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ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
5.0
Now it begins, the sorting and testing of words. Remember that words are not symbols of other words. There are words which, when tinkered with, become honest representatives of the cresting blood, the fine living net of nerves. Define rain. Or even joy. It can be done.
So, short stories. I do like them, but have trouble reading several by one author as they end up feeling like Faberge eggs. You know, you see one and it's exquisite. And then you see the next one and, hey, it's quite nice too, but by the third or fourth, any elements of surprise are gone and after a half dozen I'm a little bored and looking forward to the cafe. An anthology of some sort is a different matter. Each author spins their perfect little tale and then is finished. I don't become jaded with a dozen instances in a row of subdued disappointment or witty dialogue, but get to be astonished all over again with the next story.
This book is a collection of short stories gathered by David Sedaris. There is the expected Dorothy Parker (Song of the Shirt, 1941), but there's also Richard Yates (Oh, Joseph, I'm So Tired), Joyce Carol Oates (The Girl with the Blackened Eye) and Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies). Sedaris favors stories with emotional resonance over clever wordplay, and the best two stories in the book were amazing; Revelation by Flannery O'Connor and Cosmopolitan by Akhil Sharma.
I loved rediscovering how a short story can compress all the emotion and heft of a novel into a dozen or so pages. I think I may start reading from all those Collected Stories of I have sitting around, but one at a time, with a few months between each story so that I can be newly astonished with each one.
So, short stories. I do like them, but have trouble reading several by one author as they end up feeling like Faberge eggs. You know, you see one and it's exquisite. And then you see the next one and, hey, it's quite nice too, but by the third or fourth, any elements of surprise are gone and after a half dozen I'm a little bored and looking forward to the cafe. An anthology of some sort is a different matter. Each author spins their perfect little tale and then is finished. I don't become jaded with a dozen instances in a row of subdued disappointment or witty dialogue, but get to be astonished all over again with the next story.
This book is a collection of short stories gathered by David Sedaris. There is the expected Dorothy Parker (Song of the Shirt, 1941), but there's also Richard Yates (Oh, Joseph, I'm So Tired), Joyce Carol Oates (The Girl with the Blackened Eye) and Jhumpa Lahiri (Interpreter of Maladies). Sedaris favors stories with emotional resonance over clever wordplay, and the best two stories in the book were amazing; Revelation by Flannery O'Connor and Cosmopolitan by Akhil Sharma.
I loved rediscovering how a short story can compress all the emotion and heft of a novel into a dozen or so pages. I think I may start reading from all those Collected Stories of I have sitting around, but one at a time, with a few months between each story so that I can be newly astonished with each one.
mmhatton06's review against another edition
5.0
this was a great read- many different short stories-all of them compelling and interesting-like Mr. Sedaris himself
chughes120's review against another edition
5.0
Exactly what I expected from a series of short stories curated by David Sedaris.
lavrendy's review against another edition
2.0
pretty average short story collection IMO
my favorite was Patricia Highsmith’s, so I’m excited to read more of her work!
my favorite was Patricia Highsmith’s, so I’m excited to read more of her work!
karenleagermain's review against another edition
5.0
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to see David Sedaris speak at UCLA. In my haste to make sure that I had read all of Sedaris' books, I bought " Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules" on my Kindle. It turns out, that this a collection of Sedaris' favorite short stories and he edited the compilation.
I am not the slightest bit disappointed that this wasn't a collection of Sedaris stories, because the selections he picked are fantastic. In fact, this is probably the best collection of short stories that I have ever encountered. Not a bad one in the bunch. Most of them are really depressing and downright hard to read. In particular, "In The Cemetery Where Al Jolsen in Buried" by Amy Hempel and "People Like That are the Only People Here" by Lorrie Moore. Both stories deal with different aspects of cancer and both are honest and heartbreaking.
I think the only story that I had previously read, was Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies." It's such a well crafted story, that I really enjoyed a second read of it. Really, this is an outstanding short story collection and I cannot praise it enough. Read it!!!
I am not the slightest bit disappointed that this wasn't a collection of Sedaris stories, because the selections he picked are fantastic. In fact, this is probably the best collection of short stories that I have ever encountered. Not a bad one in the bunch. Most of them are really depressing and downright hard to read. In particular, "In The Cemetery Where Al Jolsen in Buried" by Amy Hempel and "People Like That are the Only People Here" by Lorrie Moore. Both stories deal with different aspects of cancer and both are honest and heartbreaking.
I think the only story that I had previously read, was Jhumpa Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies." It's such a well crafted story, that I really enjoyed a second read of it. Really, this is an outstanding short story collection and I cannot praise it enough. Read it!!!
bookishblond's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely collection of David Sedaris' favorite short stories, featuring Richard Yates, Charles Baxter, Jhumpa Lahiri, Katherine Mansfield, Alice Munro, Jean Thompson, Frank Gannon, Patricia Highsmith, Jincy Willett, Dorothy Parker, Joyce Carol Oates, Lorrie Moore, Flannery O'Connor, Amy Hempel, Akhil Sharma, Tim Johnston, and Tobias Wolff.
As Sedaris says in the introduction, "stories can save you."
As Sedaris says in the introduction, "stories can save you."
briandice's review against another edition
5.0
A really fabulous collection of stories from masters of the craft; Hempel, Baxter and Wolff's are my favorite. The audio version is extremely well done - Sedaris reading "Gryphon" was the best of the bunch. Highly recommended.
nhelregel's review against another edition
5.0
A lovely collection of stories from a variety of writers. Will lead you to explore new authors and develop new favorites.
matthewwester's review against another edition
4.0
Solid 4 stars from this collection of short stories, hand-picked by Mr. David Sedaris. It's always hard to know how to review a book of short stories by many authors so I'll just say what I always say: several stories will stay with me for a long time and I loved them, a few were terrible and I couldn't wait until they were over, and the rest fell in the middle somewhere.
Don't get this book expecting everything to be humorous. These stories have real punch. Good stuff.
Don't get this book expecting everything to be humorous. These stories have real punch. Good stuff.
cadenceann's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful exploration of the struggles and surprising delights of the human experience