In a world overwhelmed by a global pandemic, The New York Times approached authors to contribute a short story encompassing their take on this discomfiting period. It brings Lockdown galloping back into my mind, even though few stories tackle this directly. The strangeness of the world at that time is brought into focus by a visit to a Barcelona dog owner with John Wray, or Com Toibin bicycling in Los Angeles. Not every story is a success. I wasn't a fan of Margaret Atwood's Impatient Griselda. But as a memorial to a moment in history, with fine writing as standard, this collection is unbeatable. ( )

3.5⭐ ( )

The Decameron Project: 29 New Stories from the Pandemic compiled by the New York Times is a collection that speaks to us all in one way now while we are living it and, hopefully, in another way when we have survived it. Like the work it references, it is more than simply the sum of its parts, it is also how these stories all, unintentionally, relate to each other as well as with us.

It has been about ten years since the last time I read The Decameron and it wasn't the first book to pop into my mind when this all started, though it did arrive shortly after. The idea of a contemporary version that addresses our new way of dealing with a pandemic was intriguing and, for me, worked very well.

In the here and now we can feel the stress and confusion many of these characters are experiencing, we are feeling many of the same things even if in different ways. These stories also allow us to safely, in our own homes, glimpse other people and maybe gain some insight into aspects of this pandemic that aren't affecting us and, maybe, be more understanding of our fellow human beings and their plights.

In the future, I am hoping that this collection will serve as a reminder that we are not all powerful, we are all a part of nature and, in the end, nature can and may well put us in our places for disregarding it for so long. If nothing else, we will be reminded of the fear and uncertainty that this silent invisible killer sowed on our society.

Highly recommended for both now and in the future.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

Early in the lockdown I was jarred by television images of people at parties and large groups, people not wearing masks, family gatherings around dinner tables. None of it reflected my reality: my spouse and I isolated in our home, walking in freezing weather before anyone else was on the street, learning Instacart and Doordash and Zoom.

This collection of stories caught my attention because they were reflections of this new reality. And, seeing the top-notch writers who contributed, I knew I would not be disappointed.

The stories reflect the shifting concerns and fears we experienced and are experiencing.

Oh yes, the early dearth of toilet paper! In a panic, my spouse ordered some from Amazon at an exorbitant cost. It took three months to arrive from Asia.

Zooming, homeschooling your kids, the obsession with news, watching for a glimmer of hope. The daily deaths. Learning how death can show up any time.

The fleeting happiness of isolating in place with another. Dreading that this is the new normal for ever. Teenagers obliviously carrying on as usual. Making masks. Scarfing up Chromebooks.

We are sharing a nightmare. Those who escape will be haunted. Some of these stories stick in my mind as perfect reflections of what haunts me.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased. ( )