Reviews

So Long: Stories 1987-1992 by Lucia Berlin

toniclark's review

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5.0

This is a stunning story collection. I want to read everything she's written. I know there's a new collection (posthumous) with a Foreword by Lydia Davis (A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories). There's some overlap between this collection and the new one, but many other stories. Incredible writing by a long-overlooked writer.

jessywallach's review

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emotional funny inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

duffymn's review

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5.0

Lucia Berlin was my Fiction Writing professor at the University of Colorado in 1998. She still holds a very special place in my heart, as she was the one who encouraged me to write what I knew best.

In this collection of short stories, Berlin mixes fiction and memory, jumping from the Alaskan mining town of her youth, to the coast of Mexico with her dying sister, to Santiago, Chile, and modern-day Oakland where she fights her alcoholism while raising young children. "So Long" contains personal and poignant writing. This is a hard-find, but absolutely worth every dime.

bribeatris's review

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5.0

Sigh. Lucia Berlin will always hold a special place in my heart. Her stories are so familiar

duffymn's review against another edition

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5.0

Lucia Berlin was my Fiction Writing professor at the University of Colorado in 1998. She still holds a very special place in my heart, as she was the one who encouraged me to write what I knew best.

In this collection of short stories, Berlin mixes fiction and memory, jumping from the Alaskan mining town of her youth, to the coast of Mexico with her dying sister, to Santiago, Chile, and modern-day Oakland where she fights her alcoholism while raising young children. "So Long" contains personal and poignant writing. This is a hard-find, but absolutely worth every dime.
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