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mulrooneyr's review
3.0
“To call it compassion makes it sound like a form of divine love, and it wasn't that; it was terribly human. If anything, it was an animal love, the love of an animal that has been living in an incomprehensible world until one day it encounters another of its kind and realizes that it has been applying its comprehension in the wrong place all along.”
milojean_reads's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
lukescalone's review
4.0
This is a good collection of stories published in periodicals throughout the course of 2019. Doerr's tastes here are more consistently solid than the two most recent years. However, at the same time, none of the stories hit quite the same highs as 2020 or 2021. Nicole Krauss's "Seeing Ershadi" is probably the one that stuck with the most.
the_dave_harmon's review
3.0
i only liked 4 of the stories. most of them were just abrupt and pointless, and not in an existential way either. they felt like chapters that had been lifted out of a longer novel. they just sort of end sine ratione.
sharonbakar's review
4.0
I always enjoy these collections and there were some very nice stories again in the 2019 book. My favourites: Jenn Alnady Trahan's They Told us Not to Say This; Karen Russell Black Corfu (when was one of her stories in these collections no my favourite?); Jeffrey Eugenides' Bronze; Julia Elliot's Hellion; Maria Reva Letter of Apology.
As always, it is fascinating to read about how these stories came into being - what the germ of them was. This makes the collection an invaluable learning resource for writers.
If it took me 2 years to finish this, it's only because it is the ideal book to just dip into in between other things.
As always, it is fascinating to read about how these stories came into being - what the germ of them was. This makes the collection an invaluable learning resource for writers.
If it took me 2 years to finish this, it's only because it is the ideal book to just dip into in between other things.
meowpompom's review against another edition
3.0
What I mean is that a place and its disasters—its fathomless, inscrutable unknowns—are not separable. Oklahoma is its tornadoes, just as Maine, even on the mildest of spring days, is its snows, is a caved roof and a woman asleep in her bed, and then gone. The disaster is always there, because it takes up residence inside of you.
melias6's review
3.0
Curated by Anthony Doerr (All the Light We Cannot See), 2019's shorts were selected with an eye towards breaking the rules of form: multiple protagonists, pages of exposition, ambling subplots, unlikable narrators. In theory it's an exciting approach, yet while none are outright failures, many read like style in search of substance. Or where there was substance, the style was less remarkable. My favorites fell into the latter camp, particularly this top five:
"Anyone Can Do It," Manual Munoz -- A timely immigration story that generates pathos through escalating dread.
"Letter of Apology," Maria Reva -- In one of the funniest (and grimmest) entries, a KGB official must extract the title object from a poet who made a political joke.
"Natural Disasters," Alexis Schaitkin -- A city girl moves to Oklahoma and finds work copywriting fluff about real estate. The ending is a quiet stunner that doubles as a persuasive argument for short fiction as a whole.
"Wrong Object," Mona Simpson -- A therapist stretches her limits of empathy when a boring patient reveals a disturbing pathology.
"Omakase," Weike Wang -- A nameless couple dines out for the titular meal, one that brims with white privilege, gaslighting, and other 2019 anxieties.
"Anyone Can Do It," Manual Munoz -- A timely immigration story that generates pathos through escalating dread.
"Letter of Apology," Maria Reva -- In one of the funniest (and grimmest) entries, a KGB official must extract the title object from a poet who made a political joke.
"Natural Disasters," Alexis Schaitkin -- A city girl moves to Oklahoma and finds work copywriting fluff about real estate. The ending is a quiet stunner that doubles as a persuasive argument for short fiction as a whole.
"Wrong Object," Mona Simpson -- A therapist stretches her limits of empathy when a boring patient reveals a disturbing pathology.
"Omakase," Weike Wang -- A nameless couple dines out for the titular meal, one that brims with white privilege, gaslighting, and other 2019 anxieties.
pearseanderson's review
4.0
Well here's something that sucks: I read too many of these stories before the anthology! Which means that I've been reading well, but also that I didn't read them a second or third time for the audiobook of this: Audition, Bronze, Seeing Ershadi, Black Corfu, and Pity and Shame were all pieces I had found my way to before this anthology. Most were good: I didn't take a liking to Audition and Pity and Shame, and I didn't want to give them a second chance yet. This book also had some NEW highlights, like:
Anthony Doerr's delicious introduction about non-conformity
Simpson's "Wrong Object," Schaitkin's "Natural Disasters," and Muñoz's “Anyone Can Do It.” Noice.
I was disappointed with Eisenberg and Berry's pieces here, which is a shame for such known authors. But I'm glad I listened to this book in a week and gave it my all while adjusting to Oberlin, OH.
One more SUCKY thing is a lack of Contributor's Notes in the audiobook. I blame the audiobook maker. Fuck you include them! I want to learn about the writing process and inspiration from the author directly. Gimme nxt year plz kk
Anthony Doerr's delicious introduction about non-conformity
Simpson's "Wrong Object," Schaitkin's "Natural Disasters," and Muñoz's “Anyone Can Do It.” Noice.
I was disappointed with Eisenberg and Berry's pieces here, which is a shame for such known authors. But I'm glad I listened to this book in a week and gave it my all while adjusting to Oberlin, OH.
One more SUCKY thing is a lack of Contributor's Notes in the audiobook. I blame the audiobook maker. Fuck you include them! I want to learn about the writing process and inspiration from the author directly. Gimme nxt year plz kk
dfolivieri's review
I'll admit it: I skipped the stories that were just bad (which was a lot of them). But boy were there some good ones too. "Seeing Ershadi" hit me especially hard. So did "Natural Disasters."