Chicken Soup for the Soul
101 Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit
Canfield and Hansen
1993
Another title from Mary’s Swedish Death Cleaning Project
Why on earth I have this book is completely beyond me. As a librarian, this book and its 10 million incarnations, were everywhere. I developed a deep and abiding hate for this series. I remember the first couple that showed up. Not my jam, but patrons liked these books. Okay. I can appreciate this. I even had someone who wanted me to order every single one because they wanted to read them all. In order.
I posted about the Chicken Soup books back in 2016 when I saw the Chicken Soup for the American Idol Soul. Really. I remember looking at the book and thinking somebody has to stop this madness!
I don’t think I have heard a peep about these books since that posting, so it was surprising that one these books ended up in my collection. As an aside, I never did see a book for the librarian’s soul. Maybe we are just soulless?
Reasons I might have this book:
- It belongs to someone else and it found its way here.
- Someone gave it to me as a joke.
- Someone gave it to me seriously.
I guess I will never know.
Soulless in Michigan,
Mary
Does the term ‘glurge’ ring a bell? I believe it was coined on ‘Snopes’ to describe inspirational stories that sounded like someone dumped a cup of sugar into the chicken soup.
That’s the only place I’ve read of it, though they used the term hyperglycemic shock at that time. I never looked at these books, and am glad they have faded away except for the people who enjoy them.
I had the parody of this, which was called: “Chicken Poop for the Soul” – somehow that one seems more appropriate for mid-2020,
Our patrons still ask for them, I have to replace the children’s ones every couple of years as they go out so much.
I remember a parody of this book called Chicken Poop for the Soul. One of the stories in it was called “The Littlest Devil”, where a devil has a problem bringing disaster and destruction into the world because he’s too little. Then, instead of trying to create something big, he creates a tiny flea that ends up causing a huge blackout in a major city. It was beautiful. 🙂
That does sound entertaining, and probably was positive without being inedible.
I know someone who was approached to submit a piece for one of their books, and turned down the offer because the contract terms were ridiculously exploitative. The original author got a small amount of money (like maybe a couple hundred bucks, max), and gave up all future reproduction rights, including calendars, posters, etc.
There’s another series that seems to be a copy/knockoff of Chicken Soup, called Taste Berries For Teens. I haven’t actually read one, but from the cover, it seems to be aimed at the same readers.
Taste Berries for Teens sounds more like a cereal than a book series.
Chicken soup makes metaphoric sense, I don’t know if a “taste berry” is a thing… just checked. A “taste berry” is a small West African fruit that causes bitter or sour things to taste sweet if eaten beforehand. Do “taste berries for teens” sugarcoat their obnoxious messages then?
I saw a parody called ‘Chicken Sh*t for the Soul’..!