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emmazucati's review
4.0
The book is about what happens when people misread others and the aftermath of doing so. Most of the stories easily slotted into that definition while others were more reaching. Some of them were too long or too metaphorical so they didn't quite fit the flow of the other stories but for the most part they were all entertaining in their separate ways.
hollowspine's review
5.0
A very well written, thought-provoking collection of stories. It's no mystery why this author has won the Flannery O'Connor award.
The first story, "Out of the Mouths of Babes," set the tone for the collection, stories that had an element of the strange, yet also, remaining full of stark realism as well. In the story, a child solves each of his new nanny's troubles one by one by speaking to call centers, business owners and a detective over the phone.
Each story contains characters that have troubles with the world, or in themselves, which they try to solve through various means, sometimes a mathematical equation, sometimes music, other times through the repeated motions of a massage that they didn't believe in, but hope that if only they try it, it will work.
Each story was expertly turned, leaving me with endings that I both was glad to see, but also wanted to put off getting to once I neared them.
The last story, "the Chautauqua Sessions" was particularly both hard to read and compelling to me.
Hopefully this award, along with the few books of short stories listed on 2014 best of lists, will boost readership in short story collections. I think this book would appeal to those who enjoy reading George Saunders, Jonathan Letham, Matt Haig and Haruki Murakami.
The first story, "Out of the Mouths of Babes," set the tone for the collection, stories that had an element of the strange, yet also, remaining full of stark realism as well. In the story, a child solves each of his new nanny's troubles one by one by speaking to call centers, business owners and a detective over the phone.
Each story contains characters that have troubles with the world, or in themselves, which they try to solve through various means, sometimes a mathematical equation, sometimes music, other times through the repeated motions of a massage that they didn't believe in, but hope that if only they try it, it will work.
Each story was expertly turned, leaving me with endings that I both was glad to see, but also wanted to put off getting to once I neared them.
The last story, "the Chautauqua Sessions" was particularly both hard to read and compelling to me.
Hopefully this award, along with the few books of short stories listed on 2014 best of lists, will boost readership in short story collections. I think this book would appeal to those who enjoy reading George Saunders, Jonathan Letham, Matt Haig and Haruki Murakami.
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