A review by chickflix
In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper by Lawrence Block

4.0

A collection of 17 short stories based on the paintings of one of my favorite artists, Edward Hopper. These works are very hit and miss for me - some are excellent but quite a few weren't to my taste. I rounded up because I love the idea of this book as a whole.

Since I haven't seen any reviews listing all of the stories in this book, I here is a list to go with the collage of corresponding paintings above:

1) Girlie Show (Girlie Show, 1941) - An unhappy wife discovers who the subject of her husband's nude painting is - 5*
2) The Story of Caroline (Summer Evening, 1947) - A woman searches for her birth mother - 3*
3) Soir Bleu (Soir Bleu, 1914) - A man meets an actor he once saw perform as a child - 4*
4) The Truth About What Happened (Hotel Lobby, 1943) - An injured military man is debriefed about his experience - 2*
5) Rooms by the Sea (Rooms by the Sea, 1951) - A woman moves into a house where the rooms are always changing - 3*
6) Nighthawks (Nighthawks, 1942) - A private eye investigates a young painter - 2*
7) The Incident of 10 November (Hotel by a Railroad, 1952) - Russian spy stuff which left me confused - 2*
8) Taking Care of Business (South Truro Church, 1930) - Two old men smoke pot and talk about life and death - 4*
9) The Music Room (Room in New York, 1932) - A man and woman kidnap men for money - 5*
10) The Projectionist (New York Movie, 1939) - A projectionist, a theater owner and a ticket taker form a strong bond - 5*
11) The Preacher Collects (Based on Hopper's Letters) - A fictional story based on Hopper's life and family - 2*
12) Office at Night (Office at Night, 1940) - A small town girl moves to the big city - 3*
13) Woman in the Window (Eleven A.M., 1926) - A woman dreams of killing her lover - 4*
14) Still Life, 1931 (Hotel Room, 1931) - A white woman helps the NAACP in the American South - 3*
15) Night Windows (Night Windows, 1928) - A voyeur obsesses over the woman he watches through her windows - 5*
16) Woman in the Sun (Woman in the Sun, 1961) - A man asks a woman if he can spend his last day alive with her - 4*
17) Autumn in the Automat (Automat, 1927) - A con woman tries to make a buck - 3*