book.
There are demons, talking animals, strange illnesses, and various regrettable decisions involving sex. The stories are competently written and often funny. Some of them are even moving, although the author tends to hide the emotional material under several layers of absurdity. I preferred the shorter pieces, especially the ones that establish their problem quickly and leave before the premise becomes comfortable. A few stories seemed to be trying rather hard to be strange. Still, the collection is better than most books I read while waiting for something else.
Everett Jones
August 11, 2026