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tonythep's review against another edition
4.0
This collection of short stories explores a slightly darker side of the American family. Almond deftly navigates from the comic to the tragic, often within the same story. He is particularly adept at leading you to the edge of "the moment," but then letting you fall in on your own.
not_mike's review against another edition
3.0
Paperback.
God bless america and First datr back stood out
God bless america and First datr back stood out
sharonfalduto's review against another edition
I need to stop thinking that I like Steve Almond because he wrote the book "Candyfreak" that I really liked--because the reason I liked THAT book was that Almond went around to different candy companies and tasted their wares, and it was the wish fulfillment that I liked, not the writing.
So, these are fictional short stories. And the guy is a good writer with a nice eye for detail but oy, every character seemed so--morose. Isn't anybody happy in Steve Almond's world? Plus, there's only so many times you can have unsympathetic characters saying vaguely racist things before I start thinking you (the author) actually thinks those racist things and wants to get them out there by tacitly saying you disagree with them.
So, these are fictional short stories. And the guy is a good writer with a nice eye for detail but oy, every character seemed so--morose. Isn't anybody happy in Steve Almond's world? Plus, there's only so many times you can have unsympathetic characters saying vaguely racist things before I start thinking you (the author) actually thinks those racist things and wants to get them out there by tacitly saying you disagree with them.
choala's review against another edition
4.0
Lorrie Moore likes him, and I love Lorrie Moore, but he's not as awesome as her! But he is pretty cool. His stories are less consistent than hers but I love that they're all about lost weirdos. Some people read stories to feel better about themselves... I suppose
bjr2022's review against another edition
5.0
This is writing that crackles and pops with energy and pulsating life. It makes you laugh and cry or yell Woah in shock. Steve Almond writes from his gut, and it’s a carnival down there: a poker-playing shrink and his card-shark client (I love the cover of this book; it conveys the originality of the writing); a loser actor; white teenage slummers and a black fixer-upper craftsman; a scheming little kid and a tough TSA agent; a harried, maybe pregnant, unmarried ad agency exec; a crazy wretch of a woman and a frantic young busboy; a dying father, his struggling grown son, and a hallucinated bird; a creepy mother and son and the even creepier stranger who unmasks them; a hilarious Edgar-Allen-Poe-on-acid family of French aristocrats and the Jewish boyfriend who visits them (“A Jew Berserk on Christmas Eve”—one of the funniest stories I’ve ever read); a mother who makes a heartbreakingly misguided choice for her wounded-warrior son; a beleaguered currency researcher; a shell-shocked soldier; and a graveyard caretaker who is forced to fight for life.
These are all real people fighting for an America (meaning “life”) that cannot and will not be. My kind of characters, my kind of writer, my kind of stories.
These are all real people fighting for an America (meaning “life”) that cannot and will not be. My kind of characters, my kind of writer, my kind of stories.
1sourapple's review against another edition
5.0
Holy shit. Darker than his other short story collections, but goddamn is it amazing.
yesiamnotonline's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic book. Unusual short stories that both feel incredibly real and bizarre. Want to read more from this author.
karencarlson's review
4.0
God Bless America read 11/11 Detailed comments (with possible spoilers) at A Just Recompense
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