allisoncope4's review against another edition
fast-paced
5.0
I love everything about this book. It has everything. Incredible inspiration, a wide variety of time-tested and award-winning authors who have given us unexpected, delightful, reflective, humourous, or mysterious stories to enjoy, each an inspired companion to an Edward Hopper painting. I wish I had ten more of these.
artist_lace's review against another edition
5.0
Reading “In Sunlight or in Shadow” was like wandering through an art gallery with a group of talented storytellers and being whisked away, through their imaginations, to places like New York City and Cape Cod, in any number of varying time periods and scenarios. The stories bring new life to the already vibrant paintings. I especially enjoyed Stephen King’s interpretation of “Room in New York.” This painting is part of the Sheldon Art Museum’s permanent collection and has been a favorite of mine since childhood.
bookloversboudoir's review against another edition
5.0
I was given an ARC of this book by the publisher via NetGalley and voluntarily reviewed it.
I thought In Sunlight or In Shadow was a fantastic collection of short stories. I loved it. Two of my favourite authors, Stephen King and Joyce Carol Oates have a story in this collection so I knew I was in for a treat. Incidentally, their pieces The Music Room and The Woman in the Window are among the best in the collection and are among my favourite stories. The most enjoyable thing about this collection is how different the stories are and how much I enjoyed discovering new writers. There are writers I’ve never heard of and plan to read again such as Megan Abbot, Warren Moore and Justin Scott. There are writers whose name I recognise but have never read before such as Lee Child, Michael Connolly and Jeffrey Deaver. Most story anthologies by their very nature contain a couple of duds. This isn’t the case with In Sunlight or In Shadow. I loved every story. My favourites included The Music Room by Stephen King, The Woman in the Window by Joyce Carol Oates, Still Life 1931 by Kris Nelscott, The Projectionist by Joe R Lansdale and Rooms by the Sea by Nicholas Christopher. The collection contains a print of the Hopper painting that inspired each story. I thought this was a nice touch. With some stories I could see how the painting inspired the writer. I’d never heard of Edward Hopper before but enjoyed the prints in this collection so might seek his work out. I loved In Sunlight or In Shadow and would highly recommend it.
amyl88's review against another edition
5.0
There are some spectacular stories in this collection, each based on or inspired by a different painting by Edward Hopper.
piratequeen's review against another edition
4.0
I love Edward Hopper, because his paintings always tell me a story. Clearly I'm not the only one who feels this way, and when I saw a collection of stories inspired by Hopper's work, I was thrilled. Nor was I disappointed. All of the stories in this volume are interesting and well-written, some of them with quirky humor and other with a dark, twisted flair. My favorites were "Night Windows", by Jonathan Santlofer (beautifully twisted noir), and "Nighthawks", by Michael Connelly. That was the best one by far; it was like reading a Raymond Chandler novel, down to the rain and trenchcoats. Just wonderful.
attytheresa's review against another edition
3.0
Clever premise.
Generally good stories. Only one I really disliked. Loved the ones by Jill Block and Michael Connelly. I do recommend. Fit into 2018 ATY #19. book by a Grand Master Author of the Edgar Awards (Laurence Block among others).
Generally good stories. Only one I really disliked. Loved the ones by Jill Block and Michael Connelly. I do recommend. Fit into 2018 ATY #19. book by a Grand Master Author of the Edgar Awards (Laurence Block among others).
thedoctorsaysrun's review against another edition
4.0
"Foreword: Before We Begin..." by Lawrence Block ****
"Girlie Show" by Megan Abbott ****
"The Story of Caroline" by Jill D. Block ****
"Soir Bleu" by Robert Olen Butler ****
"The Truth About what Happened" by Lee Child *****
"Rooms By the Sea" by Nicholas Christopher ****
"Nighthawks" by Michael Connelly ****
"The Incident of 10 November" by Jeffery Deaver *****
"Taking Care of Business" by Craig Ferguson ***
"The Music Room" by Stephen King ***
"The Projectionist" by Joe R. Lansdale ****
"The Preacher Collects" by Gail Levin ****
"Office At Night" by Warren Moore ****
"The Woman In the Window" by Joyce Carol Oates ****
"Still Life" by Kris Nelscott ****
"Night Windows" by Jonathan Santlofer ****
"A Woman In the Sun" by Justin Scott ***
"Autumn At the Automat" by Lawrence Block ****
"Girlie Show" by Megan Abbott ****
"The Story of Caroline" by Jill D. Block ****
"Soir Bleu" by Robert Olen Butler ****
"The Truth About what Happened" by Lee Child *****
"Rooms By the Sea" by Nicholas Christopher ****
"Nighthawks" by Michael Connelly ****
"The Incident of 10 November" by Jeffery Deaver *****
"Taking Care of Business" by Craig Ferguson ***
"The Music Room" by Stephen King ***
"The Projectionist" by Joe R. Lansdale ****
"The Preacher Collects" by Gail Levin ****
"Office At Night" by Warren Moore ****
"The Woman In the Window" by Joyce Carol Oates ****
"Still Life" by Kris Nelscott ****
"Night Windows" by Jonathan Santlofer ****
"A Woman In the Sun" by Justin Scott ***
"Autumn At the Automat" by Lawrence Block ****
erictlee's review against another edition
5.0
Veteran author Lawrence Block has pulled together 17 of the best short story writers around today and given each one an Edward Hopper painting — that’s the idea. And it works exceptionally well, and not only because the authors of the stories include legends like Stephen King, Lee Child, Jeffery Deaver and Joyce Carol Oates. The Hopper paintings lend themselves to stories about men and women, secrets and money, love and violence. The paintings often seem quite sad, but the stories here are not uniformly so. They are stories in some cases of hope, and in one case, of vengeance. In reading them, I kept turning back to the Hopper painting that inspired the story. A brilliant collection that shows the full power of the short story – highly recommended.
beadsbynoon's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked most of the stories. Even though most of the stories were written by men, the women were not portrayed as pansies. I have to say that I had not envisioned this much murder and scary sex going on in Hopper paintings though. But, as all the stories were written by Block and his friends, Hopper paintings probably do contain a lot of sinister shenanigans in their brains. Stephen King's was definitely a stand out on that front. Each story really does deserve it's own review and most of the stories are worth giving their space.
thoughtsfromapage's review against another edition
5.0
4.5-5 stars
The instant I saw the cover of this book I knew I wanted to read it. In Sunlight or In Shadow is such a clever idea – each writer chosen to participate picked a different painting by Edward Hopper and then created his or her own story about the subject matter of the painting he/she chose. The results are for the most part spectacular. As in any short story collection, some stories are better than others; one or two fell flat enough that I had to just move on without finishing that particular entry.
I have been a huge fan of Hopper for a long time and also really like Lawrence Block’s work so I was just thrilled to see a book that combined the two. There are 18 paintings and 17 stories (one author had to drop out but the painting was included anyway as the frontispiece), and I was excited to see paintings that I knew well and even happier to see paintings of Hopper’s that I had not encountered before. One of the things that makes the compilation so successful is the variation in writing style and genre of the collection of writers that Block chose. I have read everything Michael Connelly and Lee Child have written (and am a huge fan of both of them) so I was glad they were included in this project, and their stories did not disappoint. However, hands down my favorite story was the one by Craig Ferguson entitled Taking Care of Business based on the painting entitled South Truro Church, 1930. I can’t say much more about that particular story without giving anything away, but the inclusion of Elvis in it was clever and made me love that narrative all the more. Lawrence Block’s entry, Autumn at the Automat, was fabulous as well. Several others, Night Windows and The Incident of 10 November, were stand outs also.
Each short story begins with a color reproduction of the painting that is the subject of that short story. I loved this because I continually was referring back to the painting while reading each story. At times, there were details I had not noticed in the painting that were part of the story, and it was helpful to be able to have the painting so close at hand.
Every once in a while, I encounter a book that is unique in its approach or presentation of the storyline or content and am thrilled generally when that occurs because that makes it all the more enjoyable to read. In Sunlight or In Shadow is such a book. I have been touting this book to all of my friends who love to read and am certain it will be a big success. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Pegasus Books for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The instant I saw the cover of this book I knew I wanted to read it. In Sunlight or In Shadow is such a clever idea – each writer chosen to participate picked a different painting by Edward Hopper and then created his or her own story about the subject matter of the painting he/she chose. The results are for the most part spectacular. As in any short story collection, some stories are better than others; one or two fell flat enough that I had to just move on without finishing that particular entry.
I have been a huge fan of Hopper for a long time and also really like Lawrence Block’s work so I was just thrilled to see a book that combined the two. There are 18 paintings and 17 stories (one author had to drop out but the painting was included anyway as the frontispiece), and I was excited to see paintings that I knew well and even happier to see paintings of Hopper’s that I had not encountered before. One of the things that makes the compilation so successful is the variation in writing style and genre of the collection of writers that Block chose. I have read everything Michael Connelly and Lee Child have written (and am a huge fan of both of them) so I was glad they were included in this project, and their stories did not disappoint. However, hands down my favorite story was the one by Craig Ferguson entitled Taking Care of Business based on the painting entitled South Truro Church, 1930. I can’t say much more about that particular story without giving anything away, but the inclusion of Elvis in it was clever and made me love that narrative all the more. Lawrence Block’s entry, Autumn at the Automat, was fabulous as well. Several others, Night Windows and The Incident of 10 November, were stand outs also.
Each short story begins with a color reproduction of the painting that is the subject of that short story. I loved this because I continually was referring back to the painting while reading each story. At times, there were details I had not noticed in the painting that were part of the story, and it was helpful to be able to have the painting so close at hand.
Every once in a while, I encounter a book that is unique in its approach or presentation of the storyline or content and am thrilled generally when that occurs because that makes it all the more enjoyable to read. In Sunlight or In Shadow is such a book. I have been touting this book to all of my friends who love to read and am certain it will be a big success. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Pegasus Books for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.