Deborah Eisenberg is nearly unmatched in her mastery of the short-story form. Now, in her newest collection, she demonstrates once again her virtuo...
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Dec 21, 2007
David
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I may just have to give up on reading short stories. Every so often, I am seduced anew by the breathless, hagiographic blurbs on the cover of the latest hip author's contribution to the genre, to the point where I actually allow myself to believe that the book in question really will be "exhaustingly fascinating", "spirited and masterly", the next {Jim Shepard, Alice Munro, Chekhov, Lorrie Moore, John Cheever.....}. Hope springs eternal.
Yet somehow, things never q More...
Yet somehow, things never q More...
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Apr 04, 2007
nina
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"The dining room was an aerie, a bower, hung with a playful lattice of garlands. Its white tile floors were adorned with painted baskets of fruit, and there were real ones scattered here and there on stands. But even as the waiters glided by with trays of glossy roasted vegetables and platters of fish, even while Harry took it upon himself to order for her, knowledgeably and solicitously, Kate felt tainted. Despite the room's conceit that eating was a pastime for elves and fairi More...
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Sep 04, 2007
Chris
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Okay, I've now finished the book and I have to say that while it did get a little better, it wasn't by much.
The first story is AWFUL. She lectures you on things you already know, repeats the same crap over and over, and while the disjointed sections didn't really bother me, they didn't really add up to anything for me. It just seems like the story was pretty pointless. Unless the point was that after 9/11 we're just totally adrift. Maybe in the year or so afterwards it felt lik More...
The first story is AWFUL. She lectures you on things you already know, repeats the same crap over and over, and while the disjointed sections didn't really bother me, they didn't really add up to anything for me. It just seems like the story was pretty pointless. Unless the point was that after 9/11 we're just totally adrift. Maybe in the year or so afterwards it felt lik More...
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Aug 30, 2007
Joey
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This book is emblematic of everything that's wrong with contemporary "literary" fiction. The only thing I can find of any interesting literary value here is the last paragraph or so of the titular first story. This book was reviewed well by a lot of publications, and I can't for the life of me understand why. I can only assume that the people who reviewed this book well are the same kind of people who like the whiny, affected fiction they print in The New Yorker and Diane Johnson's te
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Jun 01, 2007
Greg
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The best of these stories — the title story and "Some Other, Better Otto" — are perfectly misshapen masterpieces chronicling The Way We Live Now. These are stories not only about the biggest questions of ethics and identity, but also about the processes by which we go about asking and answering such questions for ourselves.
A few of the stories lack the clarity and audacity of the collection's best, and occasionally Eisenberg's structural experimentation becomes frustrating More...
A few of the stories lack the clarity and audacity of the collection's best, and occasionally Eisenberg's structural experimentation becomes frustrating More...
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Oct 03, 2011
Ajay
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'Twilight of the Superheroes' is the Eisenberg's fourth collection (of 7 stories) of short stories. This is the latest collection that has been published so far. All the four collections are available in a single volume 'The Collected Stories Of Deborah Eisenberg'. Some pointers on her style before you start reading her works. The stories do not always have things tied up neatly at the end, there is no progression from point A to B to C. In several cases there are several strands shown to the re
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Jul 02, 2009
Nicole
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I just finished this book a few days ago and, looking through the table of contents now, I'm already having trouble recalling most of the stories. Partly this is because most of the titles don't connect to their stories in any recognizable way, so when I see "Window," it doesn't trigger "oh, yeah, the one where that creepy guy takes the girl to his isolated cabin to babysit his kid." Partly it's also because the stories themselves often didn't stick with me. The two elements
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Sep 21, 2011
Patrick
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I really enjoyed Deborah Eisenberg’s collection of short stories Under the 82nd Airborne (1992), and want to read all of her stories. Twilight of the Superheroes (2006) is her latest collection, and while there are some very good stories-they generally lack the exotic flavor of the previous book, which was set in South America during the 80s. This collection is considered post 9/11, but I think only one story deals with it directly, but it haunts several of the other stories. I guess these stori
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Dec 17, 2009
Alison
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I was disappointed by this book. I remember loving The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg...So Far, and these stories didn't grab me the same way. They seemed to be *trying* to live up to a disaffected postmodern approach. Maybe I'm just not with it right now, but at some points I couldn't even figure out the abrupt time shifts. There were a few well-turned phrases, but not enough to make the book. Oh well.
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Oct 21, 2009
Joseph
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Every critique I've seen of this book refers in some way to 9/11, which isn't terribly unexpected. While Eisenberg seems to dance around that date without directly addressing it, it's still clearly the dominant theme of each of her stories, chronicling worlds that have been oh-so-slightly tilted off their axes.
So maybe the fact that I was so unaffected by her stories has more to do with a certain weariness towards that particular date as some sort of crucial indicator that the world h More...
So maybe the fact that I was so unaffected by her stories has more to do with a certain weariness towards that particular date as some sort of crucial indicator that the world h More...
Feb 05, 2009
Critics call Deborah Eisenberg a master of the short story, and Twilight, her seventh collection, reaffirms that reputation. With insight and intelligence, Eisenberg delves deep inside the daily lives of "outsiders" wandering through life. All stories didn't touch all critics equally; some described the title story as one of the best pieces of fiction to capture the dislocation of 9/11, while others called it hackneyed. Other tales struck critics as either too political or unbelievable
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Dec 29, 2007
Pamela
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This is a collection that will last--and continue to show what the possibilities are for the short story. I've read each story more than once, and some several times, because they stay exhilarating and moving. Eisenberg doesn't sound like anyone else, doesn't write like anyone else, and she brings me pleasures I can't find anywhere else.
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Sep 01, 2011
Jeff
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I was thinking about giving this book 3 stars and then settled on 3.5 and finally bumped it up to four. Eisenberg is a talented author, has a unique voice, and a style of writing short stories. There is enough range in these stories that most people will find a couple that appeal to them. While I missed some of things Eisenberg skips or uses sparingly over like gestures and character descriptions, there are more than enough things she does well to make up for that. "Twilight of Superher
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Jul 17, 2010
Gosh, I've never even heard of Deborah Eisenberg, but she sounds terrif.
Here's a snatch of a very long review from Harper's, by way of Powell's:
One of the great pleasures of Eisenberg's work is the violence it does to the old chestnut that a short story's artfulness is best measured by how much is left out; on the contrary, what impresses about her stories is all that she dares to throw into them. They are as unafraid of digression as most novels, which makes them seem -- More...
Here's a snatch of a very long review from Harper's, by way of Powell's:
One of the great pleasures of Eisenberg's work is the violence it does to the old chestnut that a short story's artfulness is best measured by how much is left out; on the contrary, what impresses about her stories is all that she dares to throw into them. They are as unafraid of digression as most novels, which makes them seem -- More...
Oct 12, 2009
Bob
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Wallace Shawn was in Lee Park (really!) and told me he was in town because Deborah Eisenberg had won a MacArthur "genius" grants, so, of course I had to read the book. Wow...
While the situations are bleak, I was surprised by the author's ability to draw me into characters who in real life would probably repel me ("Some Other, Better Otto") and her range. While most of the characters are well educated, even privileged, the woman in "Window" is a heartbreaki More...
While the situations are bleak, I was surprised by the author's ability to draw me into characters who in real life would probably repel me ("Some Other, Better Otto") and her range. While most of the characters are well educated, even privileged, the woman in "Window" is a heartbreaki More...
Dec 16, 2008
Alicia
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The Twilight Of The Superheroes: Stories by Deborah Eisenberg, a short story collection that explores today's American society. She has a pretty bleak view of modern life and I was struck by the hopelessness and cynical the stories are. The story that stood out for me was Like It Or Not, in which a middle aged divorcee takes a short trip with an Italian count. The shifting perspectives show that instead of a romantic story she is still coming to terms with her lost marriage while the count is lu
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May 20, 2011
Tommy
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Trite at best. Obsessed with 9/11 and therefore quickly dated, the writing is average, the stories try to convey a strong feeling through a tightly constrained narrow world a la Chandler but fail miserably. I don't know how anyone could relate or care about these characters.
Despite the above I hold myself responsible for even buying it. I was taken in by the press and in a hurry so didn't really skim the writing enough in the store prior to buying. Lack of due diligence on my part, bu More...
Despite the above I hold myself responsible for even buying it. I was taken in by the press and in a hurry so didn't really skim the writing enough in the store prior to buying. Lack of due diligence on my part, bu More...
Jan 17, 2011
helen
rated it:
hey halle, check out what i'm finally reading...
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Sep 08, 2010
Kasa
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These stories deal with today, but more specifically, the "today" of four years ago. The title story is a gem, focussing on 20somethings whose nova like promise has begun to collapse even before the events of 9/11, for which they have an unfortunate front row seat. Shifting focus Eisenberg presents the preceding generation along with its shattered American dream of immigrants for their children and the transformation of New York into an "open wound." Eisenberg is able to c
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Jun 14, 2011
Denae
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Deborah Eisenberg was recommended to me by a good friend who probably said it best when he said he loves her prose, but there's something about the stories that never seems to come together completely. The stories in Twilight of the Superheroes: Stories are beautifully woven tapestries of words, often heartbreaking or melancholy, but there is something that keeps them from being exactly perfect. Not that I can explain what that is or what I would do differently. Maybe it is even a sign of their
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Jul 30, 2011
Josh
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This is the first time I've tried reading Deborah Eisenberg and I'm simultaneously impressed by her non-linear narrative as much as bothered by it.
This narrative device of moving back and forth between the present and the past is most evident in the titular story about a bunch of young adults whose lives converge at a Manhattan loft. Their fortunes reflect the magnificent view of the vibrant city and also plunge as the twin towers collapse on 9/11.
In each of the six stories in this collection, More...
This narrative device of moving back and forth between the present and the past is most evident in the titular story about a bunch of young adults whose lives converge at a Manhattan loft. Their fortunes reflect the magnificent view of the vibrant city and also plunge as the twin towers collapse on 9/11.
In each of the six stories in this collection, More...
Jul 20, 2010
Tom
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I nearly gave up on this one while halfway through, but I'm glad I didn't. The two 1st person stories (which appear last) are much better than the others in here. And while I acknowledge this is a shallow aesthetic judgment, I had a hard time caring about some of the people in these stories, who all say, without any trace of irony, things like "goodness gracious!" and "good heavens, no!" and "Oh my heavens!" and exclamation points abound, and they all sit around b
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Nov 13, 2009
Chris
rated it:
Blech!
I tried to muddle through this collection, but it was difficult. I had no idea what the author was talking about half the time. I couldn't figure out if she just had ADHD or I had an attention deficit disorder of my own. Take, for example, the following passage from the title story
"And actually, Russell (who seems to be not only Amity’s friend and possible suitor but also her agent) has obtained for Amity a whopping big advance from some outfit that Madison refers More...
I tried to muddle through this collection, but it was difficult. I had no idea what the author was talking about half the time. I couldn't figure out if she just had ADHD or I had an attention deficit disorder of my own. Take, for example, the following passage from the title story
"And actually, Russell (who seems to be not only Amity’s friend and possible suitor but also her agent) has obtained for Amity a whopping big advance from some outfit that Madison refers More...
Sep 15, 2008
Ken
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In this collection of stories, Eisenberg follows the half-lives of its protagonists; she deftly and carefully traces how time has changed the characters and the world in which they live, the opportunities they have missed, and the mistakes thay have (and sometimes continue) to make.
The first story was the most interesting as it examines a group of friends living in a borrowed apartment with a fantastic view view of New York City and how their lives differed after they watched the sky More...
The first story was the most interesting as it examines a group of friends living in a borrowed apartment with a fantastic view view of New York City and how their lives differed after they watched the sky More...
Jan 09, 2008
Tung
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A NY Times Notable Book of the Year from 2006 that got tons of press, this book is a collection of six short stories filled with the tension of lives post 9/11. The book’s title is the title of its first story, a look at the fractured lives of four twenty-something New Yorkers who were subletting an apartment with a view of the Twin Towers. “The Flaw in the Design” focuses on the tension between a son and his father; the son despises his family’s wealth and upbringing and his father’s job – whi
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Oct 30, 2007
Melanie
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You know, I don't hear too much about Deborah Eisenberg. Admittedly I am not exactly hanging out with Bill Buford and Charles McGrath, and spend 90 percent of my time talking to a baby (who frequently mentions Lorrie Moore and Alice Munro, but that's pretty much it.) But I find that she writes some of the best, richest, most alive, complex and affecting short stories I've ever read. I'm not sure this would be my favorite book of hers - I am partial to Transactions in a Foreign Currency, maybe be
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Dec 26, 2009
Zach
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A few of the stories in this collection are stellar, haunting meandering observations of the way families connect and fail to connect. The others are flat and a little numb, as if Eisenberg isn't sure how she feels about her characters. Or maybe it's that I'm unsure how to connect to the kinds of upper-class Waspy characters she populates her stories with. Even in her missteps, though, there's beautiful writing worth reading.
May 04, 2010
Frederic
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Having to cop to my shameful chauvinism is painful but I've always slighted women writers...yes,there's Austen...and Didion...and a few more that I liked but they were always the exception that proved the rule...Men were writers and women were usually hot-house flowers...pretty enough but terribly fragile...in this past year though I've "discovered" Elizabeth Stroud,Rebecca Goldstein and now Deborah Eisenberg...all Athletes of Perception and terrific prose stylists to boot...better to
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Nov 27, 2010
Sarah Pi
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When people say that they don't read short stories because they want more character development, these are the stories to point them towards. Every character is fully human, with human hopes and baggage frailties. But if they say also that they don't read short stories because not enough happens, well, this book won't change their minds. Most of the plots in this book read like an anecdote about a friend that you might relate to another friend. "She went to New York to be with her family af
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Dec 21, 2011
Vicki
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What a wonderful collection. This is my first Deborah Eisenberg book, but it won't be my last. The stories capture people in various forms of uncomfortable transitions, and treats each person with delicacy, sensitivity and honesty. I also agree with the many reviewers who have noted that she has been one of the best at capturing both the immediacy and the longer term impact of September 11th. I love this:
"Oh, that day! One kept waiting - as if a morning would arrive from before More...
"Oh, that day! One kept waiting - as if a morning would arrive from before More...
