false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168421909m/33300.jpg 33300 4 Hempel's now-classic collection of short fiction is peopled by complex characters who have discovered that their safety nets are not dependable and who must now learn to balance on the threads of wit, irony, and spirit. 1910017 1985 Reasons to Live: Stories by total:671|5:302|4:231|3:99|2:31|1:8| 671 2801 1010 95 5 3 false false Fri Mar 05 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Fri May 16 09:55:32 -0700 2008 Fri May 16 09:56:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue May 01 21:04:52 -0700 2007 Wed May 02 17:05:59 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 true false Sun May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Tue Jul 10 09:27:55 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 10 09:33:15 -0700 2007
[1] minimalist (or "miniaturist," if you ask hempel) writing style that ...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jun 02 22:55:29 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 23:11:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 26 01:18:50 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 13 13:24:09 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 23 11:30:38 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 23 11:30:38 -0700 2008 A very good book of short stories. The shorter pieces are spare and elliptical--sort of like Raymond Carver, but without the power. But the better longer pieces--"Nashville Gone to Ashes," "In The Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried," "Today Will Be a Quiet Day" ...more...]]> 1 1 false false Mon Aug 20 22:01:52 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 20 22:04:46 -0700 2007 (okok, too easy. a bit pat. Was she not asking for it, though, with a title like this for a collection of stories? Is that not a bit presumptuous?]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Mon May 19 19:50:17 -0700 2008 Mon May 19 19:50:17 -0700 2008
“In a Tub” proof that you don’t need a plot to create a “story” Best line: The sound that I make is not food. There’s a sense that she painstakingly reconstructs each sentence. It has the sparse clarity of a Hopper painting, the story lingering below the sur...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 21 13:29:27 -0700 2007 Fri Jan 04 08:22:11 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 29 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 16:11:29 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 16:13:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Feb 19 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 30 19:31:54 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 19:34:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 18:54:55 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 06 18:54:55 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 05 09:04:03 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 09:12:48 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jan 27 15:04:36 -0800 2009 Fri Apr 03 05:09:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Apr 11 15:59:38 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 11 16:00:42 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sat Jul 11 10:08:54 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 21:56:01 -0700 2009 Hmmm, sounds real, doesn't it? There...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Feb 02 19:09:25 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 03 10:54:31 -0800 2008
But don't neglect the rest. The way Hempel pares things back can be difficult on first immersion i...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 17 18:50:11 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 21:30:52 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Mon May 21 21:37:42 -0700 2007 Fri Jun 01 15:10:40 -0700 2007
sorry that wasn't much of a review. All of the stories are great. I love this author, whom I first heard of in Chuck Paluniuk (sp?)'s book Stranger than Fiction in which h...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Sep 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 02 08:41:11 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 15 11:01:52 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=33300