"This is a book that will last and last."
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Here is a stunning collection of five stories and a novella, written in J... read full description
THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
Here is a stunning collection of five stories and a novella, written in J... read full description
reviews
Jul 22, 2011
Paul
rated it: 
I read the title novella earlier this year and to say I loved it would be an understatement, so I thought I'd check out the collection. It's an unfair criticism, perhaps, but the five preceding stories just don't really compare (or perhaps even hold up) to the novella. It feels like so much throat clearing. Really eloquent throat clearing, of course, but because I knew what was coming at the end, I could never fully immerse myself in the stories. A couple are pretty great, then conclude with a l
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 26, 2010
Josh
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Apr 21, 2010
Eliza
rated it:
12/30/09: The stories in this collection are good, though a bit forgettable. But the novella--"The Age of Grief"--is breathtaking. Dave and Dana are dentists married to each other and working together, while raising three little girls. The story focuses on Dave's discovery that Dana is having an affair, and on his efforts to keep the marriage together as he struggles with his own feelings. What Smiley describes is painful and yet lyrical and beautiful; the scenes are memorable, the ch
More...
Jan 11, 2011
Cody
rated it: 
not going to spend a lto of time thinking about jane smiley books HOWEVER main story was p strong, i have a dentist appt this week so story about dentists being unpappy with their children, and also teeth being destroyed by coffee / sugar / life but not eons of sand and fossils and dirt, was a good metaphor. i like it wehn smiley focuses on cataloging the unseen tensions/muscles in our behavior and thoughts and she didnt really do much of that in the other stories. one o f them was abotu man wi
More...
Sep 30, 2011
Benji
rated it:
Lots of range in this set. I felt the weakest story of the bunch was placed first, not thematically or materially but just the style felt forced. That changed to a leaner prose with each new story. The devil is in the details in this. glad to have picked it up-- for a while i thought this was the book popular now written about surviving the death of a parent. What book is that? If you're interested in the difference between a novella and a short story and a novel, this book is a good ill
More...
Dec 31, 2009
Alena
rated it:
There are some stories that resonate with such innate truth that they stay with you - you recognize your own thoughts on the page and wonder at the writer who seems to intimately know you, even though you've never met. This is how I feel about Jane Smiley and The Age of Grief. This is how I feel about this passage:
"I am thirty-five years old, and it seems to me that I have reached the age of grief. Others arrive there sooner. Almost no one arrives much later. I don't think it More...
"I am thirty-five years old, and it seems to me that I have reached the age of grief. Others arrive there sooner. Almost no one arrives much later. I don't think it More...
Feb 09, 2009
Mindy
rated it:
This series of short stories (and the novella for which the collection is named) showed a level of mastery and sensitivity to the day-to-day, and to the disparity that lies between how things seem and how they are. Smiley's prose is suited to this kind of study; moreover, her perspective is so sensitive and interesting. I loved the novella. Life is messy, and we are so busy dealing with some details that it's easy to miss or mis-handle others. Highly, highly recommend this.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 07, 2011
Dayna
rated it:
This novella is a quick and enthusiastic read, even though much of the subject matter (the dissolution of a marriage, the fight to avoid change, the fear of same) is quite depressing. There's a sense of humor throughout that makes the depression tolerable. All of the characters, right down to the smallest, neediest two-year-old Leah, are fully realized, and there are many points in this story where I found myself scribbling feverishly in the margins, "That's so true! This is how life is!"
More...
Apr 12, 2010
Penni
rated it:
Sort of heart-breaking in its combination of the mundane and the super-emotional and life-changing. It is very authentic and gives an interesting perspective on the inner workings of a person's mind, of our own minds. People's deep, complex, melancholy thoughts as they are grocery shopping or driving to someone's house. Things are not as simple as they seem.
Sep 03, 2011
Reese
rated it:
Excellent collection. There was only one story that I actually did not like ("Jeffrey, Believe Me"). Title story (actually a novella) was basis of a movie "The Secret Life of Dentists" which I did not see. Read quite a number of short stories during the summer, catching up with issues of The New Yorker and a few literary journals.
Dec 06, 2008
Donald
rated it:
I felt like a lot of this novella hinged on the flu virus and the narrator's competence as a caretaker. The conceit was that we were supposed to feel sorry for him as he took care of his sick family; I have one issue with that conceit: I don't like to be forced to feel sorry for characters.
Jan 12, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
I love short stories and all but one of these, the first, drew me in and left me very satisfied. The novella "The Age of Grief" is a wonderful, tragic insight to marriage.
I felt like I wanted my babies back; my young family. Moral is: Pay Attention!
I felt like I wanted my babies back; my young family. Moral is: Pay Attention!
Jan 20, 2010
Marysa
rated it:
Not at all what I expected--in the best of ways. One of the most authentic narrative voices ever. (I feel confident making that assumption). Warning: not being a dentist, married, or a parent will not save you from the 4am weeping.
May 25, 2009
Abby
rated it:
A collection of short stories and one novella... Very obviously written in the late 70's. Not bad, just not very original. Though they might have been at the time. All the stories were better than the one that got the title billing.
Sep 24, 2007
Liz
rated it:
To me thus far, it seems that Smiley is at her best when chronicling the the drama of the everyday, of the domestic, as in the story that opens this collection, "The Pleasure of Her Company." When she tries to add more extreme actions, as she does at the end of the next story, "Lily," they fall flat. The other story in the collection I wasn't entirely impressed with was the fourth, "Long Distance." It ends in an epiphanic moment, which I found a bit hackneyed. O
More...
Sep 20, 2011
Reese
rated it:
While I enjoyed her writing style, I disliked how insecure some of her characters were. I don't look for bulletproof egotism in characters, and I realise that some people out there really are insecure, but I just had a hard time empathising.
Jul 16, 2010
Kit
rated it:
This is a novella and a collection of short stories. It's been a long time since I've read anything of Jane Smiley's, and I don't believe I've ever read any of her short stories. I enjoyed this!
Jan 12, 2009
Jim
rated it:
Reading novellas these days. Digging this so far--fascinating play on Electra complex, this father-narrator and his doting, needy little girl; halfway through, wondering where it will go... Okay, finished: riveting right up the end. Expected grim downer and was delighted by surprise after surprise, played upon my expectations to the last paragraph, which I didn't love, though I loved the last 10 pages in general.
Aug 02, 2011
Charmaine
rated it:
Enjoyed the last story best. Thought that she wrote the husband's point of view well, have heard that men who've read it don't agree.
Jun 30, 2009
Gabriela
rated it:
Includes the novella that the movie "The Secret Life of Dentists" is based on. The mundane can break your heart.
Oct 04, 2009
Shaharlucy0
rated it:
This is one of Smiley's first books and I think, one of her best. She dissects relationships with a surgeon's knife.
Sep 05, 2009
Jennifer
rated it:
So good! I love Jane Smiley. Everything she writes makes me so happy.
Jan 16, 2008
Kate
rated it:
i liked this book, though i thought the first story and the novella were the best parts. disliked the story "lily," bc it seemed, in terms of the overall collection, a bit too much like the one before and the characters in that particular one were a little flat. "dynamite" was also a bit disappointing. but i read "the pleasure of her company" twice and i used some descriptions from it in my "art of writing" class. the novella part, "the age of grief,"
More...
Mar 04, 2008
Deborah
rated it:
Some of the stories I'm not a huge fan of. But the reason to buy this/read this is the novella at the end, the age of grief. Which later was turned into "The Secret Lives of Dentists" movie, which really didn't do it justice in my opinion. But I don't think it could, because the essence of this novella is the internal dialogue of the main character. (Why is spell check saying dialogue is wrong? dialog?) Anyways, this is one of those stories I always come back to... I wish I wouldn't
More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
