mishamir's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
katrinky's review against another edition
4.0
My new favorite short story writer. These stories are strange, and abstract, and daaark, dark dark, and I loved them all. A story about family and memory that is, tangentially, the best writing on September 11th I've ever read. One about true love and finding independence that is actually about abuse and sisterhood, and things one can't escape. One about schizophrenia and genius, that is actually about what all of us have inside us that is incurable and glorious and devastating. One about old age and decisions that is actually about mental illness and familial delusions. I love how Eisenberg writes about mental illnesses like many, many people have them, and they look different every time. (Because they do, to both points.) And she writes about couples like there are a lot of couples in the world that are gay, and look for all the world just like straight couples think coupledom looks. (Because there are, and they do.) The world is natural, to Eisenberg. People fold extraordinary circumstances into their ordinary lives (if there is such a thing), tuck them into their pockets, or their senses of self, and they keep on. People see terrible things, do terrible things, lose terrible things, and there's always a next page, if not written, than imagined.
I'm asking for her collected works for my birthday. I want to dive all the way in.
I'm asking for her collected works for my birthday. I want to dive all the way in.
madelinesingh's review against another edition
3.0
This book is like a subversive answer to the question “where were you when 9/11 happened?” The first story was boring i was also quite ***** when i read it. However, i did laugh out loud at the kid who communicates solely through role-playing as a news anchor.
litdoes's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first time I've tried reading Deborah Eisenberg and I'm simultaneously impressed by her non-linear narrative as much as bothered by it.
This narrative device of moving back and forth between the present and the past is most evident in the titular story about a bunch of young adults whose lives converge at a Manhattan loft. Their fortunes reflect the magnificent view of the vibrant city and also plunge as the twin towers collapse on 9/11.
In each of the six stories in this collection, an ambivalent main character is presented. We have the intense, loving brother in 'Some other, better Otto', the school-marmish Kate in the company of a suave, debonair foreign gentleman in suitably romantic settings of old churches and museums in 'Like it or not', the naive and ditzy Kristina who finds herself saddled with a mysterious free-spirited lover's young son in 'Window', and the wife/mother coping with geographical as well as emotional displacement in 'Flaw in the Design' who turns to adultery for solace.
Perhaps the appeal for some readers would be that none of these characters are perfect and therefore real. However, at times these characters grate on my nerves simply because they are so contrary. Otto, while coping with a schizophrenic sister whom he adores, seems unnecessarily hostile to his patient lover, William, and patronisingly scathing towards his other siblings and their families. While humorous and witty, these exchanges tend to be too smart-assed and show up qualities of the characters that fail to attract this reader. Other characters like the abused Kristina in 'Window' and Lulu in 'Revenge of the Dinosaurs' drop in on friends (possibly unannounced) and are visibly annoyed when they find out that they are not the centre of the universe when their friends tend to their routine lives and arguments.
Fine writing, though just a tad unsettling for its refusing to stay in the moment long enough for the reader to feel involved before it moves into another time zone in the narrative.
This narrative device of moving back and forth between the present and the past is most evident in the titular story about a bunch of young adults whose lives converge at a Manhattan loft. Their fortunes reflect the magnificent view of the vibrant city and also plunge as the twin towers collapse on 9/11.
In each of the six stories in this collection, an ambivalent main character is presented. We have the intense, loving brother in 'Some other, better Otto', the school-marmish Kate in the company of a suave, debonair foreign gentleman in suitably romantic settings of old churches and museums in 'Like it or not', the naive and ditzy Kristina who finds herself saddled with a mysterious free-spirited lover's young son in 'Window', and the wife/mother coping with geographical as well as emotional displacement in 'Flaw in the Design' who turns to adultery for solace.
Perhaps the appeal for some readers would be that none of these characters are perfect and therefore real. However, at times these characters grate on my nerves simply because they are so contrary. Otto, while coping with a schizophrenic sister whom he adores, seems unnecessarily hostile to his patient lover, William, and patronisingly scathing towards his other siblings and their families. While humorous and witty, these exchanges tend to be too smart-assed and show up qualities of the characters that fail to attract this reader. Other characters like the abused Kristina in 'Window' and Lulu in 'Revenge of the Dinosaurs' drop in on friends (possibly unannounced) and are visibly annoyed when they find out that they are not the centre of the universe when their friends tend to their routine lives and arguments.
Fine writing, though just a tad unsettling for its refusing to stay in the moment long enough for the reader to feel involved before it moves into another time zone in the narrative.
dilan11's review against another edition
5.0
I loved a few of these stories - "Some Other Better Otto," "Like it or Not," "Window." The opening story "Twilight of the Superheroes" baffled me a little. I think that reading about 9/11 particularly for a New Yorker is hard.
I've heard Eisenberg compared to Alice Munro and in the complexity of character, the fine attention to detail that's true. But Eisenberg's characters are different - more urban, sophisticated, self-aware. Definitely a collection I will want to read again.
"Window" has to be one of my favorite stories of all time. There are so many predictable ways this story could have gone. And yet Eisenberg chooses an ending that is completely unexpected and yet rings absolutely true.
I've heard Eisenberg compared to Alice Munro and in the complexity of character, the fine attention to detail that's true. But Eisenberg's characters are different - more urban, sophisticated, self-aware. Definitely a collection I will want to read again.
"Window" has to be one of my favorite stories of all time. There are so many predictable ways this story could have gone. And yet Eisenberg chooses an ending that is completely unexpected and yet rings absolutely true.
randiroo's review against another edition
3.0
Brilliant writing. I'm a novice when it comes to reading short stories, but I can't say I loved this book because it was so damn depressing. I don't always need a happy ending, but the lack of resolution in these stories (even though that is clearly the point) kept me from liking it more.
I would definitely recommend this collection, though, especially for people who are perhaps more familiar with the short story genre!
I would definitely recommend this collection, though, especially for people who are perhaps more familiar with the short story genre!
whimsicalmeerkat's review
4.0
[a:Deborah Eisenberg|14458|Deborah Eisenberg|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1282436954p2/14458.jpg] was recommended to me by a good friend who probably said it best when he said he loves her prose, but there's something about the stories that never seems to come together completely. The stories in [b:Twilight of the Superheroes: Stories|849294|Twilight of the Superheroes Stories|Deborah Eisenberg|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178891024s/849294.jpg|834807] are beautifully woven tapestries of words, often heartbreaking or melancholy, but there is something that keeps them from being exactly perfect. Not that I can explain what that is or what I would do differently. Maybe it is even a sign of their greatness that they leave one wanting something more.
guiltyfeat's review against another edition
2.0
There was very little here for me to cling to. Mostly opaque and inaccessible apart from that one story about Otto and his family that was quite moving. Not my favorite collection of short stories.
timshel's review
1.0
Blech!
I tried to muddle through this collection, but it was difficult. I had no idea what the author was talking about half the time. I couldn't figure out if she just had ADHD or I had an attention deficit disorder of my own. Take, for example, the following passage from the title story
"And actually, Russell (who seems to be not only Amity’s friend and possible suitor but also her agent) has obtained for Amity a whopping big advance from some outfit that Madison refers to as Cheeseball Editions, so whatever else they might all be drinking to (or drinking about) naturally Amity’s celebrating a bit. And Russell, recently arrived from L.A., cannot suppress his ecstasy about how ur New York, as he puts it, Mr. Matsumoto’s loft is, tactless as he apparently recognizes this untimely ecstasy to be."
Granted, you may not know who Russell, Madison, Amity, and Mr. Matsumoto are. You don't know the setting. You have no context. Neither did I. Every passage leading up to this was quite the same. Names, places, more names, and phrases that just seemed to run on and make no sense. If you read the passage above, understood it, and enjoyed it, then you should probably buy this book as quickly as possible and never read another of my reviews again. Please.
The only story that had any redeeming qualities was "Some Other, Better Otto." It wasn't the most compelling story, but it made sense. Otherwise, I really felt like I wasted my time on this one.
I tried to muddle through this collection, but it was difficult. I had no idea what the author was talking about half the time. I couldn't figure out if she just had ADHD or I had an attention deficit disorder of my own. Take, for example, the following passage from the title story
"And actually, Russell (who seems to be not only Amity’s friend and possible suitor but also her agent) has obtained for Amity a whopping big advance from some outfit that Madison refers to as Cheeseball Editions, so whatever else they might all be drinking to (or drinking about) naturally Amity’s celebrating a bit. And Russell, recently arrived from L.A., cannot suppress his ecstasy about how ur New York, as he puts it, Mr. Matsumoto’s loft is, tactless as he apparently recognizes this untimely ecstasy to be."
Granted, you may not know who Russell, Madison, Amity, and Mr. Matsumoto are. You don't know the setting. You have no context. Neither did I. Every passage leading up to this was quite the same. Names, places, more names, and phrases that just seemed to run on and make no sense. If you read the passage above, understood it, and enjoyed it, then you should probably buy this book as quickly as possible and never read another of my reviews again. Please.
The only story that had any redeeming qualities was "Some Other, Better Otto." It wasn't the most compelling story, but it made sense. Otherwise, I really felt like I wasted my time on this one.
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