rahasoda250's review
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
gordonj's review
5.0
I enjoyed this collection much more than recent editions, perhaps because guest editor Curtis Sittenfield and I have similar tastes. As she states in her introduction, the success of the collection is probably the result of the “the idiosyncratic taste of a guest editor” being aligned more or less with the idiosyncratic taste of the reader. With that said, my favorites in this edition were:
The Apartment by T.C. Boyle in which a man tries to secure a woman’s Parisian apartment by offering her a reverse annuity, only to have her get the better end of the deal.
Sibling Rivalry by Michael Byers in which human and synthetic children begin to realize how they're similar and, more ominously, how they're different.
The Nanny by Emma Cline in which a young woman finds herself caught up in a Hollywood scandal.
Halloween by Marian Crotty in which a teen girl in love with her co-worker gets advice from her grandmother
This is Pleasure by Mary Gaitskill in which a woman deals with her conflicted feelings for a man caught up in a #MeToo scandal
Howl Palace by Leigh Newman in which an Alaskan woman has to deal with an unruly dog while trying to manage an open house
The Hands of Dirty Children by Alejandro Puyana in which a group of street children try to survive the crumbling city of Caracas, Venezuela
Kennedy by Kevin Wilson in which two high school boys are terrorized by a sociopathic bully
The Apartment by T.C. Boyle in which a man tries to secure a woman’s Parisian apartment by offering her a reverse annuity, only to have her get the better end of the deal.
Sibling Rivalry by Michael Byers in which human and synthetic children begin to realize how they're similar and, more ominously, how they're different.
The Nanny by Emma Cline in which a young woman finds herself caught up in a Hollywood scandal.
Halloween by Marian Crotty in which a teen girl in love with her co-worker gets advice from her grandmother
This is Pleasure by Mary Gaitskill in which a woman deals with her conflicted feelings for a man caught up in a #MeToo scandal
Howl Palace by Leigh Newman in which an Alaskan woman has to deal with an unruly dog while trying to manage an open house
The Hands of Dirty Children by Alejandro Puyana in which a group of street children try to survive the crumbling city of Caracas, Venezuela
Kennedy by Kevin Wilson in which two high school boys are terrorized by a sociopathic bully
jennyshank's review
4.0
I read this anthology with my students every year, and it's great for discussing what writing techniques and stories appealed to us. I wanted to share my thoughts on three of the stories that were our favorites:
"Halloween" by Marian Crotty
I found this story completely appealing. First of all, it's funny. I loved the character of the grandmother—she's a woman who let passion guide her life. I've met a few older ladies like this over the years—they end up a little financially unstable, but they've got incredible stories, fascinating souvenirs, and they are a lot of fun, just like this grandmother. All the specific details Crotty shares about her make her vivid—the extravagant gifts she gives, her "provocative statements," but especially, her love advice that she gives to her granddaughter. I like how succinct and absolute it is, and how it works so well. I also like the depiction of this family that's been split up and reformed in a bunch of different ways—there are divorces and stepdads and boyfriends around, and fathers who took off. And even though Jan is the narrator's dad's mom, Jan, the narrator and the narrator's mom have decided that they're a tight family, and that they love and appreciate each other. I like this depiction of how family members who have an affinity for each other within this web of sprawling and tenuous connections end up clinging to each other.
I thought Crotty captured this particular moment in a young woman's life very well—she's almost out of high school, looking ahead to what comes next and not sure where she will go to college and how she will pay for it, but she's ready for her life to begin. She feels herself being squeezed out of her house by her mom's boyfriend, whom she doesn't like. And of course what she cares the most about is the girl she's got a crush on. I lovee her voice here—it's like the world is opening up to her and she's discovering all her possibilities: "At school I barely spoke to anyone but my friend Paloma and never managed to talk in class without my entire chest and face going hot and red, but Yotopia! No one seemed to guess that this friendly, confident person was a lie. That you could just decide to be a different person, that you didn't have to actually change to convince people, felt like a revelation." This is a key insight for a young person I think—when you figure out that everyone fakes it until they feel confident in what they're doing.
I like how this depicts the narrator as living in a milieu created by all these past romantic entanglements of the family members around her—and she's just on the precipice of heading out on her own to create her own set of complications.
The classic set up of this story, I think, is an older wiser person giving advice to a younger, more inexperienced one. This template works whether it's a magical situation—a fairy godmother, say—or just a regular grandparent.
The technical aspect that I most admire of this story, though, is the ending, which Crotty absolutely sticks. I think it would fall into the category of "frozen in a moment of possibility" endings, that I discussed if any of you have taken my craft seminar on writing endings. I love how it's such a bad idea for the narrator to go to this party and open this old wound, and her grandmother tells her this, but the narrator can't help it—she wants to go. Her heart wants her to go. And so Jan, a woman who has always let her heart rule, gives her sage advice: "'Go for an hour,' she said. 'Wear a mask and don't say anything. I'll drive.'"
"Rubberdust" by Sarah Thankam Mathews
I thought this was an excellent example of a story that stays true to its child narrator's perspective. There were so many charming touches to this. I particularly loved the little asides that mention how these people pronounce certain words. It clued me in right away that this was set in an English-speaking country that has a little different accent than we are used to, and I picked up quickly that it was India, without her adding a paragraph that situates this geographically. If you think about it, adding such a paragraph might orient the reader, but it would break with the child narrative, because a young child would never say something like, my school was in X town in X province in India.
At the same time, there is a little narrative distance between the narrator and the protagonist. Calling her "the little girl with no friends" feels more outside her perspective than saying something like, Sally, who had no friends, read contentedly at her small wooden desk during recess. This kind of thing can get your brain tangled up when you think about it too hard in your own work, but I think it's helpful when you begin writing something to pause for a minute and ask yourself, what perspective am I writing in? How far out is my narrative distance? And if you nail it down, the rest of the story will go more smoothly.
There were beautiful descriptions in this, such as the line about Karan, who "has a lantern jaw, bulbous taring eyes, and a stink that nestles close, follows him like a stray." I love the humor throughout this, as when the narrator's dad says, "Next time, slap him well," and when she asks Anuj to play "get married" and he says, "Yuck, no. That's corrupted." Mathews captured the voices of these people so well with her word choice and punctuation that she didn't need to use any kind of dialect or explanations for me to hear how they sounded as they spoke, such as when Mrs. Tareen says, "If I don't hear pin-drop silence while I'm in the next room, everyone here will be quite, quite sorry."
The kids' nonsensical mission, to create a pile of "rubberdust," seemed absolutely authentic to me (indeed the author mentions it's something she did as a kid). I remember getting obsessed with strange little things like this, and seeing the same sorts of behaviors in my kids, for example when I'd visit the classroom for back-to-school night, and open up my son's desk and find a chaos of pencil shavings, little slips of paper, and random hoarded things.
The way that their creation of this dust progresses to tormenting poor Karan with it also feels authentic to me, as does the girl's immediate shame over it. Kids are so unformed and are still trying things out, so you can't say that this one action makes them "bad" people. They are learning how to act--they are learning what makes them feel proud, and what makes them feel ashamed.
I also enjoyed the metafictional aspect of this story. You can tell that she was thinking about the act of writing a story as she wrote it, and what various voices have been in her head as she learned to write, and also her notes in the afterword confirm it. She said that she wrote the events in a variety of different orders. I love that part on p. 208, where she takes us into her writing group's deliberations about the story. (Here is a technique to try: when you are having trouble working out a story, put that struggle into the story itself.) She quotes a comment that she got in her workshop about the story, "The relevance of this seems grounded in a kind of cultural specificity that the narrator doesn't include the audience in on."
I think she does include us in on its relevance, though. It was clear to me this was a story about a kid thinking about morality, about kindness and cruelty, and what kind of person she wanted to be. The part on p.. 206, where she wants to be punished because she feels so bad, makes that clear.
So, I thought this was a fascinating story, jam-packed with interesting technique and writerly skill, that transported me to this world an accomplished so much in its few pages.
"Howl Palace" by Leigh Newman
I loved this story. I underlined so many of the details that convinced me this writer knew Alaska. Here's the first one that hooked me: "If you wanted a house, you either built ti yourself or you hung out in the parking lot of a Spenard Builders Supply handing out six-packs to every guy with a table saw in the back of his vehicle until one got broke enough or bored enough to consider your blueprints."
The other really skillful thing I noticed about this story is how Newman just gets the story started with a situation--Dutch is putting her house up for sale, and it's called Howl Palace for some reason. So the story gets moving on that premise, and then every few paragraphs we get an additional intrigant, like "My fourth husband, Lon," that gradually sketch the contours of her rather complicated personal life. To me, it felt like watching a skillful relay team pass the baton without breaking stride. She gets the story started and sprinkles in backstory all while the story keeps running, and the backstory makes me care even more about what's going on with the main, action piece of the story--the open house and the home sale.
All the characters were quirky and specific--and believable, based on my knowledge of Alaska. I love the humor throughout this piece, such as on p. 234 when Dutch shares the scathing insults her husband with dementia would lash her with and then says, "Shipping him off to a facility in Washington near his daughter wasn't exactly something I struggled with."
And then there's that great, crazy Labrador, running through everything, laying waste to the entire open house. I love him, and I love the way she describes the dog he's based on in her contributor's notes. I wonder if each of us, whenever we get too comfortable with a tidy little world we've built on the page, need to just unleash a rampaging, insane Labrador into the story to shock it into crazy life.
"Halloween" by Marian Crotty
I found this story completely appealing. First of all, it's funny. I loved the character of the grandmother—she's a woman who let passion guide her life. I've met a few older ladies like this over the years—they end up a little financially unstable, but they've got incredible stories, fascinating souvenirs, and they are a lot of fun, just like this grandmother. All the specific details Crotty shares about her make her vivid—the extravagant gifts she gives, her "provocative statements," but especially, her love advice that she gives to her granddaughter. I like how succinct and absolute it is, and how it works so well. I also like the depiction of this family that's been split up and reformed in a bunch of different ways—there are divorces and stepdads and boyfriends around, and fathers who took off. And even though Jan is the narrator's dad's mom, Jan, the narrator and the narrator's mom have decided that they're a tight family, and that they love and appreciate each other. I like this depiction of how family members who have an affinity for each other within this web of sprawling and tenuous connections end up clinging to each other.
I thought Crotty captured this particular moment in a young woman's life very well—she's almost out of high school, looking ahead to what comes next and not sure where she will go to college and how she will pay for it, but she's ready for her life to begin. She feels herself being squeezed out of her house by her mom's boyfriend, whom she doesn't like. And of course what she cares the most about is the girl she's got a crush on. I lovee her voice here—it's like the world is opening up to her and she's discovering all her possibilities: "At school I barely spoke to anyone but my friend Paloma and never managed to talk in class without my entire chest and face going hot and red, but Yotopia! No one seemed to guess that this friendly, confident person was a lie. That you could just decide to be a different person, that you didn't have to actually change to convince people, felt like a revelation." This is a key insight for a young person I think—when you figure out that everyone fakes it until they feel confident in what they're doing.
I like how this depicts the narrator as living in a milieu created by all these past romantic entanglements of the family members around her—and she's just on the precipice of heading out on her own to create her own set of complications.
The classic set up of this story, I think, is an older wiser person giving advice to a younger, more inexperienced one. This template works whether it's a magical situation—a fairy godmother, say—or just a regular grandparent.
The technical aspect that I most admire of this story, though, is the ending, which Crotty absolutely sticks. I think it would fall into the category of "frozen in a moment of possibility" endings, that I discussed if any of you have taken my craft seminar on writing endings. I love how it's such a bad idea for the narrator to go to this party and open this old wound, and her grandmother tells her this, but the narrator can't help it—she wants to go. Her heart wants her to go. And so Jan, a woman who has always let her heart rule, gives her sage advice: "'Go for an hour,' she said. 'Wear a mask and don't say anything. I'll drive.'"
"Rubberdust" by Sarah Thankam Mathews
I thought this was an excellent example of a story that stays true to its child narrator's perspective. There were so many charming touches to this. I particularly loved the little asides that mention how these people pronounce certain words. It clued me in right away that this was set in an English-speaking country that has a little different accent than we are used to, and I picked up quickly that it was India, without her adding a paragraph that situates this geographically. If you think about it, adding such a paragraph might orient the reader, but it would break with the child narrative, because a young child would never say something like, my school was in X town in X province in India.
At the same time, there is a little narrative distance between the narrator and the protagonist. Calling her "the little girl with no friends" feels more outside her perspective than saying something like, Sally, who had no friends, read contentedly at her small wooden desk during recess. This kind of thing can get your brain tangled up when you think about it too hard in your own work, but I think it's helpful when you begin writing something to pause for a minute and ask yourself, what perspective am I writing in? How far out is my narrative distance? And if you nail it down, the rest of the story will go more smoothly.
There were beautiful descriptions in this, such as the line about Karan, who "has a lantern jaw, bulbous taring eyes, and a stink that nestles close, follows him like a stray." I love the humor throughout this, as when the narrator's dad says, "Next time, slap him well," and when she asks Anuj to play "get married" and he says, "Yuck, no. That's corrupted." Mathews captured the voices of these people so well with her word choice and punctuation that she didn't need to use any kind of dialect or explanations for me to hear how they sounded as they spoke, such as when Mrs. Tareen says, "If I don't hear pin-drop silence while I'm in the next room, everyone here will be quite, quite sorry."
The kids' nonsensical mission, to create a pile of "rubberdust," seemed absolutely authentic to me (indeed the author mentions it's something she did as a kid). I remember getting obsessed with strange little things like this, and seeing the same sorts of behaviors in my kids, for example when I'd visit the classroom for back-to-school night, and open up my son's desk and find a chaos of pencil shavings, little slips of paper, and random hoarded things.
The way that their creation of this dust progresses to tormenting poor Karan with it also feels authentic to me, as does the girl's immediate shame over it. Kids are so unformed and are still trying things out, so you can't say that this one action makes them "bad" people. They are learning how to act--they are learning what makes them feel proud, and what makes them feel ashamed.
I also enjoyed the metafictional aspect of this story. You can tell that she was thinking about the act of writing a story as she wrote it, and what various voices have been in her head as she learned to write, and also her notes in the afterword confirm it. She said that she wrote the events in a variety of different orders. I love that part on p. 208, where she takes us into her writing group's deliberations about the story. (Here is a technique to try: when you are having trouble working out a story, put that struggle into the story itself.) She quotes a comment that she got in her workshop about the story, "The relevance of this seems grounded in a kind of cultural specificity that the narrator doesn't include the audience in on."
I think she does include us in on its relevance, though. It was clear to me this was a story about a kid thinking about morality, about kindness and cruelty, and what kind of person she wanted to be. The part on p.. 206, where she wants to be punished because she feels so bad, makes that clear.
So, I thought this was a fascinating story, jam-packed with interesting technique and writerly skill, that transported me to this world an accomplished so much in its few pages.
"Howl Palace" by Leigh Newman
I loved this story. I underlined so many of the details that convinced me this writer knew Alaska. Here's the first one that hooked me: "If you wanted a house, you either built ti yourself or you hung out in the parking lot of a Spenard Builders Supply handing out six-packs to every guy with a table saw in the back of his vehicle until one got broke enough or bored enough to consider your blueprints."
The other really skillful thing I noticed about this story is how Newman just gets the story started with a situation--Dutch is putting her house up for sale, and it's called Howl Palace for some reason. So the story gets moving on that premise, and then every few paragraphs we get an additional intrigant, like "My fourth husband, Lon," that gradually sketch the contours of her rather complicated personal life. To me, it felt like watching a skillful relay team pass the baton without breaking stride. She gets the story started and sprinkles in backstory all while the story keeps running, and the backstory makes me care even more about what's going on with the main, action piece of the story--the open house and the home sale.
All the characters were quirky and specific--and believable, based on my knowledge of Alaska. I love the humor throughout this piece, such as on p. 234 when Dutch shares the scathing insults her husband with dementia would lash her with and then says, "Shipping him off to a facility in Washington near his daughter wasn't exactly something I struggled with."
And then there's that great, crazy Labrador, running through everything, laying waste to the entire open house. I love him, and I love the way she describes the dog he's based on in her contributor's notes. I wonder if each of us, whenever we get too comfortable with a tidy little world we've built on the page, need to just unleash a rampaging, insane Labrador into the story to shock it into crazy life.
smartcookiesca's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lukescalone's review
5.0
These stories are of consistently higher quality than the 2021 edition, and there were quite a few that I was absolutely entranced by (particularly, Kevin Wilson's story--I'm coming to love his writing). Really great collection here
cosmiccloudbird's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
skudiklier's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.75
I'm not sure how to rate a collection of short stories, especially when my views on them ranged, but overall I liked this collection. I read it mostly because I like Curtis Sittenfeld's writing, and was interested to see what short stories she'd select for this. The introduction she gave was good context, and I found it really enjoyable to wait to read her reasoning for each individual story until right after I'd finished it.
Some of these were interesting in terms of their contents, others I liked mostly for their writing/quotes, and a few I wasn't super interested in either way. But my lowest rating was 4 stars and even that one I thought was completely fine. Here are my individual ratings for and brief opinions on each story:
Godmother Tea: 4.25 stars (lots of good quotes, I liked it)
The Apartment: 4.5 stars (didn't write down any quotes but was very invested in what happens almost right from the beginning, more engaging)
A Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed: 4 stars (it was fine, eh)
Sibling Rivalry: 5 stars (my favorite so far, very interesting)
The Nanny: 5 stars (I liked this, how it got to the point slowly, the main character, the stuff with)
Halloween: 5 stars (I liked this one, I like the ending, it)
Something Street: 4.25 stars (well done, I liked it more by the end, but a lot of it I wasn't super engaged with)
This Is Pleasure: 4.5 stars (well done, mostly engaging, but idk if the point was clear enough--I feel like someone could go into that story thinking the me too movement is bad, and come out feeling like their suspicions were confirmed. Like it could be read uncritically in a way I don't like)
In the Event: 4.5 stars (relate to the anxiety, it being in SF was fun, but god this was tense and too real)
The Children: 4.5 stars (not a lot really happened but it still felt tense and engaging)
Rubberdust: 4.75 stars (meta, very engaging, not longer than it needed to be, bothered me)
It's Not You: 5 stars (probably my favorite so far, made me go back through all my other ratings later and bump most of them down .25 each just so this one can be rated highest. The writing was just really good, I really liked it, also I'm confused by the ending???)
Liberté: 4.5 stars (very engaging but idk if I really liked it? I didn't know anything about either person and idk what the point was but it was interesting at least)
Howl Palace: 4.75 stars (interesting, very engaging, devastating in a subtle way)
The Nine-Tailed Fox Explains: 4.75 stars (engaging, interesting, like the ending,)
The Hands of Dirty Children: 5 stars (very engaging, my other favorite so far, really sad but told in a way that's so endearing, heartbreaking, really well done)
Octopus VII: 4.75 stars (engaging, not a 100% sympathetic narrator but still on his side, too real with both the Bay Area and LA, felt so unstable the whole time despite him clearly being able to lean on his parents if he needed to)
Enlightenment: 4.5 stars (engaging, but I didn't like it very much really? I do agree with Sittenfeld's reasoning for why she liked it)
Kennedy: 4.5 stars (engaging, upsetting, agree with Sittenfeld that it's both horrifying and tender; but also why tf is it about Why him???)
The Special World: 4.5 stars (engaging, weird, idk)
Some of these were interesting in terms of their contents, others I liked mostly for their writing/quotes, and a few I wasn't super interested in either way. But my lowest rating was 4 stars and even that one I thought was completely fine. Here are my individual ratings for and brief opinions on each story:
Godmother Tea: 4.25 stars (lots of good quotes, I liked it)
The Apartment: 4.5 stars (didn't write down any quotes but was very invested in what happens almost right from the beginning, more engaging)
A Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed: 4 stars (it was fine, eh)
Sibling Rivalry: 5 stars (my favorite so far, very interesting)
The Nanny: 5 stars (I liked this, how it got to the point slowly, the main character, the stuff with
Spoiler
the kidHalloween: 5 stars (I liked this one, I like the ending, it
Spoiler
leaves you hanging in a good waySomething Street: 4.25 stars (well done, I liked it more by the end, but a lot of it I wasn't super engaged with)
This Is Pleasure: 4.5 stars (well done, mostly engaging, but idk if the point was clear enough--I feel like someone could go into that story thinking the me too movement is bad, and come out feeling like their suspicions were confirmed. Like it could be read uncritically in a way I don't like)
In the Event: 4.5 stars (relate to the anxiety, it being in SF was fun, but god this was tense and too real)
The Children: 4.5 stars (not a lot really happened but it still felt tense and engaging)
Rubberdust: 4.75 stars (meta, very engaging, not longer than it needed to be, bothered me)
It's Not You: 5 stars (probably my favorite so far, made me go back through all my other ratings later and bump most of them down .25 each just so this one can be rated highest. The writing was just really good, I really liked it, also I'm confused by the ending???
Spoiler
Why do people recognize her voiceLiberté: 4.5 stars (very engaging but idk if I really liked it? I didn't know anything about either person and idk what the point was but it was interesting at least)
Howl Palace: 4.75 stars (interesting, very engaging, devastating in a subtle way)
The Nine-Tailed Fox Explains: 4.75 stars (engaging, interesting, like the ending,
Spoiler
gayThe Hands of Dirty Children: 5 stars (very engaging, my other favorite so far, really sad but told in a way that's so endearing, heartbreaking, really well done)
Octopus VII: 4.75 stars (engaging, not a 100% sympathetic narrator but still on his side, too real with both the Bay Area and LA, felt so unstable the whole time despite him clearly being able to lean on his parents if he needed to)
Enlightenment: 4.5 stars (engaging, but I didn't like it very much really? I do agree with Sittenfeld's reasoning for why she liked it)
Kennedy: 4.5 stars (engaging, upsetting, agree with Sittenfeld that it's both horrifying and tender; but also why tf is it about
Spoiler
JFK???The Special World: 4.5 stars (engaging, weird, idk)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Racism, Death, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Classism, Infidelity, Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Cursing, Antisemitism, Homophobia, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Ableism, Murder, and Bullying
Minor: Rape, Lesbophobia, War, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Self harm, Suicide, Mental illness, Car accident, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, and Gun violence
Moderate: slut shaming, possibly grooming, drowning Minor: conversion therapy, bombing, terrorismthe_dave_harmon's review
4.0
There were 6 stories I thought were really good, 5 that were good,. And the remaining 9 were ok. average is 3.85
The best imo were octopus vii and This is pleasure.
The best imo were octopus vii and This is pleasure.
brittanynhicks8's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
nadia's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
I'm surprised that these were classed as "the best" American short stories for 2020. I kinda floated through the collection, and while some of them had really intriguing concepts and setups, I was often let down by the resolution or left thinking: "Is that it?"! I listened to this and would also often find that my attention drifted frequently.
Great variety though, I must say!
Great variety though, I must say!