A review by thebarandthebookcase
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories by Laura van den Berg

5.0

This is my favorite short story collection of the year, no question. Van Den Berg has created a surreal, chilling, and often bleak world in this book, telling the stories of haunted women as they traverse grief, trauma, and violence from men. Van Den Berg writes with such precision and thought that it is clear that every word of this book was considered to make the most of the short form. Her sentences are precise and captivating, pulling you into each story immediately and not letting you loose until she decides to. The best example of this is the first story “Last Night,” which opens with “I want to tell you about the night I got hit by a train and died.” Even better, the following sentence is “The thing is - it never happened.”

Each story is unique in its approach yet feels grounded in cohesiveness. Van Den Berg is not afraid to constantly surprise her readers, and her narrative choices work wonders to leave a deep imprint on your mind with each story. Even for some short story collections that I love, I can forget the details of individual stories yet appreciate it overall. This is not the case here - every story is unforgettable and punches you in the face. While this is the only book I have by her, I cannot wait to read everything she has written and eagerly await her next work.