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8+ Werken 203 Leden 3 Besprekingen Favoriet van 1 leden

Over de Auteur

The author of three previous books, Erin McGraw has published stories and essays in the Atlantic Monthly, Story, and many other publications. Her last story collection was a New York Times Notable Book, and her work has been featured on National Public Radio's Selected Shorts. McGraw has received toon meer fellowships from Yaddo, MacDowell, and Stanford University. She is married to the poet Andrew Hudgins and is a professor of creative writing at Ohio State University toon minder

Werken van Erin McGraw

The Good Life: Stories (2004) 42 exemplaren
Lies of the Saints (1996) 33 exemplaren
The Baby Tree (2002) 8 exemplaren
Bodies at sea (1989) 4 exemplaren

Gerelateerde werken

The Best Christian Short Stories (2006) — Medewerker — 71 exemplaren
The Things in Heaven and Earth: Exploring the Supernatural (1997) — Medewerker — 39 exemplaren

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I have a love/hate relationship with short stories. On the one hand, they are glimpses of a new author’s promise as a writer, and if they are from one of my favorite authors then they are more glimpses into their talented mind. But therein lies the issue-they are too short, and some are so good you wish whole novels had been made from them, because you’re not ready to let these characters go quite yet. ⁣
Erin McGraw has written a strong & poignant collection of stories. They touch on subjects such as family, grief, love, and the roads not taken. Fair warning-unlike other short story collections, each piece in here lasts for only 3-4 pages. Some of the pieces, in particular “Comfort (1) & (2)” “Haircut”, “Spice” and “Hope” stayed with me long after I had started the next piece, and those short stories I would gladly read a full novel abou… (meer)
 
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brookiexlicious | May 9, 2021 |
Why I picked it: I picked this book because I was always curious about the stories my professors wrote from my college years. I had 3 creative writing teachers, so I decided to look them up and try out the people who taught me most of what I know about short stories and the reasons why I fell in love with them. My second professor, who taught me about the power of rewriting, rewriting, rewriting, is Erin McGraw. She has a few published short story collections and a novel, and I settled on reading “The Good Life” first. I had my fingers crossed that I would enjoy her stories, seeing how I learned so much from her, and I was not disappointed.
There’s a variety of stories in this collection: people dealing with their parents, marriages falling apart, women in love with unavailable men. Not necessarily new topics, but McGraw approaches each one with a fresh perspective and new characters. Two protagonists eat through their emotions, which means they also struggle with body issues. Three stories involve priests dealing with forbidden love, acceptance, and failing at their position. One woman realizes the only reason she has a best friend is to one up her in the hopes that her best friend’s failures will validate her own faltering life. The one thing that I felt ties all of these stories together is the ambiguous endings. McGraw doesn’t flat out explain what will happen to these characters, which I felt to be satisfying and frustrating at times. Then again, that could be one of the reasons I enjoy short stories so much – they are just a quick snippet of the lives of these characters.

And can I say just how much I love these descriptions? This coming from someone never says that, but how can I not love these bits sprinkled throughout?
“spindly legs of a compass”
“hair tangling in a low branch of the olive tree”
“the world appeared before me as clear as a steel-plate etching”
“fear wrapped a tendril around Janice’s heart.”

Favorite Piece: Lucky Devil – it’s about a retired couple struggling to come to terms with this new stage of their lives when the wife then stumbles upon the fact that her husband is the creepy old guy in the neighborhood who hits on every woman and crosses the line on a regular basis. I love how connected you feel to the wife, Janice, and her predictament. Discovering your husband is a cheater is not a new topic for stories, but how about finding out later in life when you’re only thinking about traveling, going on daily walks, and filling up all of this extra time? And did I mention that they didn’t have any kids, so they are basically the only family they have? The highlight for me was Janice discovering her husband’s dirty little secret at a neighborhood party when an angry neighbor confronts Janice over what her husband has been up to. Awk. Ward. It also begs the question: is it true that the longer the marriage, the more you put up with?
Favorite Quotes: “Father Dom had never felt as certain about anything as Sipley felt about everything.” The Penance Practicum

“’I had no idea. What kind of a friend doesn’t know the first thing about her friend’s life?’
‘Her best one, I think.’” The Best Friend

“It was at the Talk All Nite that Janice first heard about Ben Lund’s affair with his office manager, and ever since, when she saw Ben, she remembered the coppery taste of sour coffee.” Lucky Devil

“A cynical man, he nevertheless had faith in marriage – for its difficulty, he said. For the pure challenge. For the action of getting up every morning and recommitting to a promise made one or twenty or fifty years before.” The Beautiful Tennessee Waltz

I'm rating this a 4 out of 5. Some I loved and some were good, and they all sounded believable. I will definitely be checking out her other books to see if she can teach me more about short stories as a reader.
… (meer)
 
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ShortStorySlore | Oct 19, 2010 |
Wow, what an amazing story. I was blown away -- I expected something silly and this was something real.
 
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picardyrose | Sep 8, 2008 |

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Statistieken

Werken
8
Ook door
3
Leden
203
Populariteit
#108,639
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
3
ISBNs
16
Favoriet
1

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