false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172290186m/161315.jpg 161315 3 <B>Shortlisted for the National Book Award: "Joan Silber writes with wisdom, humor, grace, and wry intelligence. Her characters bear welcome news of how we will survive."&#151;Andrea Barrett</B> <P>Intense in subject yet restrained in tone, these stories are about longings&#151;often held for years&#151;and the ways in which sex and religion can become parallel forms of dedication and comfort. <P>Though the stories stand alone, a minor element in one becomes major in the next. In "My Shape," a woman is taunted by her dance coach, who later suffers his own heartache. A Venetian poet of the 1500s, another storyteller, is introduced to a modern traveler reading Rilke. His story precedes a mesmerizing narrative of missionaries in China. In the final story, Giles, born to a priesthood family, leans toward Buddhism after a grievous loss, and in time falls in love with the dancer of the first story. <P>So deft and subtle is Joan Silber with these various perspectives that we come full circle surprised and enchanted by her myriad worlds. National Book Award finalist. Reading group guide included. 155687 1990 Ideas of Heaven: A Ring of Stories total:148|5:2|4:1|3:3|2:0|1:0| 148 557 208 29 4 1 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 20 22:24:09 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 20 22:27:53 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Dec 05 14:25:19 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 05 14:36:38 -0800 2008 "What is Love doing to me? I thought. That question itself comforted me. So I was ruled by Love, his follower. Chosen to serve. I was like a priest being sent to a different parish."

With traveling "even when you can't wait to get out of some hellhole you've chosen t...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 27 20:16:54 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 20:18:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat Sep 19 10:55:40 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 14:13:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Oct 25 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 12:34:23 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 12:39:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Sep 05 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 01 23:01:41 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 22:31:18 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 true false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 06 10:56:46 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 06 10:59:22 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Mon Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Dec 31 13:55:08 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 06 13:45:05 -0800 2009 Yet another one of those "I don't like this kind of thing, but I like...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Mar 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Feb 25 13:30:32 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 24 09:03:54 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sat Nov 29 17:09:50 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 29 17:11:23 -0800 2008 1
The author does a good job of writing in different voices and points of views, time periods etc.

I read it and liked it okay, but didn't enjoy it.]]> 4 0 false false Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 03:26:41 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 25 00:42:35 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Aug 28 22:48:07 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 28 22:48:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Jun 14 09:34:43 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 09:34:43 -0700 2009 [short stories masquerading as a novel:]

It seems she is a masterful writer of short stories and I want to read some of any of her collections]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Apr 29 15:55:59 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 15:55:59 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Sat Mar 14 19:08:01 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 13 14:50:07 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 19:08:01 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Sep 08 09:19:21 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 08 09:21:11 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 13 12:20:20 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 22 10:47:05 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 27 21:42:37 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 14 15:49:39 -0700 2007 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Sep 10 17:46:41 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 10 17:46:41 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 08 14:51:16 -0700 2007 Tue Nov 20 13:42:59 -0800 2007
Look to David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas if you find the intergration intriguing. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=161315