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cathyatratedreads's review against another edition
4.0
Loved these hilarious, biting stories! Well, actually, they ranged from light and witty to heavier and more telling of our current culture. They were so well done. So clever, original, such neat ideas and ways of expressing issues. I laughed out loud at some of the outlandish tales. Very sharp writer.
milkibiskis's review against another edition
Got 80% of the way through and could not finish it. There was one story that was solid but the others seemed to be gawking at the plight of immigrants & POC without adding any nuance. Exploiting pain for the sake of voyeurism isn't my cup of tea.
Also the characters that are POC or the weird metaphors for POC (sweet white baby replaced by some strange dark skinned monster) are poorly fleshed out, hurtful,and one-dimensional. For example, the story the collection is named after, the immigrant from an unnamed country (which is very clearly supposed to be Mexico) is incredibly naive and ignorant.
All this aside, the writing isn't that great and it's full of cliches, I think this is the worst thing I've ever read. I was surprised it was rated so highly.
Also the characters that are POC or the weird metaphors for POC (sweet white baby replaced by some strange dark skinned monster) are poorly fleshed out, hurtful,and one-dimensional. For example, the story the collection is named after, the immigrant from an unnamed country (which is very clearly supposed to be Mexico) is incredibly naive and ignorant.
All this aside, the writing isn't that great and it's full of cliches, I think this is the worst thing I've ever read. I was surprised it was rated so highly.
christythelibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Favorite Stories (The * marks my two absolute favorite):
Flush - A daughter takes her resistant mother to the doctor's for a mammogram. This story showcases one of the recurring themes in this book, that of the role reversal that occurs when children become adults and their parents become like children again.
Visitors - A daughter waiting at her home for her parents to arrive on a visit keeps receiving increasingly bizarre phone calls from her mother as their trip progresses.
*Saving Face - In a totalitarian society, an artist's love for a webbed-feet swimmer ultimately dooms her - the swimmer - to a strange kind of imprisonment.
Miracle - A woman gives birth to a black baby but maintains that her husband (who is white) is still the father.
Sales - In a barren land, a man and his wife trap traveling salesman and keep them penned in their backyard. The man's younger sister looks on with complicity at first until she gives way to a growing defiance.
*Motherland - An island of mothers proves to be a stultifying place for their daughters who grow up with the wrong ideas about the ways of men.
Budnitz' best stories are her more subtle, ambiguous ones. Her other stories are crippled by heavy-handedness and amateurish writing. I would read something by her again. If I were to recommend her, I would recommend reading the short stories I mentioned above and skipping the rest.
Flush - A daughter takes her resistant mother to the doctor's for a mammogram. This story showcases one of the recurring themes in this book, that of the role reversal that occurs when children become adults and their parents become like children again.
Visitors - A daughter waiting at her home for her parents to arrive on a visit keeps receiving increasingly bizarre phone calls from her mother as their trip progresses.
*Saving Face - In a totalitarian society, an artist's love for a webbed-feet swimmer ultimately dooms her - the swimmer - to a strange kind of imprisonment.
Miracle - A woman gives birth to a black baby but maintains that her husband (who is white) is still the father.
Sales - In a barren land, a man and his wife trap traveling salesman and keep them penned in their backyard. The man's younger sister looks on with complicity at first until she gives way to a growing defiance.
*Motherland - An island of mothers proves to be a stultifying place for their daughters who grow up with the wrong ideas about the ways of men.
Budnitz' best stories are her more subtle, ambiguous ones. Her other stories are crippled by heavy-handedness and amateurish writing. I would read something by her again. If I were to recommend her, I would recommend reading the short stories I mentioned above and skipping the rest.
sarahconnor89757's review against another edition
3.0
It annoys me that the pieces have such strong beginings and weak ends. It's a buzz kill.
adrirose's review against another edition
5.0
Wonderfully bizarre stories that made me wish I wrote fiction. My favorite, The Visitor, features a young woman preparing for her parents visit with a new boyfriend she's not sure she's totally impressed with. That narrative is interspersed with phone calls from her mom as the two parents get further and further from the woman's home under increasingly strange circumstances.
werdfert's review
3.0
Why do stories that are 20 pages feel longer than whole books sometimes? That's how this was for me. I liked the stories, but I kept checking to see if I was almost done them while still in the middle.
anndouglas's review
5.0
I have a new author to add to my list of favorite short story authors -- Judy Budnitz. Her stories are brave, dystopian, and funny -- an irresistible combo.
I particularly loved "Saving Face," which is all about unthinking allegiance to a political leader. Here are a few quotes from this brilliant shorty story, which I will be returning to again and again:
"What's your dad do? I said. Designs new and better wings for new and better sing nuts, he said proudly. It sounded like he was repeating something a sarcastic adult had said."
"What about your mum? She got taken away. Mine too, I said. There was nothing special about that. It happened all the time."
"Couldn't help it, he insisted. My dad would bell me to draw a flower and it would turn into a Venus flytrap chewing on a hand."
"You have to stop this. I don't want to lose you too. If you have to make a revolution, make a small revolution."
I particularly loved "Saving Face," which is all about unthinking allegiance to a political leader. Here are a few quotes from this brilliant shorty story, which I will be returning to again and again:
"What's your dad do? I said. Designs new and better wings for new and better sing nuts, he said proudly. It sounded like he was repeating something a sarcastic adult had said."
"What about your mum? She got taken away. Mine too, I said. There was nothing special about that. It happened all the time."
"Couldn't help it, he insisted. My dad would bell me to draw a flower and it would turn into a Venus flytrap chewing on a hand."
"You have to stop this. I don't want to lose you too. If you have to make a revolution, make a small revolution."
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