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108th out of 1,185 books
—
878 voters
The Safety of Objects
by
A.M. Homes
Published to overwhelming critical acclaim, this extraordinary collection of short stories established A. M. Homes as one of the most provocative and daring writers of her generation. Here you'll find the cult classic "A Real Doll," the tale of a teenage boy's erotic obsession with his sister's favorite doll; "Adults Alone," which first introduced Paul and Elaine, the crac...more
Paperback, 176 pages
Published
February 18th 2003
by Harper Perennial
(first published 1990)
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This uneven collection of A.M. Homes' short stories begins bangingly with the deadpan tale of a stagnant married couple who rekindle their spark by lighting up a crack pipe. A subsequent vignette about an abducted boy who induces a sort of buyer's remorse in his kidnapper is somewhat less effective but nevertheless intriguing. The rest of the stories are frequently too similar in their quietly desperate neurasthenia, eventually blurring together in a single high-pitched whine that's all posturin...more
I recently discovered Homes. She's an excellent storyteller - a whimsical and vivid voice.
I love AM Homes' work, and this book of short stories is no different. A quick read, the first and the last stories are absolutely staggering. She manages to take the usual and show how there really is no such thing.
Apr 19, 2008
Janet Mitchell
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
short story lovers, lovers of the weird
I have really started to enjoy more and more short fiction. I heard about this book on NPR and think that parts of it were turned into a movie, but I could be wrong. I just loved the openeness of the characters. It is very depressing, so don't read it when you are down. Read it when you think your life and family is crazy. It should perk you right up, hopefully. Because if your family is this weird, you are in trouble or maybe you should write your own book and make more money, which would also...more
2 likes · like · see review
The Safety of Objects was a book that reminded me how good short stories can be. Until a few years ago, I thought I wasn't a short story fan because characters are the aspect that can make me fall in love with a story. But A.M. Homes creates vivid characters in mere sentences, even if some of those characters are a bit disturbing.
As with any short story collection, I liked some of these stories better than others. My favorites were Jim Train, Looking for Johnny and Esther in the Night. What Home...more
As with any short story collection, I liked some of these stories better than others. My favorites were Jim Train, Looking for Johnny and Esther in the Night. What Home...more
Read this yesterday, as I write short stories and I pick up short story books to see how mine compare...this got rave reviews
remarkable, awesomely well written says ruth rendell
the village voice said ' alarmingly good, it's hard to say who Homes' predecessors are Dahl, Salinger and Rachel Ingalis come to mind'
Holy shit I thought, this will be amazing.
I liked the way some of them were written, I say some because though character and place were different in each of the ten shorts there was a samey...more
remarkable, awesomely well written says ruth rendell
the village voice said ' alarmingly good, it's hard to say who Homes' predecessors are Dahl, Salinger and Rachel Ingalis come to mind'
Holy shit I thought, this will be amazing.
I liked the way some of them were written, I say some because though character and place were different in each of the ten shorts there was a samey...more
La sicurezza degli oggetti è una raccolta di racconti, tutti abbastanza brevi, molto diretti, che non si perdono in lunghe descrizioni o periodi pomposi, una prosa tranquilla e a tratti davvero scarna: bombe che finiscono di ticchettare un attimo prima dell’esplosione. Tutti i personaggi si muovo nello stesso mondo fatto di fantasie, di congetture, di azioni che non vengono fatte ma solo pensate, ipotizzate, e che si evolvono in piccole storie parallele che i protagonisti si divertono a leggere,...more
The American suburbia has always been much maligned. Think Rick Moody’s The Ice Storm, think The Stepford Wives, think Desperate Housewives. In suburbia, everything is perfect, and everyone is lonely – because of, despite of.
A.M. Homes’ short story collection The Safety of Objects, first published in 1990, uncovers the bizarre in places where everything is supposed to follow the rules. In “Looking for Johnny”, a man, possibly crazed, kidnaps a young boy and later on tells him that he is not the...more
A.M. Homes’ short story collection The Safety of Objects, first published in 1990, uncovers the bizarre in places where everything is supposed to follow the rules. In “Looking for Johnny”, a man, possibly crazed, kidnaps a young boy and later on tells him that he is not the...more
“Chi è questa lei che sembra avere una così tormentata propensione, una così strana inclinazione per la carne più fresca, da mettersi a raccontare una storia che indurrà qualcuno di voi a sorridere e ridere ma che farà bruciare altri dalla voglia di porre fine a questo incubo, a questo orrore? Chi è? Ciò che più vi sgomenterà è apprendere che costei siete voi o io, uno di noi. Sorpresa. Sorpresa. E forse vi chiederete chi sono io per intromettermi, per pormi come suo e vostro tramite. Mio è l’el...more
This is one of the rare books that I liked more at the beginning than at the end. The first story was wonderful, the majority of the rest were pretty mediocre.
Homes is a beautiful and clean writer, but the some of her stories seems exploratory rather than personally reflective...She has an obvious interst in childhood psychology, teenage sexuality, and sexual taboo. I understand that at the time this was published, it was a bit of a fad. Even I really liked, "Welcome to the Dollhouse" and "Happi...more
Homes is a beautiful and clean writer, but the some of her stories seems exploratory rather than personally reflective...She has an obvious interst in childhood psychology, teenage sexuality, and sexual taboo. I understand that at the time this was published, it was a bit of a fad. Even I really liked, "Welcome to the Dollhouse" and "Happi...more
Qual è la sicurezza degli oggetti? L’aveva già colta in pieno Guido Gozzano quando descriveva il buon salotto dei nonni traboccante di ricordi:
Loreto impagliato e il busto d’Alfieri, di Napoleone,
i fiori in cornice (le buone cose di pessimo gusto!)
il caminetto un po’ tetro, le scatole senza confetti,
i frutti di marmo protetti dalle campane di vetro,
un qualche raro balocco, gli scrigni fatti di valve,
gli oggetti con mònito, “salve”, “ricordo”, le noci di cocco,
Venezia ritratta a musaici, gli acqu...more
Loreto impagliato e il busto d’Alfieri, di Napoleone,
i fiori in cornice (le buone cose di pessimo gusto!)
il caminetto un po’ tetro, le scatole senza confetti,
i frutti di marmo protetti dalle campane di vetro,
un qualche raro balocco, gli scrigni fatti di valve,
gli oggetti con mònito, “salve”, “ricordo”, le noci di cocco,
Venezia ritratta a musaici, gli acqu...more
The Safety of Objects by A.M. Homes is a fascinating collection of odd suburban tales. Written in a simple style, these stories are laden with symbolism that reveal a disturbing depth. A couple experiments with drugs after shipping their kids to the grandparents, a fat girl sunbathes nude in her backyard, a boy has a sexual affair with his sister’s Barbie doll.
I first read A.M. Homes last summer. Her short story Do Not Disturb was listed as one of the best short stories of all time. When I read...more
I first read A.M. Homes last summer. Her short story Do Not Disturb was listed as one of the best short stories of all time. When I read...more
Didn't think too much of this. My problem is that there doesn't seem to be any exploration to why the characters in the various short stories feel and behave the ways that they do (this is probably best demonstrated in "Adults alone") it seems to be all effect and no cause. Although I suspect that this is (at least partly) due to the fact these are short stories as opposed to a novel, as Home's this book will save your life is in fact quite the opposite. However it should be said that "Esther in...more
This provocative collection of short stories tackles the surreal quality of suburban life, especially that of the 80s and 90s.
I first read this book when I was in my late teens, and decided to revisit it to see what new could be mined. Then, just as now, I could not put the book down. These stories deal frankly with sexuality, parental responsibility, and gender against the isolating backdrop of the U.S. suburb through a warped lens that is both enchanting and appalling. Adding to the poetic (b...more
I first read this book when I was in my late teens, and decided to revisit it to see what new could be mined. Then, just as now, I could not put the book down. These stories deal frankly with sexuality, parental responsibility, and gender against the isolating backdrop of the U.S. suburb through a warped lens that is both enchanting and appalling. Adding to the poetic (b...more
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Questo libro per me è stato come uno schiaffo in faccia.
I racconti hanno più o meno tutti qualche cosa che manca, come una voce che fatica ad uscire, che rimane vagamente afona, non incisiva non chiara, vorrebbe urlare al mondo qualche cosa che rimane come intrappolata.
La sicurezza degli oggetti, un titolo in cui ho cercato di trovare una chiave di lettura, un significato, un denominatore comune, ma non ci sono riuscita, solo in parte per lo meno.
L'elemento che accomuna queste storie è il vu...more
I racconti hanno più o meno tutti qualche cosa che manca, come una voce che fatica ad uscire, che rimane vagamente afona, non incisiva non chiara, vorrebbe urlare al mondo qualche cosa che rimane come intrappolata.
La sicurezza degli oggetti, un titolo in cui ho cercato di trovare una chiave di lettura, un significato, un denominatore comune, ma non ci sono riuscita, solo in parte per lo meno.
L'elemento che accomuna queste storie è il vu...more
1 like · like · see review
Racconti piuttosto "naif", dove in poche pagine accadono un mucchio di cose. In alcuni ("Acchiappare i proiettili al volo") forse pure troppe, così tante che mi ci è voluto un pallottoliere per tenere le fila del discorso. Ma forse è l'età che avanza. le tematiche sono spesso molto forti (pedofilia, eutanasia, etc) e c'è l'utilizzo di tutta una serie di mezzi per sorprendere, stupire, destabilizzare il lettore: ma lo si fa apertamente, a carte scoperte, senza sotterfugi - e questo mi piace. Ho t...more
Jan 23, 2013
Michael
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
contemporary_fiction,
short_stories
Just a vague memory of this one, mostly of finding it more thoughtful and less moving—like an earlier, edgier Aimee Bender. Soured me on all of her work, which is a pity, as I sort of feel I might enjoy her stuff.
Random association: A decade plus after I read this book, she was shopping around a new book, and I was in my office working when the publisher brought her by. I leapt up to shake her hand and introduce myself, and what I said was, "I feel I should say that I know that I am standing he...more
Random association: A decade plus after I read this book, she was shopping around a new book, and I was in my office working when the publisher brought her by. I leapt up to shake her hand and introduce myself, and what I said was, "I feel I should say that I know that I am standing he...more
I checked this book out of the library on my sister's recommendation to read Adult Alone, as a possible short story to teach my fellow graduate students. I started the story, but with each page, as the action became more and more bizzare and shocking, I'd stop reading, just to calm myself down. I finished the story while on vacation and I found myself reading passages out loud to my boyfriend, in complete disbelief the characters smoked crack. I immediately deemed this highly inappropriate mater...more
"Elaine takes the boys to Florida and drops them off like they're dry cleaning..."
Some of these stories are fantastic and others just seem schematic and formulated to shock. I love the stories that deal with childhood sexual and violent impulses in an honest, unfiltered way. But some of this book already feels dated to me. Or too pat, somehow, too smug. Is it really as simple and as awful as A.M. Homes would have it? In a way, though, I guess A.M. Homes' disaffected, drug-using, impulsive, bored, and self-destructive American suburbanites are John Cheever's disaffected, lives...more
to be in love with a barbie doll. ah. childhood.
Imagine a brand new building; a skyscraper, even. It's big, shiny, modern-looking, and so on. Then you step into the lobby and realize that on the inside the entire thing is really made of recycled particle board. That's the best way I can think of to describe how I feel about this book.
One review said it was simply flat -- I couldn't agree more. I think this is a book of really interesting premises that don't go anywhere interesting after the second paragraph. On paper (ha ha) these stores shou...more
One review said it was simply flat -- I couldn't agree more. I think this is a book of really interesting premises that don't go anywhere interesting after the second paragraph. On paper (ha ha) these stores shou...more
Feb 20, 2013
Joe Krudys
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
literary-fiction,
short-stories
The stories in The Safety of Objects involve either messed up people, people in the process of becoming messed up, or people doing messed up things. Actually, pretty much all of the stories involve all three.
I read this book as Music For Torching showed up as a Goodreads recommendation, and upon reading a few reviews, I saw that a lot of people absolutely hated the ending of the book, which naturally made me want to read it as soon as possible. I saw that the book was based on one of the short...more
I read this book as Music For Torching showed up as a Goodreads recommendation, and upon reading a few reviews, I saw that a lot of people absolutely hated the ending of the book, which naturally made me want to read it as soon as possible. I saw that the book was based on one of the short...more
In linea generale, non mi è piaciuta per nulla questa raccolta di racconti. La seconda stelletta è dovuta solo al fatto che alcune idee sono davvero interessanti, benché non ben sviluppate.
Lo stile è disadorno, scarno, ma non arriva a essere efficacemente essenziale. Ossia, la “nudità” delle parole non compensa con l’esattezza quel che perde in ricchezza espressiva. Può non sembrare, ma anche saper essere sintetici è un’arte. Suggerire o suscitare un’idea, un sentimento o un’emozione è spesso pi...more
Lo stile è disadorno, scarno, ma non arriva a essere efficacemente essenziale. Ossia, la “nudità” delle parole non compensa con l’esattezza quel che perde in ricchezza espressiva. Può non sembrare, ma anche saper essere sintetici è un’arte. Suggerire o suscitare un’idea, un sentimento o un’emozione è spesso pi...more
5 likes · like · see review
E' come spiare, da una finestra, in dieci case diverse. Affacciarsi, per un momento, nella vita di dieci persone diverse. Non mi piace spiare.
Meriterebbe più di due stelle, le vicende sono ricche di particolari che rendono i fatti reali, rendono le persone raccontate reali. Persone che hanno tutto e a cui manca l'essenziale. Persone che hanno segreti piccoli o grandi, ( come tutti ) e noi ne veniamo a conoscenza attraverso pezzi di discorsi, di storie. Ma alla fine non sono altro che questo: pez...more
Meriterebbe più di due stelle, le vicende sono ricche di particolari che rendono i fatti reali, rendono le persone raccontate reali. Persone che hanno tutto e a cui manca l'essenziale. Persone che hanno segreti piccoli o grandi, ( come tutti ) e noi ne veniamo a conoscenza attraverso pezzi di discorsi, di storie. Ma alla fine non sono altro che questo: pez...more
I watched the movie adaptation and became obsessed much in the way as when I first watched Donnie Darko. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the book, and when I finally did, I was not disappointed overall. Although the book was written in 1990, few details seemed dated. Even then, things like the girls with big hair and the struggle to figure out what CD players are all about seem reminiscent to my own experiences if not totally relatable in my current life. Reading the book was like getting the...more
My Amazon review: The thing to love about this disturbing collection of short stories is their ability to reach deep down into the churning gut of suburbia and pluck out the darkest desires, fears, and perversions we all harbor in our deepest and most private of selves. While no readers will admittedly identify with any of Homes' characters or situations there is no doubt that all readers will, on some level, find something that sounds familiar.
Homes is incredibly skilled at picking apart the dr...more
Homes is incredibly skilled at picking apart the dr...more
I loved this book because of it's honest portrayal of suburban America. As far-fetched as some readers might find these stories, it's their denial that suburban life isn't "picture perfect" or maybe they have only experienced the bubble of their own small town. This is a creative glimpse into everyday life. And because it's broken into short stories, the book moves fast and only shows brief flashes of life leaving much to be interpreted by the reader.
I told you I'd read more A.M. Homes (despite my disappointment in In a Country of Mothers)! I enjoyed this collection very much, though by the end of the collection I could see that she uses the same "how shocking! I must read on!" introductory paragraph technique over and over. A minor quibble. I think someone who likes Aimee Bender would like Homes' short stories, though they are much less "fantastic" than Bender's.
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A.M. Homes is the author of the novels, This Book Will Save Your Life, Music For Torching, The End of Alice, In a Country of Mothers, and Jack, as well as the short-story collections, Things You Should Know and The Safety of Objects, the travel memoir, Los Angeles: People, Places and The Castle on the Hill, and the artist's book Appendix A: An Elaboration on the Novel the End of Alice.
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“I liked the fact she understood how we all have little secret habits that seem normal enough to us, but which we know better than to mention out loud.”
—
10 people liked it
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Mar 10, 2009 02:20pm