Bucking preconceived notions of how women should behave, the protagonists in WOMEN UP ON BLOCKS seek to reconcile the price they’ve paid for allowi...
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reviews
Feb 22, 2009
Clifford
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This book is available for pre-order from Press53. I've read it and it's a terrific collection. Women, especially, will love it, but men will, too, because it's about people who find themselves in places they never expected to be. We can all relate! Mary Akers is a wonderful writer, and I recommend this book to everyone.
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Mar 04, 2009
J.W.
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I sat, one particular afternoon, in the middle of downtown Phoenix, reading Women Up On Blocks. It was lunch hour, so there was plenty of pedestrian traffic, including the expected share of vehicular traffic. Yet there I sat, reading the story "No Reason Not To," all the while almost entirely oblivious to everything around me. Such was Mary Akers' ability to fully draw me into her story.
Her characters have beautiful depth, flesh, and soul. Poignancy and unfiltered honesty a More...
Her characters have beautiful depth, flesh, and soul. Poignancy and unfiltered honesty a More...
Feb 26, 2009
Sonya
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I read this collection with no expectations and, therefore, everywhere to go emotionally. Having read it "straight" helped me to find each character within myself. I alternately stroked her, counseled her or shook her violently.
So many women are told so many things about how to feel, who they should be, how they should love, the power they should possess that they forget the woman that can find her reflection in fish guts on a creek bank. Women become obnoxious with the More...
So many women are told so many things about how to feel, who they should be, how they should love, the power they should possess that they forget the woman that can find her reflection in fish guts on a creek bank. Women become obnoxious with the More...
Aug 05, 2009
Tania
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I never like to read a whole short story collection in one go, but in this case, during a bout of insomnia, I simply couldn't stop. Each of Mary Akers' stories has a unique voice, a different tone and style, and they are quirky and poignant, thoughtful and thought-provoking. They do not tie up neatly, they linger on long after this slim book has been put down. I don't recommend reading it straight through, only because of the sense of disappointment when you read your last story, that there is n
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Jan 11, 2012
Sassy
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While the stories in this collection were compelling, I felt that the author followed the path of least resistance in almost all of them. Each story is at least 90% narration, with few scenes and almost no dialogue, and most have only one or two real characters, so they feel more like summaries or monologues than stories. The best one is the last, which involves multiple adult siblings in the aftermath of their abusive father's death. Seeing them interact and hearing the things they say to each
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Jun 16, 2009
Pamela
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These stories have wonderfully bold premises--a woman, having impulsively married a man she hardly knows, is left alone in a house covered with mirrors (it was formerly owned by a supermodel); a woman sits naked in a cage as a protest against the mistreatment of animals; yet another woman, dying from cancer, donates her body to be displayed ("flayed" is the more apt word) in a traveling exhibition on anatomy. Akers' tales challenge us to imagine extreme situations: what plunges people
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Dec 12, 2010
Marie
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Unique characters and plots, captivating writing, favorite was Mooncalf
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Aug 13, 2011
Jen
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Awesome and powerful. Not to mentioned a great cover!
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