msmichaela's review
4.0
I've become a huge Monica Wood fan in the last few years, and this early novel-in-stories did not disappoint. A solid 4.5 stars.
tamccafferty's review
5.0
Monica Wood makes it exceptionally easy to relate to her characters. Ernie's Ark explores the lives of eight characters from the fictional town of Abbott Falls, which could very easily be a number of dying Maine mill towns, also "small good place[s], once drenched with ordinary hopes and decent money, [that are now] beginning to furl like autumn leave[s]." As someone who grew up with a father constantly in and out of a paper mill, this is an all-too-familiar place for me. I went into this book relating to the mill workers like Ernie, and left being able to see things from the eyes of a CEO. Wood enveloped me into the complex inner worlds of the characters so quickly and effortlessly that I was disappointed when each 20-page story ended. This book won't claim to be a novel, but I don't see why it couldn't be. The stories intertwine and arc in the style of a novel and leave you longing to stay in Abbott Falls for just a few pages more when you're finished. Wood really understands the human condition. Effortlessly evocative and gracefully accessible.
karencarlson's review
4.0
A very good collection of closely-linked stories! The weaker ones in the middle serve as exposition for the overall work. And the good ones are really good – several were published in good literary magazines, and the title story won a Pushcart in 1999! Ok, so I am late to the party! I went to a reading of her new memoir "When We Were the Kennedys" (she is from Maine like me) and liked her writing and liked her very much, but I do not particularly care for memoir right now so I read this collection instead and I am glad I did. Detailed comments (with possible spoilers) posted on A Just Recompense.
chelseab's review
5.0
This book is amazing. When I finished "The Temperature of Desire," I literally flung myself down and started sobbing. And that was far from the only story in the book that affected me so powerfully. Truly incredible stories.
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