Scan barcode
erintowner's review
5.0
Oh boy, what to say about this one. I rarely love short story collections but this one made me think. Off-kilter settings/scenarios, flawed protagonists...and then human moments that had me empathizing with people I certainly did not want to be empathizing with. Adam Johnson has a unique writing style that I really enjoy. For me, Nirvana and Interesting Facts were the weakest stories in the collection because I'm burned out on neurotic female characters.
alisonhori's review
1.0
So, it made the short list for the National Book award so I read it without knowing much but honestly, I have no idea why anyone would want to read this book. I don't think the stories are so well written or so emotionally powerful or so interesting in any way that it makes up for how uncomfortable they are to read. The story about the breast cancer mother viewing her husband and children was excrutiating to read but turns out not to be the worst....more of a toss up with the Nazi prison guard and solidly not as bad as the pediphile. I found the Hurricane Katrina story quite touching but overall, not sure why anyone would want to read these stories.
nderiley's review
5.0
Trigger warning for those who have suffered abuse, I would skip this book. Fortune smiles contains haunting, beautifully written stories told by protagonists with very deep flaws.
katel1970's review
5.0
Wow, this guy can write! And the variety in topics of the stories shows how creative he is. I will say that Dark Meadow was indeed a tough read, I stopped and started it several times. But I did finish it. Fantastic collection of short stories.
shirleytupperfreeman's review against another edition
I'm not usually a fan of short stories, but these were amazingly good. Johnson doesn't shy away from tough subjects. A 'retired' guard from a prison camp in East Germany narrates a compelling story about the ways we can fool ourselves into practicing evil. A story told from the point of view of a pedophile trying to reform was difficult to read but still informative. The imagined lives of two defectors from North Korea trying to make a life in South Korea made for another good story. One of my favorite passages, from the story about an East German prison guard (George Orwell was a Friend of Mine) is: "To think what the Stasi went through to spy on us. Even they couldn't dream of a world in which citizens voluntarily carried tracking devices, conducted self-surveillance and reported on themselves, morning, noon and night." There is plenty to think about in this National Book Award winner.
alisonjfields's review against another edition
4.0
These are all great stories and Johnson is a wonderful, imaginative writer. That said, it would be nice if a single story in this collection was not about a terrible man and his relationship with at least one helpless woman who depends upon him.