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tarynthegreek's review
4.0
This is one of my favorite short story collections. It crosses boundaries, reveals tales of childhood emotion, and discriminates against nothing. Amy Tan and Spaulding Grey are shining through in this collection. I have bought this several times over.
emilylandry's review
3.0
I wish there was a story by Lorrie Moore about childhood in this book. There isn't. I would like to give this book 4 stars, but some of the stories weren't as good.
zoemig's review
3.0
"For a long time afterwards I thought of the minister’s statements about suffering. I knew nothing about it except that some people wore it on their sleeves and some kept it inside."
-Max Garland
I Know Some Things is a collection of short stories about childhood by contemporary writers compiled by Lorrie Moore, a successful short story writer herself. Because of Moore's own penchant for beautiful writing, I think I expected slightly more from the collection. I was also definitely disappointed that Moore didn't include one of her own works. There are certainly some stories which are better than others, and to be honest for me the ones I enjoyed the most were those which took a less metaphorical and more literal approach towards childhood. I love reading about how one of many daughters and their strict father, or one boy who helps take drunk ladies homes from parties while they tell him their secrets. These were the stories that captured the essence of childhood in one anecdote, the mystery and the rebellion.
My favourite stories of the collection were "The Point" by Charles D’Ambrosio, “Signs and Wonders” by Max Garland, "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan and most surprisingly for me "Betty" by Margaret Atwood. Unfortunately three of these four amazing stories occur in the first third of the collection, which meant that I Know Some Things took several weeks for me to finish as I could never get fully engaged in the collection. Perhaps this is slightly my own fault, as lately I've been reading a lot of novels which do not require the focus of a short story in which you only have a limited amount of pages to get to know the characters. Ultimately what I can thank this collection for is introducing me to several new (to me) and talented writers whose other works I will be pursuing. There were times when I Know Some Things brought me back to my own childhood, but those instances were far fewer than I expected and although the collection excelled when it came to diversity of opinions, consistency of quality of writing is what let me down most. ***
-Max Garland
I Know Some Things is a collection of short stories about childhood by contemporary writers compiled by Lorrie Moore, a successful short story writer herself. Because of Moore's own penchant for beautiful writing, I think I expected slightly more from the collection. I was also definitely disappointed that Moore didn't include one of her own works. There are certainly some stories which are better than others, and to be honest for me the ones I enjoyed the most were those which took a less metaphorical and more literal approach towards childhood. I love reading about how one of many daughters and their strict father, or one boy who helps take drunk ladies homes from parties while they tell him their secrets. These were the stories that captured the essence of childhood in one anecdote, the mystery and the rebellion.
My favourite stories of the collection were "The Point" by Charles D’Ambrosio, “Signs and Wonders” by Max Garland, "Rules of the Game" by Amy Tan and most surprisingly for me "Betty" by Margaret Atwood. Unfortunately three of these four amazing stories occur in the first third of the collection, which meant that I Know Some Things took several weeks for me to finish as I could never get fully engaged in the collection. Perhaps this is slightly my own fault, as lately I've been reading a lot of novels which do not require the focus of a short story in which you only have a limited amount of pages to get to know the characters. Ultimately what I can thank this collection for is introducing me to several new (to me) and talented writers whose other works I will be pursuing. There were times when I Know Some Things brought me back to my own childhood, but those instances were far fewer than I expected and although the collection excelled when it came to diversity of opinions, consistency of quality of writing is what let me down most. ***
northbynorthwesterly's review
4.0
A well-curated collection of first-person narratives about childhood knowledge, secrets, and confusions. A better organizing theme than most, as it gives all these stories a legitimate reason to cohabitate. The overall impact is greater than the sum of its parts.
Variable, as with all anthologies, but some real standouts:
* Charles D'Ambrosio Jr's "The Point"
* Max Garland's "Signs and Wonders"
* Alice Munro's "The Turkey Season"
* Sheila Schwartz's "Out-of-the-Body Travel"
* Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game"
* Stephanie Vaughn's "Dog Heaven"
Variable, as with all anthologies, but some real standouts:
* Charles D'Ambrosio Jr's "The Point"
* Max Garland's "Signs and Wonders"
* Alice Munro's "The Turkey Season"
* Sheila Schwartz's "Out-of-the-Body Travel"
* Amy Tan's "Rules of the Game"
* Stephanie Vaughn's "Dog Heaven"
emlickliter's review
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I Know Some Things: Stories about Childhood by Contemporary Writers by Lorrie Moore – One of the books I read while writing my novel in college. If you love child narrators, this is a fantastic collection! Happy Reading!
missnicelady's review
4.0
A mixed bag of stories, but I enjoyed most of them. Favorites of the bunch were Toni Cade Bambara's "Gorilla, My Love," Jamaica Kincaid's "Gwen," Margaret Atwood's "Betty," Glenda Adams' "Lies," and Alice Munro's "Turkey Season."
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