The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories is a short poetry book by Tim Burton. I am mostly a fan of Burton's sketch-work which is why I bought this book. This was an interesting poetry book that featured unusual tales of the most socially awkward people that could be imagined. The poetry itself was simple and I am not to sure how any other author would be able to pull it off. Burton has already made a name for himself as an artist that tends to pick the strangest of characters and tries to make the audience sympathize or if at possible empathize with the characters plight. Because of this already established nature and fan base of Burton's work, it made it a lot easier to like the work. However, if this was written by any other artist, I am not to sure that the book would have even made it past the publisher and onto bookshelves.
The other thing that I noticed about the book was that Burton tended to only write about the plight of children (with only a few exceptions). I am by no means a psychologist, but I do find it fun to speculate, and so if I were to guess I would have to say that Burton seemed to be dealing with some childhood angst of being labeled as an outcast, or he seems to strongly empathize with some one of those sorts. Also, the few times that there were parents involved, there was a strong indication of the child being unwanted, unloved, and a complete strain on the marriage. Best illustrated with the title story "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy" as he was a awkward child that the parents did not want, which in turned lead to a strain on their marriage, which in turn negativity impacted their sex life, then ended with the murder of their child to fix all problems.
Overall interesting book, sketches are awesome, like the addition it makes to my bookshelf.
