false <![CDATA[How to Breathe Underwater]]> http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170349086m/47975.jpg 47975 5 The stories in <I>How to Breathe Underwater</I>, Julie Orringer's debut collection, swim with tragedies both commonplace and horrific. A fall from a treehouse, an ailing mother, a near-drowning, a premature baby, a gun--each is the source of a young woman's coming-of-age, which we witness through Orringer's lovely, driving prose. The author possesses an uncanny ability to capture scenes and complex emotions in quick strokes. In "Pilgrims," young Ella is taken to a hippie household for Thanksgiving, where her mother joins several other cancer patients in search of natural remedies: "Some of them wore knitted hats like her mother, their skin dull-gray, their eyes purple-shaded underneath. To Ella it seemed they could be relatives of her mother's, shameful cousins recently discovered." Shame is as omnipresent as water in this collection, sadly appropriate for stories about girls becoming women. Orringer possesses an acute understanding of the many rules of girlhood, in particular the uniquely childish importance of "not telling" (for fear of becoming a traitor, and consequently, an outcast). But though her subjects may take us to the murky depths--submerging us in the cruelties girls and siblings commit against each other--Orringer's nimble writing and subtle humor allow us to breathe. <I>--Brangien Davis</I> 867141 2003 How to Breathe Underwater total:929|5:334|4:375|3:178|2:33|1:9| 929 3779 1448 164 4 2 false false Tue Nov 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 21 23:11:33 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 08:17:06 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 2 false false Tue May 29 10:42:56 -0700 2007 Tue May 29 11:32:16 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Aug 22 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 13 19:23:39 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 16:48:33 -0700 2008
These are...more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Apr 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Aug 29 11:12:24 -0700 2007 Mon Apr 07 19:08:33 -0700 2008
For me the stories were haunting, though, and I had trouble sleeping wel...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 08 05:59:53 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 10:54:06 -0700 2009
The problem I think I have with short stories is that they just sort of end--either they leave you hanging or they don't give you enough and leave you w...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Aug 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 13:29:54 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 16:22:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 09:32:30 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 21 09:38:27 -0700 2009 There is a cadenc...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 16:40:46 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 16:47:27 -0700 2009
The collection took me a relatively long time to get through because the stories are powerful, some may say shocking. It took me a while to live with most of the sto...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Sep 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 05:40:53 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 07:14:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 10:53:47 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 16:42:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Oct 13 07:21:52 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 13 07:22:18 -0700 2008 2 thinkgirl.net review:

The title of Orringer’s debut story collection, How to Breathe Underwater, perfectly captures these tales of girls surviving their first tragedies. In “Pilgrims,” a family attends a Thanksgiving dinner with strangers; amid the meal and treehouse play, we dis...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 20:51:41 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 12 11:47:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 11 11:55:07 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 31 16:31:15 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Apr 14 14:51:34 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 04 13:49:34 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 07 21:18:23 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 07 21:36:14 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Nov 21 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Jun 08 20:04:04 -0700 2008 Fri Nov 21 21:51:30 -0800 2008
However, that completely wasn't the case. The stories were mostly all won...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 20:24:04 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 08 07:31:38 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 01 13:30:17 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 20 12:41:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 true false Tue Aug 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 09:10:31 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 11:40:29 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Feb 16 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 15:48:56 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 15:52:56 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=47975