Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The first three stories were a gut punch. Just astonishing and heartbreaking. The rest were good, but didn't quite live up to the beginning. Until the last story, which I read while delusional tiredness, but still rocked me. Read this. Best short story debut since Jhumpa Lahiri's Interpreter of Maladies.
A solid 3.5 stars. [It's books like this that really make me wish I could give half stars]
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who needed a happy-go-lucky pick-me-up. It's not that kind of book. Instead, this book is a tough (but worthwhile) look at various forms of brokenness. The 9 stories within are all well written, though of course every reader will find a few they like more than the rest.
The book jacket seemed to promise a far-reaching cast of characters and contexts. I was surprised, then, when I was about halfway through the book to see so many homosexual protagonists. Perhaps the book jacket would have been more accurate if it mentioned that homosexuality and mental disorder play a more-than-passing presence throughout the book? Just saying.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who needed a happy-go-lucky pick-me-up. It's not that kind of book. Instead, this book is a tough (but worthwhile) look at various forms of brokenness. The 9 stories within are all well written, though of course every reader will find a few they like more than the rest.
The book jacket seemed to promise a far-reaching cast of characters and contexts. I was surprised, then, when I was about halfway through the book to see so many homosexual protagonists. Perhaps the book jacket would have been more accurate if it mentioned that homosexuality and mental disorder play a more-than-passing presence throughout the book? Just saying.
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
A disparate collection of dissonant short stories that leaves you shaken in ways both wonderful and tragic. I always needed a minute (or a couple hours) to pull my head back into the real world after one of the tales. Beautifully written and moving.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Multiple short stories in this collection will have you sitting there and contemplating your existence.
dark
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't know how this escaped my marking it read.
I was working at the law school when Haslett was a student, which is when this was published. I was on vacation with my family in a small cabin that barely received two channels over its antenna, and we were watching the Today Show over breakfast. And there was Adam, sitting on the couch talking to whoever was hosting at that time. I just stared for a minute, thinking, that face looks awfully familiar... It was around that time we dubbed the law school the east coast Iowa Writers Workshop, for its wealth of authors.
But I digress.
This collection was like finding some special-label dark chocolate that you haven't seen before but are intrigued about based on the label, that you're a bit afraid might have some weird chili powder and bean paste concoction in it, and finding to your increasing delight that it's just chocolate all the way down.
I need to find my copy and re-read it. It's been years, but until reading Imagine Me Gone, I hadn't realized how much I missed his prose. It's simply gorgeous.
I was working at the law school when Haslett was a student, which is when this was published. I was on vacation with my family in a small cabin that barely received two channels over its antenna, and we were watching the Today Show over breakfast. And there was Adam, sitting on the couch talking to whoever was hosting at that time. I just stared for a minute, thinking, that face looks awfully familiar... It was around that time we dubbed the law school the east coast Iowa Writers Workshop, for its wealth of authors.
But I digress.
This collection was like finding some special-label dark chocolate that you haven't seen before but are intrigued about based on the label, that you're a bit afraid might have some weird chili powder and bean paste concoction in it, and finding to your increasing delight that it's just chocolate all the way down.
I need to find my copy and re-read it. It's been years, but until reading Imagine Me Gone, I hadn't realized how much I missed his prose. It's simply gorgeous.