Reviews

The Decameron Project: 29 New Stories from the Pandemic by The New York Times

paigej101's review

challenging inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

theoverbookedbibliophile's review

3.0

3.5⭐

auntsarah's review

reflective fast-paced

francinagy's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

kimberlyjerger's review

3.0

*3

The Decameron Project: 29 New Stories from the Pandemic is a decent short story collection in the same vein as Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron, written in the fourteenth century amid the Black Death. Twenty-nine short stories by contemporary writers document life during the COVID-19 pandemic in this eclectic collection from The New York Times Magazine.

The stories themselves are quite short, most under ten pages, and while they all have an atmosphere of impending despair, the stories often lean toward notes of hope and community.


1. "Recognition" by Victor LaValle ★★★★
2. "A Blue Sky Like This" by Mona Awad ★★★
3. "The Walk" by Kamila Shamsie ★★
4. "Tales from the L.A. River" by Colm Tóibín ★
5. "Clinical Notes" by Liz Moore ★★★
6. "The Team" by Tommy Orange ★★
7. "The Rock" by Leïla Slimani ★★
8. "Impatient Griselda" by Margaret Atwood ★★★★★
9. "Under the Magnolia" by Yiyun Li ★★
10. "Outside" by Etgar Keret ★★★
11. "Keepsakes" by Andrew O’Hagan ★★
12. "The Girl with the Big Red Suitcase" by Rachel Kushner ★★★★
13. "The Morningside" by Téa Obreht ★★★★
14. "Screen Time" by Alejandro Zambra ★★★
15. "How We Used to Play" by Dinaw Mengestu ★★★★★
16. "Line 19 Woodstock/Glisan" by Karen Russell ★★★★★
17. "If Wishes Was Horses" by David Mitchell ★★★★
18. "Systems" by Charles Yu ★★★★★
19. "The Perfect Travel Buddy" by Paolo Giordano ★
20. "An Obliging Robber" by Mia Couto ★★★★
21. "Sleep" by Uzodinma Iweala ★★
22. "The Cellar" by Dina Nayeri ★★
23. "That Time at My Brother’s Wedding" by Laila Lalami ★★★
24. "A Time of Death, the Death of Time" by Julián Fuks ★★
25. "Prudent Girls" by Rivers Solomon ★★★
26. "Origin Story" by Matthew Baker ★★★★
27. "To the Wall" by Esi Edugyan ★★
28. "Barcelona: Open City" by John Wray ★★
29. "One Thing" by Edwidge Danticat ★★★

spiderfelt's review

5.0

This is definitely a collection for and about this particular moment in history. It will be an interesting time capsule to revisit in years to come. Creative writing by an impressive array of talented writers.

sarna's review

reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No

3.75

anna_scht7's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

literateworld's review

dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25