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A review by dajenny
The Best American Short Stories 2005 by Katrina Kenison, Michael Chabon
3.0
The writing is superb. The stories themselves? Not so much.
I think I am beginning to fall for the short story form, but not the tales in this volume. It felt as though every one of them was depressing or sad or melancholy in some way. I don't need my fiction to be all sunshine and roses and rainbows, but I like to feel as though there's some meaning behind the darkness.
Beyond that, several of the stories in this collection left me thinking, "Huh?" at the end of them. I may not have the insight or patience to plumb all the layers of meaning and metaphorical allusions in these works. While I appreciate subtlety, I tend to like tales that are a bit more straightforward.
I think I am beginning to fall for the short story form, but not the tales in this volume. It felt as though every one of them was depressing or sad or melancholy in some way. I don't need my fiction to be all sunshine and roses and rainbows, but I like to feel as though there's some meaning behind the darkness.
Beyond that, several of the stories in this collection left me thinking, "Huh?" at the end of them. I may not have the insight or patience to plumb all the layers of meaning and metaphorical allusions in these works. While I appreciate subtlety, I tend to like tales that are a bit more straightforward.