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wicked_turtle's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting characters and solid dialogue, but the themes and setting just didn't do it for me.
pickle_burner's review against another edition
4.0
Upon rereading, I didn't love it as much as when I first encountered it, but it's still pretty great.
sonia_reppe's review against another edition
5.0
I love Ford's writing. Ford also wrote Canada (2012), which won the Carnegie award. Here in this old collection he writes about the everyman--regular Joes who are in between jobs or just drifting through life; some of the stories have a teenage narrator who is observing his parents or his friends or girls. It's just life happening, the kind of thing I love to read about. (I just want to ask, who were the editors and publishers of these first vintage contemporaries, because they are a people close to my heart).
rordaz3's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
tigermuffin's review against another edition
3.0
sere. lush. frozen.
Implicit (literati) white male appeal factor.
Gentle writing that could lull a person to not see how hard some of this is. I end up feeling disappointed, as some things kept popping up that I just don't like (it's me, Mr Ford, not you). I got tired of the iteration of Woman as the gold-hearted harlot, or probably more accurately, his desire for women, or apprehension of women, to be more willing to dole it out for losers in all sorts of situations.
Implicit (literati) white male appeal factor.
Gentle writing that could lull a person to not see how hard some of this is. I end up feeling disappointed, as some things kept popping up that I just don't like (it's me, Mr Ford, not you). I got tired of the iteration of Woman as the gold-hearted harlot, or probably more accurately, his desire for women, or apprehension of women, to be more willing to dole it out for losers in all sorts of situations.
silvianotsylvia's review against another edition
5.0
These stories hit you like a punch in the gut. However, you do not feel the devastating effects until much later. I've never read anything as haunting as these stories, never immersed myself in such solid gold when it comes to writing short stories. And I think it never took me quite so long to finish a book this size, with short stories. I remember last night when I still had time at least for one more before sleep took over, and I just couldn't turn the page. Simply because after each and every oneI felt like I needed to breathe, to think and then to forget. Kudos to Black Button Books for bringing this into Romania and to Marius Chivu for translating it.
guinness74's review against another edition
5.0
I love stories like these: slice-of-life that are hard and usually without happy endings. And, while I’m not necessarily a fan of Ford the person, I am a fan of Ford’s writing. It does tend to follow a certain path and so story after story can be redundant, for lack of a better word, but they’re still enjoyable in a ‘people have it worse than I do’ way. Not even schadenfreude, just more of a circumstance and decision-making that dictate how life turns out.
bobbo49's review against another edition
3.0
Beautifully written, grim portraits of Americans in extremis - felt like watching a black and white documentary of lives in turmoil. Hard to read, but filled with insights about the harsh edges of American life.
oedipa_maas's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. These are the stories of the people you would probably see on shows like I Almost Got Away With It.
Some good bits, some really beautiful pieces, but surrounded with lots and lots of exposition and unrealistic dialogue.
Some good bits, some really beautiful pieces, but surrounded with lots and lots of exposition and unrealistic dialogue.