lisagray68's review against another edition
4.0
Andre Dubus III is just as talented in this group of short stories as he was in "The House of Sand and Fog". But DANG is this guy depressing. Not a functional person in this group of stories!!! But great writing, plenty of that.
lizshine74's review against another edition
3.0
Well-woven motifs and stunning imagery, but themes that fall short of moving because the hand of the writer is too emphatically pointing in their direction.
krisperez8's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
msmandrake's review
3.0
Hard to rate this, I'll round up, I guess. I've read two of his books before and liked both of them but they aren't what I'd call cheery reading. Neither was this, but I enjoyed the first three stories (the characters do NOT "walk out of one story into another", I don't know why book blurbs so often make that claim.. I guess they know a lot of people...like me...aren't big short story fans) but the fourth one I found rather dull and whiny and I had a hard time finishing it. So, started out with a bang but ended with a thud.
stephfauteux's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jkkraw's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lpmccracken's review
4.0
This was a great book with interesting characters; I like reading about messed-up people, and these novellas are full of them. I teach grammar, so whenever I read, I can't help but pay attention to a writer's style and linguistic choices. Dubus has some great descriptions, as other reviewers have pointed out, but I think he relies far too much on the nominative absolute phrase (for example, "... his tie a muted blue, his head not bald but balding" ...). I get that everyone has a unique style, but I began to find his similar sentence structure distracting. I also get that I'm a complete grammar nerd (which can sometimes be a curse), and that this kind of attention to detail is probably my problem and not his. And I've certainly never published any novels...
deejah_fig_and's review against another edition
3.0
Hard read about a subject that people don't like to talk about...love. Sometimes obsessive and sometime romantic. This book looks at the darker side of love and keeps you wondering if it is all worth it.
dawnelitt's review against another edition
3.0
Not the cheeriest book, but I guess dirty love isn't a cheery subject. I liked all 4 short stories and the way he interwove characters amongst the 4 stories.
windycorner's review against another edition
2.0
I'm disappointed in this one. Dubus has skill with the language, but occasionally that skill veers toward pretentious. The novellas in this collection are stories of love gone wrong. They are interconnected tales; I found myself frustrated that I sometimes couldn't recognize how the stories were connected. Ultimately the book was, to me, simultaneously depressing and banal. I can't recommend it, unless you loved his highly acclaimed "House of Sand of Fog". In that case, you're going to read this one anyway, so I hope you enjoy it more than I did.