- Julia Adrien
Book review - 'The Ice Cream Man & Other Stories' by Sam Pink
Updated: Jul 1, 2020

Book Review: The Ice Cream Man and Other Stories by Sam Pink TL;DR: - coversational tone - fun - working class đŠđžđđŠđ¶ïž
I am a looooong-time Sam Pink fan and have been ever since first reading Person probably around six or seven years ago. Iâve enjoyed his other books since then, and although I havenât gotten around to reading every single one of them, I plan on doing that. I find he has this really, really straight-to-the-heart-of-it, lowbrow, conversational voice that really caters to readers because his writing is not just about him showing off some big vocabulary or some âamazingâ super-fake plot, itâs almost like a friend is telling you a story that may or may not have really happened (and you get the feeling it mostly did). Heâs also funny and clever and really notices the small absurdities in life and zooms in on them to make them the central themes of his stories.
He doesnât write in long paragraphs either, but usually breaks after every line. Iâd almost call it a minimalist style. He is experimental with form in general, sometimes writing in almost purely vignettes or character sketchesâŠand, for some reason, refusing to use the double quotation marks. Damn, I shouldâve asked him why when I interviewed him.
A lot of Pinkâs work focuses on the experience of being a member of the working class, but when it comes to The Ice Cream Man and Other Stories, that is clearly the central theme of the collection. Thereâs a story about a sandwich maker, a dishwasher, a waiter, a machine operator, and, of course, an ice cream man, most or all of which are some âembellished realityâ (in Pinkâs own words) incarnation of Pink. If Pink wasnât so underrated this would be the universal working class classic.
Pinkâs tone is comedic and casual, but more often than not, his subject matter really isnât so lighthearted. He tends to write mostly about situations with some underlying darkness. But he doesnât point out the darkness directly. He writes in an experiential way so that the darkness just sort of speaks for itself. And in the darkness, he always finds the light; in the boring, he always finds the interesting.
Pink is by far one of my favorite writers ever and one of my biggest influences. On top of that, he is a really nice guy who let me interview him for a blog that did not yet exist. Heâs like, the best dude ever, and this book is amazing. I wasnât bored for one single second. Looking forward to the next one.