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38th out of 88 books
—
147 voters
We Others: New and Selected Stories
“Every reader knows of writers who are like secrets one wants to keep, and whose books one wants to tell the world about. Millhauser is mine.”
—David Rollow, Boston Sunday Globe
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author: the essential stories across three decades that showcase his indomitable imagination.
Steven Millhauser’s fiction has consistently, and to dazzling effect, diss...more
—David Rollow, Boston Sunday Globe
From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author: the essential stories across three decades that showcase his indomitable imagination.
Steven Millhauser’s fiction has consistently, and to dazzling effect, diss...more
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
August 23rd 2011
by Knopf
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This book started strong for me. I liked the stories and they seemed to have interweaving themes. But soon the themes seemed too much the same, like often Millhauser was telling the same story only changing the setting and elements. By the end of the book too many of the stories seemed to follow similar molds. Stories seem to start out with a fanciful idea: magician, snowmen, knife throwing, etc. The performance builds to the point of unrivaled extreme, then crashes. Many of the stories fit this...more
I never know what to expect when I read the short stories of an author for the first time. Will they have twist endings? Will they be bizarre? Will nothing happen?
Millhauser was a pleasant surprise. He writes with an imagined nostalgia, for things that never really existed, like magic carpets and intricately carved snow people. Some of the stories are more about the magic found in the mundane, like the time between when you get to the ocean and you first stick a toe in, and these were my favori...more
Millhauser was a pleasant surprise. He writes with an imagined nostalgia, for things that never really existed, like magic carpets and intricately carved snow people. Some of the stories are more about the magic found in the mundane, like the time between when you get to the ocean and you first stick a toe in, and these were my favori...more
The first stories I've read by Millhauser. His newest stories remind me of the best suburban mysteries, similar to Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides. If you've ever looked for a similar vibe, check the newest stories in this book. Weary and extraordinary happenings. The rest of the stories take events to the max. People make, build, and create things to a maximum level. And make things with a strange exertion. Characters get tired in these stories, becoming fascinatingly irritated, obsessed, and dr...more
Here's something I admire: Millhauser's singularity of purpose, thematically. He has a few basic obsessions - illusion v. reality, the way words distort or mask perception, and the ways our identities can be disturbed by an uncanny element within the everyday - and he explores them in a bunch of different ways. Also, his writing is extremely evocative on a sensory level. At his best, he is brilliant; at his worst, he is working towards something new, but not quite there yet.
So yes, there is some...more
So yes, there is some...more
My first brush with Millhauser. He writes with such exquisite precision, I almost have the sense that he holds each phrase up to the light, turning it back and forth to look at it from all directions, then wielding it to refashion even the most mundane tale into something fanciful, thought-provoking, sympathetic, troubling. He makes us remember what it felt like to think profound thoughts when we were still too young to understand them fully. Then, through his mature eyes, he forces us to revisi...more
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This is an absolutely stunning collection of stories, especially "Tales of Darkness and The Unknown: Vol. XIV: The White Glove" (or more simply, "The White Glove.") It's not just the impressive, understated style but the underlying emotions and the beauty of what Steven Millhauser has to say.
"The White Glove" is a perfect example of Millhauser's wonderful writing and the story pulled me in right from the start:
"In senior year of high school I became friends with Emily Hohn. It happened quickly...more
"The White Glove" is a perfect example of Millhauser's wonderful writing and the story pulled me in right from the start:
"In senior year of high school I became friends with Emily Hohn. It happened quickly...more
Millhauser provides a wonderful collection of restrained storytelling just on the edge of fantasy. He manages to make a childhood trip to the lake, a slap, the ending of a relationship, and a random disappearance fantastical. He toys with things like touch and words, until they're morphed into something of magic and unfamiliarity.
Each story isn't overwhelmed with the fantastical, but it often shows up halfway through or after, and much of the time, it has to do with feelings, intuition. It was...more
Each story isn't overwhelmed with the fantastical, but it often shows up halfway through or after, and much of the time, it has to do with feelings, intuition. It was...more
I think this collection of stories would be best read a little at a time, over a long period of time—the themes and tone are all so similar. Starting out, I found the ideas fresh and interesting, but after about the fifth story (and there are 21), I was getting really annoyed at how similar everything sounded, and then I started skimming, which is too bad, because many of the stories are well-written and insightful. Here’s what I had to say about each story as I finished (you can see the deterio...more
A collection of short stories are so hard to rate, some you love, some you like, and some you don't as much. It almost seems pointless to give it a rating, especially just in the middle. So this rating says more about me than the work.
Taken as a whole these stories are hard to get through. Picking it up and reading one here and there is the way to go. But I do like to sink my teeth into a story, read it cover to cover, indulgently. I found that really hard in this collection.
The writing is wonde...more
Taken as a whole these stories are hard to get through. Picking it up and reading one here and there is the way to go. But I do like to sink my teeth into a story, read it cover to cover, indulgently. I found that really hard in this collection.
The writing is wonde...more
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This was my first time reading anything by Millhauser. I got through most of the stories and most of them were enjoyable. I think the collection is too long, or the author gets to be too much, or both. The stories that are set in a vague contemporary time and places are often the best--"The Slap" and "The White Glove" (I think those are the names)stood out as haunting dissections of things in life that disturb us in ways that are hard to put a finger on. And they rip--mini page turners, so good....more
It took me a long time to get through this book - putting it down ever so often in favor of other, faster reads. There is quite a wide range of diversity to the stories, which I quite liked - many are memorable, a lot are quite dark (which I loved), but a few left me scratching my head thinking, "huh?!" The 1st section of the book has 7 new stories - all of which I liked - but my favorites are, The Slap, where an unknown assailant goes around slapping unsuspecting, seemingly random people; and T...more
Millhauser plays a lot with a mixing of the fantastic-and-mundane, which is just the sort of thing I most enjoy, and I believe he shines best when he explores the lives and works of peculiar artists. He paints their creations and attitudes towards art in loving detail, and it is artists like August Eschenburg and Eisenheim the Illusionist who linger longest and in full glory after the reading. These protagonists' titular stories as well as "The Slap," "The Barnum Museum," "The Eighth Voyage of S...more
Not since Kafka have I encountered a short story writer with so many unforgettable works. We have all read "collected stories" compilations and later reread the contents and thought, I have absolutely no memory of this. In this case, it is the newer stories that are and will remain memorable for me. The "invasion from outer space" that is the most plausible of all such tales; the "white glove" that conceals a chilling secret; "slap," that convincingly describes how paranoia spreads through a pop...more
Odd and disturbing and thrilling and always exquisitely wrought short stories. This (re)collection contains "The Next Thing." There is no more perfect artistic response to Walmart specifically, and to the stealing of the light that is the corporation generally, than Steven Millhauser's "The Next Thing." It is not correct to describe Millhauser's arcane tales as "Kafkaesque." But it is true that Kafka and to some extent Borges and Nabokov are made resonant by Millhauser. "The Next Thing" was publ...more
I'm not sure how I missed Millhauser. I feel like I should have heard of him or come across his work at some point in my life...and I'm kinda bummed I didn't because he's got tons of skill. This collection of old and new work was my introduction to Millhauser so I'm not too sure how it compares to his career, but this collection has some truly great stuff. The first story in the book (about a stranger who slaps random people) was absolutely stunning...worth reading just for the few paragraphs di...more
I went into this collection having read Martin Dressler and really liking it. Several of the stories in We Others are cut from the same cloth: detached characters in whimsical scenarios. His stories are eminently readable and his prose is precise and down-to-earth, but I found myself growing tired of some repeated elements and his unchanging tone.
"The Next Thing" shows Millhauser's dehumanizing qualities at their best, as he satirizes capitalism and human "progress." There is an element of Marti...more
"The Next Thing" shows Millhauser's dehumanizing qualities at their best, as he satirizes capitalism and human "progress." There is an element of Marti...more
I stole this opinion from my brother in law... and Fitzgerald, who said that most writers only have a few good ideas and they spend their careers dressing them up in different ways. Millhauser's stories fall immediately into one of several slots. With his least impressive writing ("Flying Carpets" and the eponymous novella in this collection) the slots feel overly comfortable. A rehashing. "We Others" should have been titled "Why Bother"? It was a total snooze. With his boldest stuff ("The Histo...more
There are a handful of stories in this collection that make you want to call up everyone you know and say, "You *have* to read this." The first, "The Slap," was one of my favorites. Some were strange and disorienting, kind of like "Twilight Zone" episodes (or maybe like a fun-house mirror), where reality gets toyed with just a little bit. Others were arresting without being quite as far-fetched. All were intriguing.
There’s a lot of repetition here.
That’s the first thought that stuck in my mind as I was reading Steven Millhauser’s PEN/Faulkner nominated short story collection We Others. It’s not a bad collection by any stretch. In fact its stories are for the most superbly written and fantastically well-structured, but…
There isn’t really a lot going on.
That’s the second thought that stuck in my mind. In nearly each and every story, Millhauser’s fascination with the point at which the magical meets the munda...more
That’s the first thought that stuck in my mind as I was reading Steven Millhauser’s PEN/Faulkner nominated short story collection We Others. It’s not a bad collection by any stretch. In fact its stories are for the most superbly written and fantastically well-structured, but…
There isn’t really a lot going on.
That’s the second thought that stuck in my mind. In nearly each and every story, Millhauser’s fascination with the point at which the magical meets the munda...more
The new stories are a bit uneven, yes. But The Slap! Oh, The Slap, why are you so good? (We Others too, I am starry-eyed in love with, just silly in love.) And it's always a pleasure to re-read some Millhauser, and I like the way that this collection was assembled, it brings out some really interesting underlying themes.
Mr. Millhauser is a fantastic writer. Some of these short stories can be held up as examples of a well executed short work of fiction. That said, I didn't give this book five stars because there were several short stories that were well written but dull in comparison to the title stories and some of the other ones.
One of Millhauser's narrators decides that "words hide the world." In this volume, words seem to make the world instead...very little action outside the description that's invisioned/played out by various narrators, and some of the finer points seem to be lost in what's described as "cooly elegant prose." Fiction should be about words too, but the writing itself shouldn't distract me from taking something away, from feeling something for the stories.
A weak collection from one of my favorite writers. The best-of selections in the second half of the book are, of course, their incredible selves, full of whimsy and invention and disquiet. But I found most of the new stories flat or overwrought.
The short stroy entitled "We Others" is an excellent and mind opneing fiction account. Other stroiew are well-written and provacative (not in the sans-clothing way). Strong point of view, mostly written in the first person.
I don't know which story in this book is my favorite. For awhile I thought it was the title story, but I think it's actually the one about the underground shopping center. I think about that one a lot.
A very eclectic collection of short stories that are extremely fascinating and touch on many aspects of the human experience. I would recommend this to every one!
I've read all of the new stories… And I've previously read about half of the collected stories. Millhauser is one of the true genius writers of our time.
This was my first introduction to Millhauser's work. It's a great collection that has some new stories and some of the author's personal favorites from past collections. If you've seen The Illusionist, Millhauser's short story inspired the movie. And most of his stories deal with illusions or create them, in a way. He draws you in to some strange world, and half-way through the story, by some unseen sleight of hand, you're utterly convinced of the magic you find there. Not all of these stories i...more
Just read a few because all of the stories, while nicely crafted, have the same feel and evoke the same emotions... at least the ones I read.
Tremendous stuff, especially the new stories. "The Next Thing" is scarier & more real than an dystopian future tale ever.
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“We others are not like you. We are more prickly, more jittery, more restless, more secretive, more desperate, more cowardly, more bold. We live at the edges of ourselves, not in the middle places. We leave that to you.”
—
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