Reviews

A Hand Reached Down to Guide Me by David Gates

larcher's review

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3.0

Nice collection of stories. The first and last ones I could full novels on. Most of the characters were relatable.

tacomaven's review

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3.0

1star for author living in Missoula/teaching at UM, 1 star for a Chip Kidd cover, 1 star for being short stories...I think this will be a good one!

In the end: really loved the novella at the beginning, but the rest of the stories failed to grab me.

wordlover's review

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4.0

More superb stories. At first I was disappointed that the characters in most are wrestling with similar issues, but then realized that's no different from Cheever or others who stick to their turf and keep digging deeper and deeper into the rich soil. He's astute and unsparing and just a little bit cynical and condescending toward his characters. Great short tales.

alisonkillilea's review

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2.0

To be honest, I only got about half way through this book.
Although it was well enough written, I just couldn't not summon any feelings for any of the characters, a bunch of pretentious, cheating, and shallow individuals. I got about four stories in, yet all the stories seemed the same, written in the same voice, all concerning younger women having affairs with older men or women and vise versa. It got old quick and reading it felt like a bit of a chore, and although I'm not someone to give up on a book even if I hate it (for example Andy Weir's The Martian - God, that book drove me insane), I just decided life was too short to stick this one out.
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