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karenleagermain's review against another edition
5.0
Thank You to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advanced copy of Susan Perabo's short story collection, Why They Run the Way They Do, in exchange for an honest review.
PLOT- Susan Perabo's short story collection, Why They Run the Way They Do, is filled with mentally unbalanced, secretive, and lonely characters. They face cancer, torrid affairs, and accidental deaths. One story even has a child choosing to name her stuffed armadillo; Michael, a name that sends chills through her parent's, which the reader will learn is the name of a man that her mother had an affair with many years in the past. Until this reveal, the story has the air of a ghost tale and is unsettling. Although the stories involve heavy subjects, irony and wit dominate in Perabo's writing.
LIKE- Perabo writes in a direct, almost confrontational manner. Many of her stories are told in first person. Combining this narrative choice and strong voice, her characters were daring me to be judgmental. They demand to be heard. These characters often make odd, if not terrible decisions. For example, in the title story, co-workers are having an affair and they decide to pay a monthly fee to "adopt" a needy child from Africa to be "their baby". As they stay late in the office, they become overly invested in this child living on another continent, relying on her to fill a gap in their relationship.
In The Payoff, two sixth grade girls witness a sexual act between their art teacher and the school principal. They decide to blackmail the principal, multiple times. With each blackmail letter, they become more willing to insert their personal feelings towards the situation. Neither girl realizes that they are too young to understand the complexities of this adult relationship or the damage that they are inflicting.
Although I enjoyed all of the stories, one reigns supreme. Indulgence begins with a mom thrilled to have dodged lung cancer after years of being a smoker. She does however, have brain cancer. Her adult daughter returns home for a weekend to be with her mom before the cancer diminishes her. During this weekend, the daughter tries to tell her mother all of the things that she needs to say, but her mother cuts her off, letting her know that some things have to remain a secret and go unresolved. Indulgence was a punch to my gut. My mom died of cancer and Perabo's story made me long to have taken the opportunity to have those tough conversations with my mom. I want a redo. The real kicker is the twist at the end. I was left sobbing.
DISLIKE- Nothing. Perabo's collection is riveting. Her stories are haunting and tragic, often taking me to places that I didn't want to visit, but felt compelled to stay.
RECOMMEND- Yes! In Why They Run the Way They Do, Perabo tackles uncomfortable, taboo topics with humor and grace. Her talent for creating memorable characters is undeniable.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
PLOT- Susan Perabo's short story collection, Why They Run the Way They Do, is filled with mentally unbalanced, secretive, and lonely characters. They face cancer, torrid affairs, and accidental deaths. One story even has a child choosing to name her stuffed armadillo; Michael, a name that sends chills through her parent's, which the reader will learn is the name of a man that her mother had an affair with many years in the past. Until this reveal, the story has the air of a ghost tale and is unsettling. Although the stories involve heavy subjects, irony and wit dominate in Perabo's writing.
LIKE- Perabo writes in a direct, almost confrontational manner. Many of her stories are told in first person. Combining this narrative choice and strong voice, her characters were daring me to be judgmental. They demand to be heard. These characters often make odd, if not terrible decisions. For example, in the title story, co-workers are having an affair and they decide to pay a monthly fee to "adopt" a needy child from Africa to be "their baby". As they stay late in the office, they become overly invested in this child living on another continent, relying on her to fill a gap in their relationship.
In The Payoff, two sixth grade girls witness a sexual act between their art teacher and the school principal. They decide to blackmail the principal, multiple times. With each blackmail letter, they become more willing to insert their personal feelings towards the situation. Neither girl realizes that they are too young to understand the complexities of this adult relationship or the damage that they are inflicting.
Although I enjoyed all of the stories, one reigns supreme. Indulgence begins with a mom thrilled to have dodged lung cancer after years of being a smoker. She does however, have brain cancer. Her adult daughter returns home for a weekend to be with her mom before the cancer diminishes her. During this weekend, the daughter tries to tell her mother all of the things that she needs to say, but her mother cuts her off, letting her know that some things have to remain a secret and go unresolved. Indulgence was a punch to my gut. My mom died of cancer and Perabo's story made me long to have taken the opportunity to have those tough conversations with my mom. I want a redo. The real kicker is the twist at the end. I was left sobbing.
DISLIKE- Nothing. Perabo's collection is riveting. Her stories are haunting and tragic, often taking me to places that I didn't want to visit, but felt compelled to stay.
RECOMMEND- Yes! In Why They Run the Way They Do, Perabo tackles uncomfortable, taboo topics with humor and grace. Her talent for creating memorable characters is undeniable.
Like my review? Check out my blog!
pammoore's review against another edition
5.0
This collection of stories is like a box of chocolates and every chocolate is better than the last one and maybe better than anything you've ever tasted. Each story was unique and exquisite. Read this book!
therealmlg's review against another edition
5.0
Susan Perabo has a gift for writing characters in short stories that you'll be thinking of and wondering about long after the story has passed. This work is vibrant and tender and even sometimes raw, but the undercurrent is a sustained empathy for the innermost motivations and desires of those we meet through her vignettes. I really enjoyed this book.
cher_n_books's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars - It was great. I loved it.
Short story collections are perfect to keep on your phone for those quick minutes of reading at the end of a work break or while waiting at an appointment. I do not typically find as much joy with them as I do novels, but this one was a gem.
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Favorite Quote: If life really can be compared to a hand of cards, I’m fairly certain that those cards remain facedown until sixth or seventh grade and only then do you get to turn them over and see who you actually are.
First Sentence: When they gave us lumps of clay in art class, I made a pencil holder in the shape of a giraffe, and Louise made an ashtray.
Short story collections are perfect to keep on your phone for those quick minutes of reading at the end of a work break or while waiting at an appointment. I do not typically find as much joy with them as I do novels, but this one was a gem.
-------------------------------------------
Favorite Quote: If life really can be compared to a hand of cards, I’m fairly certain that those cards remain facedown until sixth or seventh grade and only then do you get to turn them over and see who you actually are.
First Sentence: When they gave us lumps of clay in art class, I made a pencil holder in the shape of a giraffe, and Louise made an ashtray.
gianettles's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
spiderfelt's review against another edition
5.0
A librarian suggested I read this out of the blue, reinforcing my rule 'always listen to people who read broadly'. The stories captivated me, defied my expectations and left me ultimately both piqued and charmed. It's a perfect little collection.
taralpittman's review against another edition
5.0
Only recently have I become a fan of short stories; I don't think I started reading them until after college, when a collection was recommended to me by a friend (by author Alice Munro) and I fell in love with the format. For an avid reader, I think I have a relatively short attention span; this certainly poses a problem when a novel doesn't "grab" me in the beginning, and I often choose novels based on my initial reaction to the description. Short stories might seem to be the optimal solution but, again, it often depends on the subject matter.
I was initially attracted to Why They Run the Way They Do for the title since, as you probably know, I love running; secondarily, I was attracted to the fact that it is a collection of short stories and that Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation, wrote a glowing recommendation. This turned out to be a great decision, in spite of the fact that it has nothing to do with running; this is my first five-star read of 2016.
As I type this, I feel inadequately skilled to "review" this collection; to say that I was moved by these stories would be a monumental understatement. A few days after finishing, I was still thinking about a couple of the stories and I'd really like to go back and reread the entire collection; instead, I've limited myself to about three of the stories and I would love to be in a book club where I could discuss this with many other readers. At 208 pages, you have no excuse NOT to read this one; please, go read it, and then return and tell me what you think.
Read the remainder at runningnreading.com: http://wp.me/p4EAyf-1KX
I was initially attracted to Why They Run the Way They Do for the title since, as you probably know, I love running; secondarily, I was attracted to the fact that it is a collection of short stories and that Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation, wrote a glowing recommendation. This turned out to be a great decision, in spite of the fact that it has nothing to do with running; this is my first five-star read of 2016.
As I type this, I feel inadequately skilled to "review" this collection; to say that I was moved by these stories would be a monumental understatement. A few days after finishing, I was still thinking about a couple of the stories and I'd really like to go back and reread the entire collection; instead, I've limited myself to about three of the stories and I would love to be in a book club where I could discuss this with many other readers. At 208 pages, you have no excuse NOT to read this one; please, go read it, and then return and tell me what you think.
Read the remainder at runningnreading.com: http://wp.me/p4EAyf-1KX
kindleandilluminate's review against another edition
4.0
Every story in this collection fits snugly into place like a puzzle piece. Not one story was weaker than the others, and each had me gasping a little for air at the end. Susan Perabo crafts small, sharp, perfect little portraits out of broken marriages, adolescence, motherhood, the minute details of a day and of a lifetime, and a surprising number of dogs - not to mention the one and only time "it was all a dream" has ever been an effective storytelling technique. Incisive, insightful, raw and compassionate.
I received this book through Goodreads Giveaways.
I received this book through Goodreads Giveaways.
bjr2022's review against another edition
4.0
Susan Perabo is a sly, slippery, and wise writer. Even the though the first story in this collection, "The Payoff," had an ending that not only took me by surprise, but gave me one of those rare transcendent glimpses of a whole-life experience, it took me one more story to realize I was in the hands of somebody who would never take the easy way out. By that I mean, even if the material she was dealing with—in the case of the first two stories, young adults and domestic turmoil—might easily become genre stuff (young adult cute angst, navel-gazing women's fiction), no way would Perabo reduce it to that. She has sly eyes that see every corkscrew turn of the psyche and her work can suddenly slip, careening into unexpected places.
By the third story, I realized there would be nothing vaguely generic in this book, and I surrendered all expectations and simply enjoyed being surprised, moved, entertained, and gobsmacked—over and over again. In fact I was surprised that I was so surprised. I was surprised that I found myself either completely neutral or feeling something akin to camaraderie with smokers! Me? A person who has never smoked and watched my mother die a slow, agonizing death from emphysema? Many of the characters in Perabo's stories are smokers, and the writing is so surprisingly good that it can change your embedded reactions. Surprise!
By the third story, I realized there would be nothing vaguely generic in this book, and I surrendered all expectations and simply enjoyed being surprised, moved, entertained, and gobsmacked—over and over again. In fact I was surprised that I was so surprised. I was surprised that I found myself either completely neutral or feeling something akin to camaraderie with smokers! Me? A person who has never smoked and watched my mother die a slow, agonizing death from emphysema? Many of the characters in Perabo's stories are smokers, and the writing is so surprisingly good that it can change your embedded reactions. Surprise!
bibirod's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not usually a fan of short stories, but these were actually pretty good. Hasn't changed how I feel about them...but I don't regret reading.