Reviews

Circling the Drain: Stories by Amanda Davis

jess_mango's review

4.0

I really enjoyed Davis's novel Wonder When You'll Miss Me, which is actually an expansion on one of the short stories from Circling the Drain. The overall tone of the short stories is melancholy but there are moments of humor. The stories focus on young women who are all feeling some sort of loss in their lives. There's a little bit of magical realism going on in the stories as well.

Davis was a very talented author and it is tragic that she had to die at such a young age.

missmim's review

3.0

Although I enjoyed reading these stories, I don't understand the rave reviews for this collection. There are a couple of really good ones, notably "Fat Ladies Floated in the Sky Like Balloons" and "Faith, or Tips for the Successful Young Lady", which was later expanded into Davis' first novel, "Wonder When You'll Miss Me." But the rest of them seem rather unfinished, and like they need some further editing and rewriting to make them truly great. I think perhaps if the book wasn't covered in fawning quotes about how amazing and original these stories are, I wouldn't have been expecting masterpieces of short fiction and I could be a little more giving in my praise. Right now I'm reading Aimee Bender's "Willfull Creatures" and though I'm only two stories in, they are already more masterful, interesting and original than Ms. Davis' work here. But one shouldn't speak ill of the dead, so I'll end with something nice--yes, she had talent, and yes, her first novel was lovely. These short stories are a good beginning for a writing career that was sadly cut short.

nina_andreyevna's review

4.0

A little uneven but ultimately haunting. Davis's prose is a force to be reckoned with; there are many moments of true power here, and throughout all a sense of aching loss.

jonathanwlodarski's review

5.0

"Testimony" and "Faith" and "Circling the Drain" are the highlights here, dazzling stories that I want to saturate in forever, but I loved "Fat Ladies Floated in the Sky Like Balloons" and "The Very Moment They're About" and "True Story," too. An overall very tight collection. Would read again.

4.5/5