Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
Read just about 200 pp of this - the few pieces that have not been published elsewhere. A couple short stories, and his second group of "Improvisations". Those are fun, had not read any of them before. Not set in his usual IL, they do read like fairytales. Some Prefaces and a couple other occasional pieces. Editor Carduff adds a nice 30 "Chronology" - which is a useful mini-biogrpahy of Maxwell.
I appreciate LOA of putting together in one place many hard to find items, but I do prefer to read the individual books. Easier to handle, and LOA has thin paper with small print. Not hand-hold friendly.
"So Long...." is one of my all time favorites, and one of the few books I have read multiple times.
On to "Billie Dyer" - in its original, stand-alone publication hardcover.
I appreciate LOA of putting together in one place many hard to find items, but I do prefer to read the individual books. Easier to handle, and LOA has thin paper with small print. Not hand-hold friendly.
"So Long...." is one of my all time favorites, and one of the few books I have read multiple times.
On to "Billie Dyer" - in its original, stand-alone publication hardcover.
I've said this elsewhere, but it's worth repeating: If not for goodreads, I would not have met Mikki. If not for Mikki, who recommended [b:So Long, See You Tomorrow|1278202|So Long, See You Tomorrow|William Maxwell|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1319479479s/1278202.jpg|1267189] so highly to me, I don't know that I would've ever read Maxwell. That was in May, 2012, and since then Maxwell has become one of my favorite writers and I'm closing in on reading all of his works. I can't thank Mikki enough.
Not all of the stories here are 5-stars worthy, nor is one of the novels (though they all come close), but the volume as a whole is, and for some of the same reasons I noted in my review of Maxwell's [b:Early Novels and Stories|2190682|Early Novels and Stories (Library of America #179)|William Maxwell|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347258210s/2190682.jpg|2196402]. (I've reviewed all his novels separately.)
The very short stories that Maxwell called "improvisations" he wrote mostly for his wife for Christmas gifts and though they are quite different from his other fiction-writing, they are a revelation. He says so much in each one in so few pages. I'm 'on the record' elsewhere for saying that I don't get along with fables and allegories -- and these do have a fable-like feel, but they are so different. Perhaps it's because he's not hitting you over the head with a moral or an abstract concept. He's simply telling a story, many with the feel of a once-upon-a-time, the feel of a fairy tale, but not of the kind with a pat happily-ever-after ending. I loved them.
One day, and I hope very soon, I will reread his masterpiece, the book that started this journey for me, and I plan on doing it with Mikki.
As I am writing this review on Valentine's Day, please consider it a 'love letter' to both Maxwell and Mikki.
Not all of the stories here are 5-stars worthy, nor is one of the novels (though they all come close), but the volume as a whole is, and for some of the same reasons I noted in my review of Maxwell's [b:Early Novels and Stories|2190682|Early Novels and Stories (Library of America #179)|William Maxwell|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347258210s/2190682.jpg|2196402]. (I've reviewed all his novels separately.)
The very short stories that Maxwell called "improvisations" he wrote mostly for his wife for Christmas gifts and though they are quite different from his other fiction-writing, they are a revelation. He says so much in each one in so few pages. I'm 'on the record' elsewhere for saying that I don't get along with fables and allegories -- and these do have a fable-like feel, but they are so different. Perhaps it's because he's not hitting you over the head with a moral or an abstract concept. He's simply telling a story, many with the feel of a once-upon-a-time, the feel of a fairy tale, but not of the kind with a pat happily-ever-after ending. I loved them.
One day, and I hope very soon, I will reread his masterpiece, the book that started this journey for me, and I plan on doing it with Mikki.
As I am writing this review on Valentine's Day, please consider it a 'love letter' to both Maxwell and Mikki.
I really enjoyed this volume of interconnected stories and novels. The first novel is about his honeymoon trip to Europe after World War II. The second novel is about a murder that happened in the town where he grew up. The stories are mostly connected to Maxwell's childhood town of Lincoln, Illinois and the improvisations are fairy tales for adults.