Comments on: PC011: Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery

By: “Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery” « moonlitworld

“Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery” « moonlitworld — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:28:07 +0000

[...] she never does get her second ski back, either. John Schoffstall’s website link to text link to audio [story does not appear to be available in print] Categories: Recommendations Tags: audio, [...]

By: Genrens inre gränser « Mythotopes

Genrens inre gränser « Mythotopes — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:07:24 +0000

[...] i fantasygenren. Bland de mindre typiska alstren som de inkluderade hittar man John Schoffstalls ”Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery” i en suverän läsning av Heather Lindsley [1]. Faktum är att Schoffstalls berättelse är den [...]

By: Nuptials and Naughty Bits-- Random Jane

Nuptials and Naughty Bits-- Random Jane — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:34:44 +0000

[...] is up at Podcastle now — I was lured in by the opportunity to read John Schoffstall’s “Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery”, which is funny as all get out and gives me an opportunity to say “cooter” outside a [...]

By: scatterbrain

scatterbrain — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:45:00 +0000

I first avoided this for reasons I cannot remember, but I cannot believe that I did so and miss out for so long on such an excellent and passionate post-modern masterpiece.

By: What’s on LaShawn’s iPod? Well, nothing since I don’t have an iPod…but I do have a reasonable enough facsimile… « The Cafe in the Woods

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:25:43 +0000

[...] stories and interesting topics. For instance, I just listened to a short story on Podcastle called “Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery” by John Schoffstall, a surrealistic tale of a woman receiving ‘notes’ from her [...]

By: LaShawn

LaShawn — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:51:01 +0000

Oops! I meant “Heather”. Though Rachel’s intro was just as good.

By: LaShawn

LaShawn — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:50:04 +0000

What a weird, wonderful story! I love all the things that were sent. I wish someone would send me a Saturday (particularly Saturday, August 23, 1997). However, I think it went a little too long. I got lost somewhere around Hell (would’ve loved to stay in the Garden of Earthly Delights a bit longer). Her sister pulling her guts out seemed a bit…much. But the ending was spot on.

Rachel’s voice was wonderful. I promise I won’t send her Spain.

By: The Fix | From the Podosphere: June 2008

The Fix | From the Podosphere: June 2008 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:32:41 +0000

[...] and enjoyable, “Fourteen Experiments in Postal Delivery” by John Schoffstall is a modern fantasy detailing the ups and downs of a relationship. [...]

By: Frostfire

Frostfire — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:54:11 +0000

I didn’t like this story at all, i too, found the main character to be vulgar and unlikable. Sorry, but this story didn’t feel like a fantasy to me.

By: Travis

Travis — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:52:43 +0000

I really don’t understand how people can dislike this story so much. It was thoroughly enjoyable. I loved how it started out in a fairly mundane way but got progressively more surreal. I loved the blending of realistic characters with the surreal events of the story. I loved Jessica’s obsessive personality and how she obviously still cares for Christopher otherwise she wouldn’t bother responding to his efforts… and yet she stubbornly clings to her spite like some kind of emotional shield. I loved Heather’s reading, especially. It really brought the story to life. She did a wonderful job of reading the letters with a note of condescension which fit perfectly. Jessica obviously thought it should be obvious to anyone with half a brain why she was so hateful towards Christopher, and the fact that she was having to explain it to him was insulting to her, so of course she would come back with an attitude. The humor was wonderful, and the vulgarity helped Jessica seem that much more like a real person, because real people talk like that. While not the classic “fantasy” I was hoping/expecting to hear when I found podcastle, this has been my favorite podcastle story so far, I’ve listened to it 3 times and will no doubt listen to it again many times in the future.

By: Spork

Spork — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:19:33 +0000

The intro was nearly its own podcast in length.

The story was irritating. I hate letter/e-mail based stories. Just tell me a damned story, already!

The reading was excellent, particularly the drunk bit. At first, I thought she was just taking a nose dive in quality, and then I picked up on it with the caps-lock thing. Nicely done.

Overall, though, I just thought it was kinda…dumb. You want me to suspend my disbelief that he can send a bar, or an entire day, or Spain through the mail? Fine. I can do that.

You want me to suspend disbelief about how many times the post office will deliver things they’re not supposed to deliver? Sorry, not a chance.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 00:28:16 +0000

Great story, well read. She shouldn’t have forgiven him.

By: Bookman 12pt

Bookman 12pt — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:17:58 +0000

I forgot to give Kudos to the reader. Spot on emotion, especially in the drunk letter. It couldn’t have been done better.

By: VBG

VBG — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 02:20:38 +0000

Oh, Mr. Schoffstall! You had me at “Scott McCloud”!

I hope to hear more of your work at Podcastle/Escape Pod. I loved this story.

By: Bookman 12pt

Bookman 12pt — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:49:30 +0000

I felt this piece started slow, but once the voice gained momentum, it wound into a intense believable character that I both was repulsed by and could relate to.

The message was as concrete as the metropolis surounding and coursing within the “arty” B&*%$ MC. The fantasy element was creative and new. Overall the story was very modern.

There was much to love and hate about this story. I am still doing both.

By: Martin R

Martin R — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:24:15 +0000

Loved it! Best Podcastle story yet! And the reading was superb. I see at Heather Lindsley’s site that she’s a dramaturg and a playwright. She clearly has awesome acting skills as well.

By: Sandi

Sandi — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:17:22 +0000

I was quite surprised that this story didn’t have a disclaimer about the sexual content and the language. I thought is was very well done. The narrator was perfect. But, it did go a little (no, a lot) over the top by the end.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:40:33 +0000

Wow. Wowie wowie wow! Amazingly well done all around. That story was brilliantly paced, hysterically funny, a little bit touching, and wonderfully surreal. I just loved it. The reading was inspired.

I totally disagree with the people who said it was “vulgar” or “too weird”. I react strongly and negatively to gratuitous sex, especially when it’s poorly written. The sex in this story was neither gratuitous nor poorly written. Adults can use words like “cock” when they write. You know why? Because real people use the word cock! Geez!

As for the weirdness of the story, well, not everyone has a taste for magical realism (which is what I’m going to say this was). I was really disappointed when Podcastle started off so well with Come Lady Death and then started airing extremely cliched stories about dragons and horsies. Is that what people actually want to read or hear? Really? This story was much, much more to my taste.

I had to go look up “The Garden of Earthly Delights” on Wikipedia and follow along with the author’s descriptions. That was fun!

Loved it. If you decide not to run more stories like this in the future because they’re “too weird”, I will have to start oddpod.org and hire Mr. Schoffstall as the editor.

By: Janice in GA

Janice in GA — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:12:59 +0000

Loved it, LOVED it. I laughed out loud several times. The idea of the post office delivering Spain (e.g.) totally cracked me up. I suppose it’s not conventional fantasy, but the fantastical elements slip in stealthily.

Wonderful stuff.

By: The Uncredible Hallq

The Uncredible Hallq — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:27:00 +0000

I just want to register my vote: More please. Possibly the best short story I’ve read since I last picked up a Neil Gaiman anthology.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:29:23 +0000

I would have liked this better withOUT the fantasy elements. The wandering cock and the Bosch gut-pulling just…it was weird. Thought it was more interesting before it went surreal.

By: Giermo the Wise

Giermo the Wise — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 19:47:56 +0000

What a piece of trash. I wish I had a genie so I could purge memory of this awful story from my mind or better yet wish myself back in time and delete it before listening. I was just hoping the story would end so I could be done with the thing. I should have just deleted the thing outright. The use of language and vulgarity was just too idiotic. I feel if an author needs to use such language and imagery then their creativity is somewhat lacking. Please stick with more pg and g rated stories in the future!

By: Ogion The Ski-napper

Ogion The Ski-napper — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:08:17 +0000

Absolutely brilliant. Who cares if it counts as fantasy when it has you pissing yourself laughing on the bus to work? The vulgarity was wonderfully done and wonderfully read.

“Fuck you, you ski-napper!”

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:35:34 +0000

Hmmmmmm…..I really liked the first part but got lost towards the end where her friend turned her inside out…and then they drove home? Huh? I don’t know. Thumbs up for the first part and thumbs down for the second part.

By: the Nestorian

the Nestorian — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:39:47 +0000

this has been the best story I have heard on here or Escape Pod.
I smiled the whole time. The irreverent homoousios and homoiousios
section is amazing. Mixing sexual innuendo with early Christiological
controversy makes the recovering catholic school boy in me very happy.

By: Jake

Jake — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 22:11:25 +0000

Again, for me, these stories are not fantasy stories. Maybe better labeled as “fanciful” stories. Anyway, I really enjoyed this one. One that I’ll remember with a smile for many months to come.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:21:20 +0000

Sexy, funny, literally fantastic. Exceptional vocal work.

By: Zergonapal

Zergonapal — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 01:43:28 +0000

The story is essentially a collection of letters from Jessica to Chris.
If you were in correspondance with someone who really, really got under your skin , don’t you think your letters would be full of profanity too?
Yes there should have been a better profanity warning but the swearing is by no means inappropiate in my honest opinion.

By: Mr. Tweedy

Mr. Tweedy — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:13:48 +0000

All of the characters are smug, immature, self-centered, amoral idle-rich brats. I hated them. I hated them so much that the idea of them experiencing the inevitable “happy” ending was disgusting. I stopped listening after Spain was delivered because my antipathy for Chris and Jessica had grown so that I was actively interested in NOT hearing what happened to them.

This story takes characters who are utterly petty and shallow and gives them magical powers to compensate for their lack of character. I guess that’s supposed to be cute (or something).

In the running for worst story ever.

By: Patrick Pricken

Patrick Pricken — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:39:30 +0000

I totally disliked the story. It just didn’t work, neither as a character piece nor as something else. The letters (emails?) didn’t work as such from the beginning, because the writer always told the guy what he had sent her (which he should have known), then there’s the drunken letter which makes me think of it as an email, and then there’s the “letter” where it turns into a normal short story format with description, she said-I said, etc. And then the sister comes and tells us, no hits us over the head with a frying pan as to what it’s all about. And suddenly, without real motivation or such, the narrator/writer changes her mind, because sis laid it out so clearly even a chimp would understand.

And it didn’t even work as a truly postmodern gobbledygook, because you do get the impression the story is supposed to be somewhat strcutred and following a format. Really not up my alley at all.

By: CelticGoddess

CelticGoddess — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:43:11 +0000

This was a great story! I listened to it twice in a row (I NEVER do that), but I just had to hear it again after the first listening. I think the format is very clever, and the narrator’s voice is very distinct.

The only negative thing I can think to say is that I had to wait awhile for the fantasy elements, but I was so engrossed in the story at the time that I didn’t even notice it until I was describing the story to someone else.

This was my first PodCastle story, and I was very impressed. Keep up the great work!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:32:15 +0000

I wish this would have had a warning at the beginning like all the explicit Escape Pod episodes. I know there’s the warning on the website, but when I’m just listening on my iPod, it’s helpful to have that audio at the beginning to let me know the story is rated R. Also, the description “Contains surrealism and wandering body parts of the naughty variety” does sum up most of the offensive stuff, but neglects to mention the plethora of obscenities in this episode. I liked the idea of this story, so I endured through the crudeness, but I agree with others that it didn’t really add anything to the story.

By: Audita Sum

Audita Sum — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:05:39 +0000

A great story and a great reading. I didn’t think that the absurdity was taken too far, although I didn’t realize until the near-end that her sister was Heather.

The drunken email was great.

By: Schreiber

Schreiber — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:35:50 +0000

Delightful!

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:16:47 +0000

Definitely one of my favorite Podcastles so far, and the only one I’ve listened to twice. Someone should nominate Heather for a Parsec for her reading of this one. Loved the sing-songy way she said, “Still hating you…”

By: Zergonapal

Zergonapal — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:35:35 +0000

The cock and balls was ok and so was Spain, but the surrealist Bosch experience is what finally broke the story for me.
Still altogether it was quite enjoyable and this is up their with my other short story favourites.
Keep up the great work. Z

By: Caroline

Caroline — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:35:31 +0000

I thought it was very funny, and I think it’s been my favorite so far. I liked the surrealism and the randomness of the gifts. And the reading was perfect for it.

By: Luisa

Luisa — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:24:06 +0000

This one has been my favourite so far. I cried, laughed and stuck with it until the end. The surrealism was brilliant, the characters were funny and touching and the reading was perfect for it.

By: thomasowenm

thomasowenm — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:24:13 +0000

I have to agree with George, what a disgusting piece of work. This story was painful to listen to. whereas I am not averse to strong language or imagery, I felt it was done more for shock value then furthering the story. Also on a side note, why Spain? Christopher must not of thought much of Jessica. He could of at least sent her Saudi Arabia and saved her some money on gas.

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:45:20 +0000

In some ways this is one of my all-time favorite stories among the whole EP/PC/PP library. It is masterfully written, engagingly read, and enjoyably unpredictable. Heather was a perfect match for the reading, and she did an exceptional job. The story reminded me of Spirited Away in that it came from a place so dreamy and foreign that I wasn’t able to anticipate what was coming next.

I very much wish that the crudeness had been avoided. I felt I was able to overlook it personally and enjoy the story, but its presence prevented me from sharing this story with others and that’s a shame.