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spinstah's review against another edition
4.0
If you enjoy character-driven short stories, I recommend picking this up. Baxter's stories are wonderful peeks inside the lives of all sorts of characters, ranging from a recovering alcoholic to a grandmother. I really enjoyed how he focused on the inner lives of the characters, but in a way that seemed natural and worked well for the stories. I also liked that the setting was a constant theme across many of the pieces - they are often set in Michigan, in and around Detroit (from what I can tell at least). I was quite drawn into his style and really enjoyed reading these.
laynescherer's review against another edition
2.0
I don't think I have ever read so many short stories where I could see the clear technical skill and so thoroughly disliked all them.
whitneyborup's review against another edition
5.0
I found some new favorite short stories in this collection. Absolutely stunning. Just my kind of stories. Reminded me of Raymond Carver, but extended.
ckporier's review against another edition
4.0
Great short-story writer, will have to seek out some of his other books.
bibliocyclist's review
4.0
"This is the broom that sweeps the cobwebs away."
"The experience had filled her with bitter wisdom about the compromises of tedium and the hard bloody edge of necessity."
"No one on this bus on Saturday morning had a clue about how to conduct a life. She gazed at the tattered jackets and gummy spotted clothes of the other passengers. No one with a serious relationship with money rode a bus like this at such a time. It was the fuck-up express. Hollow and stoned and vacant-eyed people like herself sat there, men who worked in car washes, women who worked in diners. They looked as if their rights to their own sufferings had already been revoked months ago."
"The experience had filled her with bitter wisdom about the compromises of tedium and the hard bloody edge of necessity."
"No one on this bus on Saturday morning had a clue about how to conduct a life. She gazed at the tattered jackets and gummy spotted clothes of the other passengers. No one with a serious relationship with money rode a bus like this at such a time. It was the fuck-up express. Hollow and stoned and vacant-eyed people like herself sat there, men who worked in car washes, women who worked in diners. They looked as if their rights to their own sufferings had already been revoked months ago."
rebeccahussey's review
4.0
A while ago I read and enjoyed a collection of essays on fiction by Charles Baxter, Burning Down the House, so when the publisher offered me a copy of his latest collection of short stories, Gryphon, I was happy to say yes. I don’t remember a whole lot about the essay collection, except that Baxter argued against the kind of short story that ends in an epiphany where the main character learns a lesson or changes dramatically. He wanted stories that were more true to life and to the way things actually happen to real people. The stories in Gryphon are good examples of what Baxter was calling for; they are quiet stories about people you or I might know who are in familiar situations and go through recognizable experiences. The characters experience change, and perhaps they learn something, if only because something new has happened to them, but the changes are small. The stories capture a quiet kind of reality, which is matched by Baxter’s calmly straightforward, carefully detailed writing.
Read the rest at Of Books and Bicycles
Read the rest at Of Books and Bicycles
uncleflannery's review
4.0
"Venus, which most people think is the next closest planet to our son, is not always closer, and besides, it is the planet of greatest mystery because of its thick cloud cover. 'I know what lies underneath those clouds,' Miss Ferenczi said, and waited. After a silence, she said, 'Angels. Angels live under those clouds.'"
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