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oneironaut's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
this book was not good lol. dybek uses women as props to progress the male leads' stories. none of the ladies have depth, they're all just there to cause drama and have sex with the protags. also random racism? like race was only mentioned for stereotypes & jokes. giving it one star for the few stories i liked.
aneides's review against another edition
3.0
I was fairly impatient with this book. Partly my own fault: with something so short--comprising bite-sized pieces, many not even be long enough to be called flash fiction--I feel the urge to finish very quickly. Many of the pieces were prose poems and poems require time and stillness to appreciate. A lot of the pieces were very dreamy... and hearing about someone else's dreams is rarely satisfying. And there were so many of them. I don't remember The Coast of Chicago being like this.
Still, some of the pieces were engaging, and I even found some of the more poetic ones arresting.
I would advise a potential reader of this book to read it one or two pieces at a time, preferably on rainy afternoons with a cup of tea.
Still, some of the pieces were engaging, and I even found some of the more poetic ones arresting.
I would advise a potential reader of this book to read it one or two pieces at a time, preferably on rainy afternoons with a cup of tea.
sharonbakar's review against another edition
4.0
4+
Found the stories inventive and playful - and often found myself rereading to fully appreciate them, so my progress through the book was necessarily slow. Some of the stories are very short indeed; one of them just two sentences long (though later he weaves these lines into other longer stories - riffs off them). Among my favourite stories the flash piece Fridge in which a couple going to their refrigerator for a midnight snack are confronted by an arctic tundra. Midwife is a very dark and disturbed story about a boy, a doll and a potato. The Kiss is heartbreaking and perfect. I couldn't get Cordoba - about love and passion and the workings of chance - out of my head. Many of the stories feature young lovers and are very sensual and tender; there's lots of teasing pillow-talk. Some of the stories you wish were longer
There's also an improvised, spontaneous quality about the stories in the way they keep taking detours, and yet are so finely worked, the language beautiful and reverberations and echoes in the imagery. The book has left me feeling inspired and wanting to write.
Found the stories inventive and playful - and often found myself rereading to fully appreciate them, so my progress through the book was necessarily slow. Some of the stories are very short indeed; one of them just two sentences long (though later he weaves these lines into other longer stories - riffs off them). Among my favourite stories the flash piece Fridge in which a couple going to their refrigerator for a midnight snack are confronted by an arctic tundra. Midwife is a very dark and disturbed story about a boy, a doll and a potato. The Kiss is heartbreaking and perfect. I couldn't get Cordoba - about love and passion and the workings of chance - out of my head. Many of the stories feature young lovers and are very sensual and tender; there's lots of teasing pillow-talk. Some of the stories you wish were longer
There's also an improvised, spontaneous quality about the stories in the way they keep taking detours, and yet are so finely worked, the language beautiful and reverberations and echoes in the imagery. The book has left me feeling inspired and wanting to write.
wmhenrymorris's review against another edition
Some of the stories are fetching, haunting or humorous. But many are not really my cup of tea and are too slight or not as clever as they should seem -- especially once they get stacked up against each other. The one exception is "A Confluence of Doors", which is a very big exception and is a fantastic fantastical story and well worth reading.
augusta_03's review against another edition
5.0
Read these series of stories before I entered college and it inspired me to pursue creative writing in college. Would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys this genre of literature.
abetterjulie's review against another edition
3.0
The first and last thirds of this collection were very enjoyable, but the middle was dull and uninspired. A favorite quote from the first third: "Her tongue rolled r's against mine, but couldn't save me from failing Spanish."
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