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anrobe's review against another edition
4.0
Really good collection of short stories. I found them to be compelling, well written and insightful. The content is emotionally raw. It goes to dark places. But, its fascinating. I was really quite taken with the collection. Amy Bloom has a way with story that gets right to the core of the emotional impact of a variety of life events. Despite the rawness of the content, there is balance within the collection as a whole. There is dark as well as light. I really enjoyed the collection.
melissafirman's review against another edition
3.0
You would think that I would have gotten my hands on an Amy Bloom book by now. I mean, when I think of "great modern-day short story writers," her name is one of the first that comes to mind.
I've read a handful of Amy Bloom's stories before - in the various Best Of and O.Henry collections, one or two in A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (one of the best book titles ever), as well as her work in O Magazine (I think it was O) - but never sat down with one of her books in its entirety.
So I thought I would start at the beginning, with Come to Me. Truth be told, this has been on my "want to read" list for quite some time.
Twelve stories comprise this collection, and several of them are connected to each other. It's a brilliant way of showing the perspective of several characters within the same incident as well as at different times of their lives. It's similar to the effect of Olive Kitteridge, only on a more abbreviated scale. Still, I think that these stories - particularly the related ones - would satisfy those who resist short stories because of not getting to know the characters well enough.
As good as these stories are, I really can't say too much about them ("Hyacinths," "The Sight of You," and "Silver Water" and then "Faultlines" and "Only You") for fear of giving too much away, but suffice it to say that they center on two families and are about how our earliest experiences shape us, as well as about what we don't know or don't want to see.
Relationships in all their complexity are at the heart of these stories. There's a daughter reflecting on her parents' unconventional marriage during her mother's funeral ("Love Is Not a Pie") and a husband and wife grieving the earlier than expected end of their May-December marriage ("Semper Fidelis"). There's misplaced affections for obstetricians ("Song of Solomon") and stepchildren ("Sleepwalking"), and inappropriateness under the guise of neighborliness ("Light Breaks Where No Light Shines"). There are families dealing with mental illness in their children and the knowledge that their spouses are in love with others. And of course, there is Amy Bloom's wonderful writing that keeps her readers wanting more.
The author's blurb on the back cover of Come to Me mentions that Amy Bloom divides her time between her psychotherapy practice and writing. Since this collection was published in 1994, I'm not sure if that is still the case.
As much as I'm not sure if I'd want to have Amy Bloom as my therapist (my life is fodder for more than a few novels), I'll say this: after reading Come to Me, I can't wait until my next session of reading one of her books.
I've read a handful of Amy Bloom's stories before - in the various Best Of and O.Henry collections, one or two in A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You (one of the best book titles ever), as well as her work in O Magazine (I think it was O) - but never sat down with one of her books in its entirety.
So I thought I would start at the beginning, with Come to Me. Truth be told, this has been on my "want to read" list for quite some time.
Twelve stories comprise this collection, and several of them are connected to each other. It's a brilliant way of showing the perspective of several characters within the same incident as well as at different times of their lives. It's similar to the effect of Olive Kitteridge, only on a more abbreviated scale. Still, I think that these stories - particularly the related ones - would satisfy those who resist short stories because of not getting to know the characters well enough.
As good as these stories are, I really can't say too much about them ("Hyacinths," "The Sight of You," and "Silver Water" and then "Faultlines" and "Only You") for fear of giving too much away, but suffice it to say that they center on two families and are about how our earliest experiences shape us, as well as about what we don't know or don't want to see.
Relationships in all their complexity are at the heart of these stories. There's a daughter reflecting on her parents' unconventional marriage during her mother's funeral ("Love Is Not a Pie") and a husband and wife grieving the earlier than expected end of their May-December marriage ("Semper Fidelis"). There's misplaced affections for obstetricians ("Song of Solomon") and stepchildren ("Sleepwalking"), and inappropriateness under the guise of neighborliness ("Light Breaks Where No Light Shines"). There are families dealing with mental illness in their children and the knowledge that their spouses are in love with others. And of course, there is Amy Bloom's wonderful writing that keeps her readers wanting more.
The author's blurb on the back cover of Come to Me mentions that Amy Bloom divides her time between her psychotherapy practice and writing. Since this collection was published in 1994, I'm not sure if that is still the case.
As much as I'm not sure if I'd want to have Amy Bloom as my therapist (my life is fodder for more than a few novels), I'll say this: after reading Come to Me, I can't wait until my next session of reading one of her books.
anges_book_chatter's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
travistravis's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fantastic set of short stories focused on love, relationships and seeing things from someone's point of view when their situation isn't your own.
northstar's review against another edition
4.0
This is Bloom's first collection and the stories are beautiful and polished, though I didn't have that "gem after gem" reaction that I did with her most recent book. "Love is Not a Pie" is the first story in the book and my favorite: a woman reflects on the relationship between her father and her mother's lover.
timshel's review against another edition
4.0
If it is true that a writer writes about what they know and that their first work is often semi-biographical, then Amy Bloom's life is a soap opera. He's sleeping with her who is sleeping with him, but he doesn't know that she is also sleeping with her who is sleeping with him, her, and her...
Despite the constant theme of "Relationships Gone Wild", Bloom's stories are lyrical and engaging. I breezed through this collection in a couple of days. Several of the stories are interconnected, with different viewpoints, and I enjoyed these most. Come to Me is a very worthy debut.
Despite the constant theme of "Relationships Gone Wild", Bloom's stories are lyrical and engaging. I breezed through this collection in a couple of days. Several of the stories are interconnected, with different viewpoints, and I enjoyed these most. Come to Me is a very worthy debut.
arnie's review against another edition
5.0
I first read these stories in the 1990s and fell in love with them. I recently reread them and am still in love. She writes about people who are in relationships, in love and have sex in ways different from most fiction. I notice many readers are put off by "Sleepwalking," in which a man has sex with his stepmother. Some reviewers talk about her "fucking her stepson." But she was in bed, he was out drinking and he got into her bed. He fucked her. Maybe it's because music plays a part in many of Bloom's stories, but they remind me of those by Lucia Berlin. Worth a read, I think.
hmin's review against another edition
4.0
I had read "Silver Water" many times before and always though it amazing. Bloom's book is a beautiful insight into the instinctual ways humans fall in and out of love. Something which never follows the social norms of our narrow society.