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A review by cgbeck
Freeman's: The Best New Writing on Arrival by John Freeman
5.0
An excellent collection of short stories and poetry; I couldn't put this down. It's the perfect sort of book that removes you from your own, seemingly banal life and throws you headfirst into someone else's. My favorite piece was "Black and Blue" by Garnette Cadogan, in which the mundane act of walking becomes a provocative story telling mechanism, waking us up to a reality many of us don't often experience.
This review is more of a 4.5, rather than a 5, but only because of the last essay, "On Learning Norwegian" by Lydia Davis. While this piece of nonfiction is a heady, interesting intellectual exercise, it lacks a simplicity and pungent story telling that the other works delivered so well. Certainly not enough to derail the entire book, however. A must read.
This review is more of a 4.5, rather than a 5, but only because of the last essay, "On Learning Norwegian" by Lydia Davis. While this piece of nonfiction is a heady, interesting intellectual exercise, it lacks a simplicity and pungent story telling that the other works delivered so well. Certainly not enough to derail the entire book, however. A must read.