A brilliant, edge-of-your-seat masterpiece! Dynamic character development and a knock-your-socks-off climatic twist! I couldn't get enough of The Missing Piece when I was eight years old! However, that Shel Silverstein is a one creepy looking dude. There's a certain sort of child molester-esque look about him. His picture on the jacket sleeve alone could deter readers and nearly made me drop the rating down a half star, but I wear big boy pants now and the Silverstein booger monsters of the world no longer bias my reviews!
This is the perfect parable for relationships. This guy roams about looking for his missing piece (hello!), trying different ones on for size and not finding the right fit. Sometimes the fit is too loose and sometimes he holds on too tight. Even if he finds a match, that particular piece does want to feel owned by another. So on he rolls, having adventures, living life and enjoying the ride. And then one day he does find that perfect piece, the one that's been missing all his life and everything seems great! He and his piece are flying high. But then he realizes life is passing him by too fast and he can't sing his song anymore. He is stifled. He's missing out on life. He lets his piece go. He goes on singing his song, enjoying life.
Part of me thinks: Good for him!
Part of me thinks, sure, he wants to roam free, okay, but he leaves the perfect piece in the lurch: What a dick!