bese199's review
5.0
What can I say in a review that the title doesn't already tell you. Some of the language is dated but the storytelling is great.
tawallah's review
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.0
A solid short story anthology where most of the stories shine. The only dud for me was The Killers x Ernst Hemingway. My greatest criticism is it is predominantly WASP with the majority of the stories using derogatory words. But when diverse stories are included they often steal the show -Bright and Morning Star, Blood Burning Moon.
ancaszilagyi's review
5.0
I did not read every single story, but I’m glad I traipsed through this volume. I would love to read a complementary anthology collecting the best stories that were excluded because they didn’t fit Updike’s focus on stories depicting the American experience—international stories by Mavis Gallant, Ursula K Le Guin, Steven Millhauser.
dan1066's review
3.0
A mixed collection, with some strong stories—Parker’s “Here We Are,” Hall’s “The Ledge,” and Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers.” However, the latter half of the century focuses on rich people fighting love and/or terminal illnesses. Wasn’t as interesting.
dilan11's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
A hefty book to tote around but one of the best short story anthologies I have (and I have quite a few). It's always fun to read the latest hot hip thing but sometimes it's better to go back a few decades and read the work that has stood the test of time. Yes, there are way too many white men but there is still some excellent work particularly for those who write short stories themselves.
I also love the variety of stories. - there are more traditional longer stories and some shorter advant- garde stories.
Just read "My Dead Brother Comes to America" by Alexander Godin. Fascinating, heart-breaking story and then you learn that Godin worked in a bottling plant, suffered from schizophrenia and died in poverty.
Thom Jones story is chilling. The description of the pain of the dissolution of the body is almost more than I could read.
I normally don't like the Susan Sontag's types of stories but in this case it really works and can understand why it's included. All that interwoven dialogue conveys perfectly the collective and individual feelings during the AIDS crisis. How much more perfectly done than a maudlin story where someone gets the disease and dies and everyone mourns.
I see how masterful the story by Updike is but it's just not my kind of materials. White upper class suburban couple who are full of themselves. I see that it was published in 1980 but it really feels like a 1950s story which I guess is where Updike was stuck.
Carver is a classic. It is refreshing for someone to write from less than a privileged perspective. And the Gellhorn is masterful.
I also love the variety of stories. - there are more traditional longer stories and some shorter advant- garde stories.
Just read "My Dead Brother Comes to America" by Alexander Godin. Fascinating, heart-breaking story and then you learn that Godin worked in a bottling plant, suffered from schizophrenia and died in poverty.
Thom Jones story is chilling. The description of the pain of the dissolution of the body is almost more than I could read.
I normally don't like the Susan Sontag's types of stories but in this case it really works and can understand why it's included. All that interwoven dialogue conveys perfectly the collective and individual feelings during the AIDS crisis. How much more perfectly done than a maudlin story where someone gets the disease and dies and everyone mourns.
I see how masterful the story by Updike is but it's just not my kind of materials. White upper class suburban couple who are full of themselves. I see that it was published in 1980 but it really feels like a 1950s story which I guess is where Updike was stuck.
Carver is a classic. It is refreshing for someone to write from less than a privileged perspective. And the Gellhorn is masterful.
strong_extraordinary_dreams's review
2.0
One word: twee.
A collection of white people (mostly) pottering about (mostly) and then, to REALLY mix things up a bit, a couple of stories about (horror of horrors) social an economic stress. Phew, that was intense.
A complete lack of imagination by the editor: these are no one's best short stories.
A collection of white people (mostly) pottering about (mostly) and then, to REALLY mix things up a bit, a couple of stories about (horror of horrors) social an economic stress. Phew, that was intense.
A complete lack of imagination by the editor: these are no one's best short stories.
spautz's review
4.0
I wish I'd taken better notes on these as I read them (slowly, over far too long a time period). Many of them were hit-or-miss, and there was a bit of overemphasis on stories with verbose, adjective-laden prose (which sometimes pushed the "short" moniker a bit far), but in general they were entertaining and thoughtful stories. It was especially interesting to see the format and the topics change over the decades.
Of the stories at the end I especially enjoyed Pam Durban's "Soon", and I want to read most of her work. I wish I had kept notes about all the other great stories and authors.
Of the stories at the end I especially enjoyed Pam Durban's "Soon", and I want to read most of her work. I wish I had kept notes about all the other great stories and authors.
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