The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories

Although the price tag may seem excessive... this collection of poems and drawings from Burton is a tribute to his mad genius. I owned this before, lost it to a friend who borrowed it (forever), and recently rebought it because I was eager to read it again. It's not long, or involved, and there isn't a hint of plot. This book is, in fact, tiny and short, but well worth it, even if you have to buy it twice.

I ordered this book over a month ago. Well before the hurricane and still have not received the order. It was a very low price. I have owned the book before. I thought it was funny and cute, not able to find it from storage I re purchased it. I give the book itself five stars. I can only give the purchase two stars because I have not received the book or any information reguarding it from the seller except the email of purchase.

I ordered this book over a month ago. Well before the hurricane and still have not received the order. It was a very low price. I have owned the book before. I thought it was funny and cute, not able to find it from storage I re purchased it. I give the book itself five stars. I can only give the purchase two stars because I have not received the book or any information reguarding it from the seller except the email of purchase.

This was a collection of poetry with illustration by Tim Burton. The poems are all very off the wall, some are slightly disturbing, and most are darkly humorous. I would recommend for older teen to adult because of the content (there are a few poems with explicit sexual themes). I am a huge Tim Burton fan and ended up enjoying this a lot.

The majority of poems talk about strange and troubled children and the weird ailments or situations that haunt them. All in all they were well done, occasionally made me laugh out loud, and were definitely unique. The sketches are very Burtonesque and their style matches the poems well.

While I did enjoy this, it might be something that’s better read bit by bit over time. I sat down and read it all in one sitting and the poems (despite their quirkiness) actually got to be a bit repetitive.

Overall this is a must for all you Tim Burton fans out there. It’s a beautifully put together book and is full of strange and quirky poetry and illustration by Burton.

My favorite poem in this book is The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.This poem is about how two people had a baby but their baby turned out to be an oyster boy. I know, it sounds weird right, but I think it has something to do with the fish and mollusk stew they had before the mom had made the wish to have a baby. So of course they blamed the doctor like anyone would do and the doctor just told them to buy a house by the sea. So they did, and Sam (their son) was always made fun of. And let's just say his father was the cause to his melancholy death. (You will find out in the poem.)

This book would definitely fit into the category of fiction .None of the poems in this book are realistic. I don't think this book fits into a certain theme because each and every poem is different. I would say that the theme would be "Tim Burton" because already, each poem has "Tim Burton" written all over it. When I read this book I think of Tim Burton's art, and style of writing and also how the poems all relate to his work I've seen.

I absolutely loved this book because I got it at the Museum of Modern Art, the very day he became one of my favorite artists and saw his exhibit. I love the way his poems rhyme. I think that he is very creative to come up with these crazy ideas that are so entertaining. I like the way he connects poems too. For example: There is one poem called Stain Boy and another called Stain Boy's Special Christmas and they are connected. I really enjoyed his illustrations. This book ended up being one of my favorite poetry books.

I bought this handsome collection of short poems and stories by Tim Burton, not only because he is my most favorite director, but also because I was very interested in what his poetry and stories were like. Although "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories" is written as a children's book, the content consists of some sexual,drug, and just plain macabre stuff. For example, in a couple poems, like "Robot Boy," a line goes, "He never forgave her unholy alliance: a sexual encounter with a kitchen appliance." Also, to tell you about the scarce yet present drug content, in the poem called, "Sue", the beginning is, "To avoid a lawsuit, we'll just call her Sue (or "that girl who likes to sniff lots of glue"). And lastly,to show you that macabre stuff is present, I can't recite a specific line because all of them contain some or lots of macabre. But if you truly love Tim Burton, then this book is a good thing to have. I like the poems in this collection- they are fun to read over and over, and a great addition to your bookshelf. I just suggest that you don't buy it for a child or an early reader- it is really for an older kid (like 12 and up) to adult. All in all, I enjoyed this book, and anyone who loves Tim Burton, likes macabre comedy, and can be mature to some very light adult content will enjoy having this book!
P.S.- I loved "The Girl with Many Eyes"! (It was a clean and funny poem)!
P.S.S.- Not all of the poems contain drug or sexual content!! In fact, most are clean and clever!

Tim Burton once again surprises and delights us with his new book, "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories". The book is a subvertion to the children's fairy-tale book genre. If you look at the book and flip through its pages, you'll say it's indeed a children book, and it's supposed to look like one. But the book has several direct sex and drugs references (i.e., the sexual problems of Oyster-Boy's parents, and "the girl who sniffed lots of glue"), and most of the characters of the tales die at the end. Tim Burton, who's given us such wonderful movies as "Edward Scissorhands", "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure", has now made a wonderful book, filled with what he's best at, unusual, misunderstood and outcast characters. "The Melancholy Death..." is a collection of tales of little freak kids who live in deep sadness for not being understood or accepted. The stories are told through melancholic verses and the illustrations (by Tim Burton) are simple and extremely elegant. Once you meet characters like Melonhead, Stick-Boy, The Boy With Nails in His Eyes, Junk Girl, The Pin-Cushion Queen, it gets easier to understand how Tim Burton could come up with such an original and bizarre film as "Edward Scissorhands". It's as though he was one of the kids from the book. The references to sex reminded me of "Batman Returns", where Tim Burton subverted the action-movie genre, turning a Batman blockbuster movie into an expressionist tale of sex and horror. The Penguin, by the way, makes an appearance in the book as a child (The Hideous Penguin Boy). "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" is a wonderful book and a must for any Tim Burton fan.

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories is a collection of 23 macabre poems about children that are quite a bit different from the average schoolboy or girl. It features characters like Anchor Baby, Stain Boy, The Girl With Many Eyes and of course Oyster boy. All poems are nicely illustrated by drawings in a style so typical to Tim Burton.

You will not stumble upon a lot of disagreement if you state that Tim Burton is a creative genius. Again he proves his unbound talent in this little gem of a book. He takes the reader on an odd trip through his twisted world to show the most wonderful dark abominations. With only a few lines of poetry he succeeds in generating a deep feeling of compassion with each of those strange creatures, but subsequently and without exception ends the poem with a sick, but hilarious twist. Many times I literally had to laugh out loud just because of yet another case of macabre and instant death. Yeah, that is exactly what Burton does to a peace-loving guy like me.

The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories is a book that you will finish in less than an hour, but will treasure forever.

...is anything but melancholy.

If you are a Tim Burton fan in any stretch of the imagination, this book is a must read. I eagerly opened the first page of the miniature hard bound book and didn't put it down until each poem resonated through me. In every poem there is a lesson, a story, and a message to any reader. Each poem is easily accessible by any reader.

As a Burton fan it is also a wonderful opportunity to get a peak into Tim's own mind and world. By pouring his soul into each poem, the reader is able to feel their own little personal connection to the world famous director.

It is reminiscent of Shel Silverstein's or Edward Gorey's poetry. It can either be extremely sweet, extremely sad, touching, or disturbing.

A definite must have for your book shelf. It's great for conversation starters or for lonely rainy days. You will love every page.

I got this book for Christmas because I LOOOOOOOOVE Nightmare Before Christmas and mom thought I'd like this too. It's certainly...different, but I love it. People keep saying that it's really about deep concepts and being an outsider and being ignored and hated and maybe it is, but that isn't how I see it. It looks more to me like he was just being creative and writing some poems and pictures to go together. There probably is deeper purpose to it, but when I get inspiration I always do stuff like that! (You should meet my lonely vampiress who just can't help sucking the blood of the men she falls in love with...) And whatever you do DON'T take this stuff too seriously. That's what leads to you looking at this and thinking it's scary and awful, but it really isn't. The Boy With Nails in his Eyes was not written to be something you look at and think how terrible anybody must be to write something about such a horrid little boy. It's to look at and go "Ha! A kid with nails in his eyes!" (or maybe something a little more intelligent than that...but you get the idea) You'd have nightmares forever if you really took this stuff too seriously and I don't mean disregard it, just enjoy it in a way that makes you feel comfortable. It's cool stuff, you just have to look at it right. It's so delightfully twisted...makes me feel like cackling evily, MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!...ahem

"The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and Other Stories" is a collection of 23 poems written and superbly illustrated by Tim Burton - the director of, amongst other things - "Sleepy Hollow", "Beetlejuice" and "The Corpse Bride". It features a number of characters such as Oyster Boy (obviously, I guess), The Girl With Many Eyes, Stain Boy and 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 longest in the collection. There are a few others - like "Robot Boy", "Anchor Baby" and (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 and a smattering of sad and / 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 Burton's films - especially "The Nightmare Before Christmas" - should enjoy this.

In 1997, Tim Burton published this collection of short stories. Modern fables of marginals in melancholic poetry. Stanzas that either narrate a story (Oyster Boy, Toxic Boy, Rock Boy) or how a certain character interacts with the world and how that world interacts itself with him. One of my favourite is Stainboy, which was Tim's interpretation of how his work within the Super Hero genre (Batman, Batman Returns, the never-shot Superman Returns) came to him from either certain comic book artists or radical fans. As a blasphemer to their idealized and naive vision of the characters they idolize or promote in their stories/films. A dark vision that ironically has become the trade in movies adaptations and in particular Batman's. Whose reference is also inside another story in this book. Inside the Penguin boy, which I remember Tim saying that it had inspired him for his Batman Returns.

In sum, it is poetry whose subtlety reveals elements of our society. Things about us that we may recognize, or refuse to acknowledge. A society that treats those different either with contempt or with awkwardness. A book that connects itself with all the themes Tim Burton expressed in his movies, in particular Edward Scissorhands and the Web series Stainboy, a favorite of mine as it's 100% Tim Burton. Without the obstruction of Hollywood producers or the presence of movie ratings censors.

As for the artwork, pure Tim Burton visuals. Lively watercolours of cartoony characters, sometimes ink drawings (Oyster Boy story) that remind of German expressionism, they really strengthen the fable aspect of those stories. Giving them the perfect final touch to the fables of this visual man.

Wonderful poetry by a wonderful artist whom I cannot wait to see more of his prose and paintings