I received this book in exchange for an honest review which has not altered my opinion of this book.

This was a book full of strange and interesting short stories. These stories left me considering the psychological state of the minds of many people. I think this would make a good book for studying the psychological states of human beings. Not just that, but it left me feeling just the right amount of uncomfortableness that makes me think very deep thoughts.

I highly recommend this, but I do warn that it is strange, weird and will make you a bit uncomfortable. 4 out of 5 from me!

An interesting book or collection of short stories and essays that was not for me, I did not enjoy the authors writing style.

**I received a ditital ARC copy of the book via Netgalley to review**

"Imaginary Museums" is one of those books that you cannot have too much of because of how highly saturated and almost "sugary" they are. Polek is no doubt a skilled and clever writer. The stories are like rooms in a cosmic dollhouse that the reader peaks into, and even when characters are named they are still like open shells that the reader can insert themselves into; the "story" "Girls I No Longer Know," located in the last section of the book, was a great example of this. This leads me to another interesting characteristic of "Imaginary Museums": the fact that many of the pieces in it are more vignettes than they are short stories, even those pieces that are long enough to be considered short stories. This is a double-edged sword, because the charm and delight this stylistic decision elicits in the beginning of the book began to weigh on me towards the end. Perhaps that's because I began to try plowing through the book, which resulted in the kind of over-saturation I mentioned in the very beginning of this review. There are many pros to "Imaginary Museum" - cyclicality, hopelessness, and escape are central themes Polek explores in her collection that the writing style also reinforces, if not ironically heightens. There are also moments of great humour, particularly in the story "Winners", which, as a grad student, I thoroughly enjoyed. Broadly speaking, "Imaginary Museums" is a collection of light and satirical pieces of fiction - think of them as "stories" with a grain of salt. They're not going to be memorable, but you'll enjoy most, if not all of them, while you're reading them, and it's that kind of level of joy that I think we need more of in books.

An interesting series of stories and essays. Some were less than a page long, most were a few pages but still short enough to be read in a few minutes. Almost all of the stories too longer to think about and consider than they did to read.
As in any collection of stories, some were better than others, but overall the book is worth reading.

**I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This compilation seems more a collection of whimsical musings than short stories. It was ok, most of the entries felt abruptly ended, a teaser for something bigger, and I was wishing for more.

Recommended for fans of Jacob_M_Appel or flash fiction readers.

I didn't connect with this book. I know it was a collection of short stories, but it all felt disjointed. I didn't enjoy any of the stories, and kind of missed the point of the book all together. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC. I wish I had enjoyed it more. But that doesn't mean the next reader won't!

Don't let the rating fool you - these stories aren't bad. They're really very harmless, like a filet of thawed-out tilapia while you're dieting. But they're certainly quirky - add some spice rub to that filet - and even quite gentle at times. The thing is that I've read a lot of short story collections in this vein, and Imaginary Museums fails to distinguish itself. I've gotten used to (and quite bored with) blurbs which list a set of idiosyncrantic characters whose qualities are purposefully designed to elicit a chuckle - a sort of mad lib: "a(n) [ADJECTIVE] woman who enjoys baking [NOUN, pl.] and serving them to her [ADJECTIVE] husband; a pulp-novelist with a giant [NOUN] on his [NOUN] who finds himself in a [PLACE-NOUN] with nothing but a(n) [ADJECTIVE] cat," etc etc. The stories lived up to the anti-hype. The neverending parade of characters in these microfictions (there are a whopping twenty-six stories in 134 pages) started to blur together very quickly, and I'm someone who savors short stories and is very patient with them. I took about twenty days with this collection. And if you bring up the "antisocial seamstress" and the "rival falconers," sure I remember them (ok, I don't quite remember the "father climbing through tall grass" or the "solicitous owl"), but I don't remember what they did or what happened to them. The stories felt like synopses of stories. They were entertaining, but they didn't have any guts.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had really high hopes for this title, but it didn't hit home for me. It was by no means bad. I enjoyed it.. but I didn't LOVE it. I love weird and creepy things but this was just missing something for me that I cannot put my finger on.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to review this title.

Years ago when working with a Jungian therapist, I wrote each morning in longhand every dream or fragment of dream I could catch by the tail as it was fleeing. I read some of these recently from one of the large 3 ring binders where they are stored. It occurred to me that perhaps there were the bones of short stories among the somewhat strange narratives. Imaginary Museums by Nicolette Polek is what I imagine such a project might become in the hands of a fearlessly imaginative writer. In these short pieces there is inscrutable logic, poetic flow of language and ultimately a grasping of the thing without words, Best read, I think, a few at a time.

I feel like I missed something with this book. The stories themselves are detailed and descriptive, yet I feel like I arrived in the middle and missed the context. The writing style is beautiful, and I would love to read a novel by this author.

Don't get me wrong, I love weird books, short story collections, movies - you name it. But sometimes I read things like this collection and I'm so confused. I wanted to love it, and some of the stories hit deeper than others for sure, but otherwise I was left with a sense that I hadn't read anything of substance. The stories I wanted more from ended too abruptly, and many felt like they had no purpose at all. I'm not sure if I just didn't understand the underlying point of most of the stories, of if I truly just don't connect with things that are written in this way. I feel the need to compare Polek's writing to Ottessa Moshfegh because it is so out there, and that also with Moshfegh even if I don't love what I've read, I'm still intrigued. I do feel like I should say that I think Polek could be a writer to watch out for, because this is a style of writing that interests a lot of people and is also a very quick and easy read. Ones like "Field Notes" and "The Nearby Place" shine so brightly that I was able to appreciate this collection for what it was. Maybe on a reread I would enjoy it more, but on my first go I was just caught too off guard.

What a funny little collection of vignettes. Some felt surreal and fragmented, like pieces of a dream you can’t fully grasp once you're awake, while others felt mundane but surprisingly poignant (the latter were some of my favorites because I found them so relatable). However, because these stories were so short and sometimes ended so abruptly, I was at times left wanting more. Either way, it’s an insightful, quick read for anyone who loves finding the absurdity in everyday life.

I am glad that I requested this book from NetGalley.com to read and review. While it did not speak to me, it turned me on to a type of flash fiction that is literary and abstract. On different topics and themes, Imaginary Museums will likely attract the newer McSweeney reader who is attracted to random storytelling on random topics. I appreciate the style, but did not finish the book.

Brilliant short fiction. Shorter than many short story collections. Feels like pride Haikius. Taking one subject and quickly turning it into a seemingly disparate observation.