Search results
- Book Marks
- Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So. (Ecco) 22 Rave • 5 Positive • 1 Mixed. “The presence of the author is so vivid in Afterparties, Anthony Veasna So’s collection of stories, he seems to be at your elbow as you read … The personality that animates Afterparties is unmistakably youthful, and the stories themselves are mainly built around conditions of youth—vexed and tender relationships with parents, awkward romances, nebulous worries about the future.
- Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor. (Riverhead) 19 Rave • 7 Positive • 2 Mixed. Read an interview with Brandon Taylor here. “Taylor plays the Lionel-Charles-Sophie storyline for all its awkwardness and resentment, but it can feel like a note held too long to suspend commitment, which is the resolution we’re trained to expect … The violence is neither glamorous nor gratuitous; it is senseless without being pointless.
- First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami. (Knopf) 13 Rave • 17 Positive • 7 Mixed • 5 Pan. “… a blazing and brilliant return to form … a taut and tight, suspenseful and spellbinding, witty and wonderful group of eight stories … there isn’t a weak one in the bunch.
- That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry. (Doubleday) 13 Rave • 10 Positive •1 Mixed. “There’s not a bad story in the bunch, and it’s as accomplished a book as Barry has ever written … Barry does an excellent job probing the psyche of his diffident protagonist, and ends the story with an unexpected moment of sweetness that’s anything but cloying—realism doesn’t need to be miserablism, he seems to hint; sometimes things actually do work out … Barry has a rare gift for crafting characters the reader cares about despite their flaws; in just 13 pages, he manages to make Hannah and Setanta come to life through sharp dialogue and keen observations … Barry proves to be a master of writing about both love and cruelty … Barry brilliantly evokes both the good and bad sides of love, and does so with stunningly gorgeous writing … There’s not an aspect of writing that Barry doesn’t excel at.
May 23, 2023 · In Brandon Taylor’s The Late Americans, art students scramble for money and sex. ... Taylor’s 2021 short story collection, than to Real Life, his 2020 novel.
- Book Marks
- Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So. (Ecco) 22 Rave • 5 Positive • 1 Mixed. “The presence of the author is so vivid in Afterparties, Anthony Veasna So’s collection of stories, he seems to be at your elbow as you read … The personality that animates Afterparties is unmistakably youthful, and the stories themselves are mainly built around conditions of youth—vexed and tender relationships with parents, awkward romances, nebulous worries about the future.
- Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor. (Riverhead) 19 Rave • 7 Positive • 2 Mixed. Read an interview with Brandon Taylor here. “Taylor plays the Lionel-Charles-Sophie storyline for all its awkwardness and resentment, but it can feel like a note held too long to suspend commitment, which is the resolution we’re trained to expect … The violence is neither glamorous nor gratuitous; it is senseless without being pointless.
- First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami. (Knopf) 13 Rave • 17 Positive • 7 Mixed • 5 Pan. “… a blazing and brilliant return to form … a taut and tight, suspenseful and spellbinding, witty and wonderful group of eight stories … there isn’t a weak one in the bunch.
- That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry. (Doubleday) 13 Rave • 10 Positive •1 Mixed. “There’s not a bad story in the bunch, and it’s as accomplished a book as Barry has ever written … Barry does an excellent job probing the psyche of his diffident protagonist, and ends the story with an unexpected moment of sweetness that’s anything but cloying—realism doesn’t need to be miserablism, he seems to hint; sometimes things actually do work out … Barry has a rare gift for crafting characters the reader cares about despite their flaws; in just 13 pages, he manages to make Hannah and Setanta come to life through sharp dialogue and keen observations … Barry proves to be a master of writing about both love and cruelty … Barry brilliantly evokes both the good and bad sides of love, and does so with stunningly gorgeous writing … There’s not an aspect of writing that Barry doesn’t excel at.
Jun 6, 2021 · A Short Story About A Lonely Swimming Instructor; A Short Story About a Woman Looking for Freedom; A Short Story About a Foul-Mouthed Parrot; She feels productive, virtuous. Her reward is to close her eyes for just a moment. She dips into the brief dark of her eyelids, feels that woozy elation like holding her breath and letting it go. She ...
Jun 19, 2021 · Brandon Taylor's book "Filthy Animals" is a collection of stories - some interconnect, some just bounce off each other - most of which are set in a Midwestern university town in which Lionel, a ...
Jun 22, 2021 · Happy release day to Brandon Taylor, whose short-story collection, Filthy Animals, hits shelves today. Taylor’s debut novel, Real Life, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, so anticipation and expectation are likely both high for this follow-up. The author spoke with NPR’s Scott Simon about the book in the weekend leading up to its release.
Jun 22, 2021 · This is the emotional world of Brandon Taylor’s collection of tales, the follow-up to his Booker-Prize-shortlisted novel "Real Life." Each story is somehow both desolate and invigorating.
