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innatejames's review against another edition
3.0
There are glimmers in each of these stories that remind me why Boyle is one of my favorite authors. The man whose wife is whisked out to sea the day he professes his renewed love. The juxtaposition of an asteroid slamming into the earth and the possible abduction of a man's daughter. An attempt to save his friends from the police, forces a junkie to give up his habit. Such intriguing premises, but with every short story I felt like the closing sentences ended with an elipses or a breath. I suppose that's why I enjoy his novels more. There's time for him to flush out and linger upon his architectural characters.
tiedyedude's review against another edition
4.0
A very good collection of short stories. My only criticism would be the... ambiguous endings. That just seems to be his writing style, and sometimes it is effective, but other times it seemed gimmicky, or like he didn't know how else to end it. I'm sure that's not at all the case, but just my opinion. Otherwise, a good read.
paul_viaf's review against another edition
2.0
Perhaps 2 stars is too harsh. I give it 2.7 stars I guess.
Throughout life we stumble upon many stories which MUST be told, these, I am afraid, are not them. The writing talent is apparent, though the subject matter leaves much to be desired. I would liken it to a wonderful acting talent being cast for a horrible B movie. A project impossible to rescue. It was not all bad. As you would expect from a writer of this caliber, there were a few gem-worthy sentences to be extracted. Also, I did enjoy the stories, Dogology, Rastrow’s Island, & Chicxulub. Besides these, I found the book tedious, as if you had made small talk with a stranger out of politeness but they rambled on without cease about their uneventful life story. I never like to leave a book incomplete no matter how uninteresting it is so the fact that I finished it is not indicative of its quality. As I have stated, the writing talent is apparent, I could just not escape the laborious subject matter. I have heard so much about his novels, I thought this may be a good introduction on varying levels to become acquainted with the author on an array of subjects. I was wrong. I will look into his more acclaimed works so as not to cast him entirely aside. I hope I fare well with his works in the future. Read this at your own discretion.
Throughout life we stumble upon many stories which MUST be told, these, I am afraid, are not them. The writing talent is apparent, though the subject matter leaves much to be desired. I would liken it to a wonderful acting talent being cast for a horrible B movie. A project impossible to rescue. It was not all bad. As you would expect from a writer of this caliber, there were a few gem-worthy sentences to be extracted. Also, I did enjoy the stories, Dogology, Rastrow’s Island, & Chicxulub. Besides these, I found the book tedious, as if you had made small talk with a stranger out of politeness but they rambled on without cease about their uneventful life story. I never like to leave a book incomplete no matter how uninteresting it is so the fact that I finished it is not indicative of its quality. As I have stated, the writing talent is apparent, I could just not escape the laborious subject matter. I have heard so much about his novels, I thought this may be a good introduction on varying levels to become acquainted with the author on an array of subjects. I was wrong. I will look into his more acclaimed works so as not to cast him entirely aside. I hope I fare well with his works in the future. Read this at your own discretion.
rocketiza's review against another edition
3.0
This one came out of the gate with two intense, savagely written stories that made me buckle up, but then proceeded like a calm Sunday drive for the most part. The writing almost had a feminine quality for a few of the stories that I really did not enjoy. Though overall disappointing after the promise of the beginning, there was still a few gems throughout.
nattly's review against another edition
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
katepiccolo's review against another edition
wel i didnt read all 14 but most. i really like the authors style... fun stories
bitters's review against another edition
3.0
The stories are nicely varied, even if there are only a couple standouts.
msjoanna's review against another edition
4.0
A good collection of short stories, read by the author for the audio version. It's nice to hear the author read his own work and definitely gave the audio version a little extra interest. I wish that the audio producers had put more of a break between one story and the next - a musical line or something similar - because the stories tended to blend one into the other and it was easy to miss the breaks. I especially enjoyed "Dogology," but the whole collection was good.