false <![CDATA[The Dog of the Marriage: Stories]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168421909m/33301.jpg 33301 2 Amy Hempel's compassion, intensity, and illuminating observations have made her one of the most distinctive and admired modern writers. In three stunning books of stories, she has established a voice as unique and recognizable as the photographs of Cindy Sherman or the brushstrokes of Robert Motherwell. <I>The Dog of the Marriage,</I> Hempel's fourth collection, is about sexual obsession, relationships gone awry, and the unsatisfied longings of everyday life.<P>In "Offertory," a modern-day Scheherazade entertains and manipulates her lover with stories of her sexual encounters with a married couple as a very young woman. In "Reference # 388475848-5," a letter contesting a parking ticket becomes a beautiful and unnerving statement of faith. In "Jesus Is Waiting," a woman driving to New York sends a series of cryptically honest postcards to an old lover. And the title story is a heartbreaking tale about the objects and animals and unmired desires that are left behind after death or divorce.<P>These nine stories teem with wisdom, emotion, and surprising wit. Hempel explores the intricate psychology of people falling in and out of love, trying to locate something or someone elusive or lost. Her sentences are as lean, original, and startling as any in contemporary fiction.<P> 1910018 2005 The Dog of the Marriage: Stories total:347|5:123|4:135|3:67|2:16|1:6| 347 1394 465 29 2 12 false false Sun Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 07 15:42:48 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 19:43:35 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jul 24 20:34:47 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 22:39:49 -0700 2007
I finished Amy Hempel’s latest short story collection, “The Dog of the Marriage,” on a visit to the Georgia O’Keefe museum in Santa Fe. During this particular visit the museum host...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 08:04:32 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 10:33:41 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 14 12:41:34 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 14 12:49:24 -0700 2007 4 0 false false Sun Jul 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 08:15:02 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 19:04:21 -0700 2009 Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk in the growing stack of books I planned to purchase. She added this to my cache, pointing out the blurb on the back:
In airports and on trains, the toughest part of read...
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(1) (after reading the New Yorker edits): Did Lish do Hempel like he did Carver?

(2) I've always thought the earlier work was better, but now I'm reconsidering that belief. ]]> 5 0 false false Tue Mar 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 11 11:21:27 -0700 2008 Tue May 13 15:04:31 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri Nov 07 16:39:41 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 07 16:40:25 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Mon Apr 06 19:03:02 -0700 2009 Fri Feb 20 10:20:46 -0800 2009 Mon Apr 06 19:03:02 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Sep 12 07:35:45 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 08 09:01:09 -0700 2008
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I got distracted and have to come back to it.]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 22 18:11:02 -0700 2008 Thu May 22 18:14:10 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sat Feb 16 13:22:13 -0800 2008 Wed Mar 05 11:03:48 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sat Jan 05 11:56:58 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 05 11:58:35 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=33301