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3.33 AVERAGE
3.33 AVERAGE
(2.5 Stars)
Some good stories, some not as good... Overall was an enjoyable book. Reminds me of Donald Barthelme.
Some good stories, some not as good... Overall was an enjoyable book. Reminds me of Donald Barthelme.
A quick read, several stories, philosophical in nature. Quite enjoyable read too, I read it in one go when it arrived.
Just like most short story collections, there were some entries I loved and some I merely endured. Certainly found that the way he writes about relationships clicks with what I look for, so those stories tended to bubble up a bit more.
Will certainly look for other works by Ferris, though I know he's not a lot of people's cup of tea.
Will certainly look for other works by Ferris, though I know he's not a lot of people's cup of tea.
I was lucky enough to pick up at galley at ALA - this book kept me company at dinner (Gus' Famous Fried Chicken, delicious!) and at the Atlanta airport while I waited for my delayed flight. I don't usually read short stories because I don't feel invested in the characters before the end, but in almost every one of these, I did. I found fault with only one, and that is more a reflection on me and what I like to read rather than the story.
This is mostly a collection of stories about flawed middle aged white guys, of which I know plenty so I was comfortable being both sympathetic and infuriated at once. Don't want to give too much away, esp. because the ones I liked the most had a bit of a twist. Suffice to say, I was not disappointed.
The first one was maybe my favorite. Or maybe the second (?) to last. Can't check now because I already gave it to someone else.
LOVED THIS.
This is mostly a collection of stories about flawed middle aged white guys, of which I know plenty so I was comfortable being both sympathetic and infuriated at once. Don't want to give too much away, esp. because the ones I liked the most had a bit of a twist. Suffice to say, I was not disappointed.
The first one was maybe my favorite. Or maybe the second (?) to last. Can't check now because I already gave it to someone else.
LOVED THIS.
Or, Men Who Are Very, Very Bad at Imagining the Inner Lives of Other People and the Women Who Leave Them
(Ferris is a solid writer, and particularly good as always in describing the weird, deadening routines of office life; I'm just really not in the mood for these kinds of stories right now.)
(Ferris is a solid writer, and particularly good as always in describing the weird, deadening routines of office life; I'm just really not in the mood for these kinds of stories right now.)
I think by now, I have established that I am a bit of a book nerd. So, it would not be weird, knowing this information, that I do things like- Short Story Saturday! Not that I would actually do or name out loud such an activity. Ok, ok, I may have cried out to my wife- it is Short Story Saturday this last Saturday and there may or may not have been a party hat involved. Tee shirts are definitely not on the way.
If I had to name a type of book that I keep going back to, it is the short story. If I want to grab a quick read, I will often go for the short story/essay knowing I can pick it up and put it down or plow through all of the stories in one sitting. With The Dinner Party by Joshua Ferris, it was the latter type of reading, due to the..um...totally not Short Story Saturday declaration.
I always go into short stories knowing this- there will be hits and there will be misses. Ferris' book is no different in that sense. My hope is there will be a lot more hits than misses. The other good news is that Ferris' book does that too. I also desire a short story to be the right length for a short story- about 18 pages or so, but definitely not over 50. The final good news is that Ferris' book excels in that too.
The only negative is I remembered reading a lot of these stories. I read the New Yorker often, so I had read or I was reminded I read many of the stories as I was going along, so I may have gotten through them faster than originally intended. So, I will warn, if you read the New Yorker, this is a collection taken mostly from that magazine. That was the only negative though.
There were more positives in this collection. Many of the stories deal with people, particularly males, struggling with connection and relationships. The first story for example is about a husband and wife, who are hosting a dinner party. The husband complains about how much he hates the people he is going to have dinner with, who are his wife's best friends. They are stood up and when the husband storms out to go find the couple, it turns out they are hosting their own party and he and his wife were not invited. Why? Well, I won't spoil the story.
Many of the stories have that type of vibe- an old man who only complains about his aches and pains, until a prostitute enters his life, a playwright struggling to write the pilot while his actors move on to other projects, a man who cannot interact with others, etc.
I found most of the stories were right on target and I loved this collection. The stories were well written, the right length for a short story, and a tight narrative that got the reader into the world quickly. I recommend this one.
I gave it 4 stars.
* I wish to thank NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book. I received it in exchange for an honest review.
If I had to name a type of book that I keep going back to, it is the short story. If I want to grab a quick read, I will often go for the short story/essay knowing I can pick it up and put it down or plow through all of the stories in one sitting. With The Dinner Party by Joshua Ferris, it was the latter type of reading, due to the..um...totally not Short Story Saturday declaration.
I always go into short stories knowing this- there will be hits and there will be misses. Ferris' book is no different in that sense. My hope is there will be a lot more hits than misses. The other good news is that Ferris' book does that too. I also desire a short story to be the right length for a short story- about 18 pages or so, but definitely not over 50. The final good news is that Ferris' book excels in that too.
The only negative is I remembered reading a lot of these stories. I read the New Yorker often, so I had read or I was reminded I read many of the stories as I was going along, so I may have gotten through them faster than originally intended. So, I will warn, if you read the New Yorker, this is a collection taken mostly from that magazine. That was the only negative though.
There were more positives in this collection. Many of the stories deal with people, particularly males, struggling with connection and relationships. The first story for example is about a husband and wife, who are hosting a dinner party. The husband complains about how much he hates the people he is going to have dinner with, who are his wife's best friends. They are stood up and when the husband storms out to go find the couple, it turns out they are hosting their own party and he and his wife were not invited. Why? Well, I won't spoil the story.
Many of the stories have that type of vibe- an old man who only complains about his aches and pains, until a prostitute enters his life, a playwright struggling to write the pilot while his actors move on to other projects, a man who cannot interact with others, etc.
I found most of the stories were right on target and I loved this collection. The stories were well written, the right length for a short story, and a tight narrative that got the reader into the world quickly. I recommend this one.
I gave it 4 stars.
* I wish to thank NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book. I received it in exchange for an honest review.
snipets of painful mediocrity. the dramas of every day life that shouldn't depress me as much as it did. first book of short stories in ages. i didn't 'like it' but it was a good book- recommend
This collection of short essays was highly lauded. Each story, while well written and extremely creative, focused on a human trait that was dark, desperate, or depressing. Though I have no problem with stories of that nature and, in fact, have loved some pretty depressing stories, I didn't find any beauty in the book. It left me depressed.
Fresh, witty, and sharp. A great collection of short stories by Ferris.
its a collection of short stories which i didnt realize, first story is the books title, would have been interested in 300 pages of that. but the rest of these short stories are set to today and i just cant read about anxious people replying to emails and overthinking their reply to an invite x