The stories in Laura van den Berg’s rich and inventive debut illuminate the intersection of the mythic and the mundane.
A failed actress takes a...
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reviews
Aug 26, 2011
ModCloth
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The day after my 22nd birthday, I had one of those serene, emphatic moments people write about in books. You know when the world around you seems to freeze, and all you’ve ever done in life and all you are going to do, becomes suddenly clear. For me, this moment came while Christmas tree shopping with my parents. In the midst of the New England countryside, all those questions my twenty-something self struggled with so incessantly just didn’t seem to matter anymore. It was a quick, fleeting mome
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Feb 02, 2011
Torea
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I joined the Dzanc e-book club, and this book was one of a bundle of five that came with the subscription. The stories themselves are up my alley -- cryptozoology! Multiple references to primatology! -- but I found it quite hard to focus on the narrative structure because the e-book was edited so poorly.
For example, in "We are calling to offer you a fabulous life," there are multiple references to a noise machine the protagonist uses to calm herself. But once, it is referred More...
For example, in "We are calling to offer you a fabulous life," there are multiple references to a noise machine the protagonist uses to calm herself. But once, it is referred More...
Nov 18, 2009
Heather
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Laura van den Berg was raised in Florida and earned her MFA at Emerson College. She is the recipient of scholarships from the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writers' Conferences, the 2009 Julia Peterkin Award, and the 2009-2010 Emerging Writer Lectureship at Gettysburg College. The winner of the Dzanc Prize, Laura’s first collection of stories, What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us, was published by Dzanc Books in October 2009 and selected by Barnes & Noble as a Holiday Discover Gre
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Mar 24, 2011
Bryn ((B2/B.P))
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This is the first book I have won through Goodreads give away, thanks Goodreads This was a quick and easy read, which I enjoyed a lot.
Iloved it how in such a small amount of time the author could make you really feel for the characters. On the downside since there is only a small amount of time, there are many unanswered questions at the end of each story.
All up this was a really good read, and I am looking forward to seeing what Laura Van den Berg does next.
Iloved it how in such a small amount of time the author could make you really feel for the characters. On the downside since there is only a small amount of time, there are many unanswered questions at the end of each story.
All up this was a really good read, and I am looking forward to seeing what Laura Van den Berg does next.
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Sep 12, 2010
Paulina
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...stories about people in transition while on adventure and while learning about, living among or trying to save something they identify with while also trying to stay in a calm and protective state of being. One character says he wanted to drive to the Grand Canyon and stay until he was no longer impressed with the view while his girlfriend pretended to be bigfoot in one of California's parks. Another character felt that she no longer belonged in the world of 401Ks and home ownerships and inst
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Dec 18, 2010
Jason
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"It was late, 4 A.M., and I’d just finished the story for the third time. I turned back to the title page, “We Are Calling to Offer You a Fabulous Life,” and just sat there, not thinking of anything in particular. Instead, I sat there in the sleeping house, doing my best to chain-smoke myself into a coma, and rolled the feeling of the story back and forth. It was smooth and delicate, with just the right pacing, nothing too high or low. It was the delicacy that grabbed me. Laura van den Berg
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Nov 14, 2010
Lindsey Kate
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An excellent first collection. The theme of expansive water and its dangers, tie these stories together. At times these stories felt too closely tied, as if only the stetting changed from story to story. Stories containing water monsters followed each other, which made the details hard to distinguish and separate. At times her narrators also felt as if they were recycled from story to story. I got the feeling that her narrators could share clothes, pants even. At the eye of each story was a woma
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Dec 11, 2011
Sean
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Loved these stories, that are steeped in the marvelous, but concern the intensely personal subjects of abandonment, loneliness, and what it means to find a way in the world. An out of work actress dons a bigfoot costume to work in a theme park in which tourists pay to be chased by the mythical creature. The daughter of globe-trotting parents straight from the editorial board of National Geographic raises her younger brother after her parents are killed. Scientists in Scotland descent in a tiny s
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Jan 17, 2011
Elizabeth
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This one's by a fellow grad of my MFA program... I’m a little late to the party –this collection has been lauded all over the place since it came out in late 2009: The book was a 2009 holiday selection for the Barnes & Noble “Discover Great New Writers” Program, shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor Award, and long-listed for The Story Prize.
There’s a quiet sorrow in all of these stories, which have in common themes of loss and loneliness, despite their disparate geographic settings. (Van de More...
There’s a quiet sorrow in all of these stories, which have in common themes of loss and loneliness, despite their disparate geographic settings. (Van de More...
Feb 19, 2010
Heather
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The book is packed full of beautiful writing, of delicate stories that pull at your heart, draw you in, and don’t allow you to forget them. The women in each of van den Berg’s stories are searching for something, but there are so many more layers to what they are searching for than just the object itself. These stories are the kind that you need time to think about, they need to be examined and thought about and sat on for awhile. They are complicated and gorgeous and everything you hope from
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Jul 09, 2010
Jessica
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I wanted to like this book, I really did. I love short stories, I like to support small independent publishing houses, and I thought the description on the cover sounded interesting. Or kind of...
Unfortunately I was wrong. The stories here were competently written, even if a lot of the characters felt flat or undeveloped and the descriptions clicheed. My biggest problem wasn't so much the writing. My biggest problem was that there was nothing new or interesting in this book. The stor More...
Unfortunately I was wrong. The stories here were competently written, even if a lot of the characters felt flat or undeveloped and the descriptions clicheed. My biggest problem wasn't so much the writing. My biggest problem was that there was nothing new or interesting in this book. The stor More...
May 06, 2010
Dzanc
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A BARNES AND NOBLE DISCOVER GREAT NEW WRITERS OFFICIAL 2009 HOLIDAY SELECTION.
"van den Berg taps into her characters’ losses with an impressive clarity."
—Publishers Weekly
"Stunning, desolate, and unforgettable."
—Booklist (starred review)
"van den Berg taps into her characters’ losses with an impressive clarity."
—Publishers Weekly
"Stunning, desolate, and unforgettable."
—Booklist (starred review)
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May 16, 2011
Kazza
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I rarely ever read short stories so I'm feeling so very inadequate to provide any sort of review. All the stories, however, have one thing in common (as is mentioned on the back of the book) that about women all awaiting for something - some light to point the way to go next...
Whilst I can't imagine myself in these women's shoes, I can however imagine being in a position where things are either in such a mess or just so ordinary that you just go with the flow... waiting, just waitin More...
Whilst I can't imagine myself in these women's shoes, I can however imagine being in a position where things are either in such a mess or just so ordinary that you just go with the flow... waiting, just waitin More...
Feb 23, 2010
Ti
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The Short of It:
What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us is a gem of a little book. Filled with stories about women who don’t settle, yet struggle to find their place in society. Honest and thoughtful in her delivery, van den Berg creates a world where beauty exists in everyday things.
The Rest of It:
How do I share the feeling that I am feeling right at this moment? Well, let’s give it a shot.
There are many wonderful stories in thi More...
What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us is a gem of a little book. Filled with stories about women who don’t settle, yet struggle to find their place in society. Honest and thoughtful in her delivery, van den Berg creates a world where beauty exists in everyday things.
The Rest of It:
How do I share the feeling that I am feeling right at this moment? Well, let’s give it a shot.
There are many wonderful stories in thi More...
Feb 13, 2011
Nicki
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This book was given to me by a friend who won it in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway, but decided it wasn't their cup of tea.
This is a collection of 8 short stories about woman who are looking for something in their lives or trying to learn about themselves.
All theses stories had something unique to offer and I was riveted from start to finish. Despite the brevity of the pieces, the characters were all well developed and believable and the stories were engaging and often tho More...
This is a collection of 8 short stories about woman who are looking for something in their lives or trying to learn about themselves.
All theses stories had something unique to offer and I was riveted from start to finish. Despite the brevity of the pieces, the characters were all well developed and believable and the stories were engaging and often tho More...
Jun 22, 2010
Sarah
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I loved this book. Somehow, I missed the note on the cover saying this was a book of stories. When I got to the end of the first chapter, I was quite sad to realize my time with those characters was ending. That's the sign of a good short story - wishing it wasn't so short. These stories all tell moments of loss, of pain, of being reckless and fearless, of finding yourself when you're the only one looking. Some of the stories lacked a real resolution. You don't know how they end, but none of us
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Dec 29, 2009
Rachel
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"Up High in the Air," "Where We Must Be" and "Still Life With Poppies" were all stunning, cinematic, enormous, moving without being maudlin - pitch-perfect portraits of desire and loneliness and absurdity. At times I wanted the absurdity to be amplified; van den Berg's language is very straightforward in most stories, and I found myself remembering images more than paragraphs. This line, however, from the end of "The Rain Season" rang in my head for a week
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Feb 02, 2010
Jodi
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Laura van den Berg writes beautifully. Her sentences and paragraphs feel like gauzy, ethereal dreams. It’s the kind of writing that seems effortless which means it probably took great amounts of effort. She populates the stories of What the World Will Look Like When All the Water Leaves Us with people on quests for mythical creatures — bigfoot, Nessie the Loch Ness monster, Mishegenabeg (a monster said to inhabit Lake Michigan) –which adds to this dreamlike quality. But make no mistake these peo
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Mar 28, 2010
Dana
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what the world will look like when all the water leaves us is a book of short stories by Laura van den Berg. The stories are set in locations ranging from Boston to the Congo, from Paris to Madagascar. In eight stories, van den Berg's heroines deal with loss, disappointment, and other obstacles.
Despite the fact that this was a book of short stories, van den Berg quickly establishes her characters and their worlds in each. For example, in the opening paragraph of goodbye my loveds, I More...
Despite the fact that this was a book of short stories, van den Berg quickly establishes her characters and their worlds in each. For example, in the opening paragraph of goodbye my loveds, I More...
Aug 03, 2010
Nina
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I love the blurring of the fantasy and reality in these short stories. I recommend reading each story on its own (and not the whole book straight through) because the stories all seem to evoke a similar mood and emotions examining women struggling with their identity and relationships - the characters blend together too much if you read the stories back to back. Beautifully written.
May 05, 2010
Miles
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A startlingly well written collection of stories which draw you in with their scintillating prose and intriguing dilemmas. The women at the centre of them are all highly educated, scientists, teachers, students, actors. They are at a moment in their lives when loss or disappointment gives them the clarity to reassess their whole life. The stories are intensely reflective, the settings are diverse, Paris, New York, Madagascar, Congo, Loch Ness. Water and monsters loom large. The main characte
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Mar 12, 2010
Julie
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This collection of short stories by a new writer is one of the best that I've read over this past year. Her stories are fascinating in that they are completely original and wonderful at the same time. Her writing style is beautiful and eloquent as she delves into relationships against some of the most interesting backdrops of life.
Aug 16, 2010
Melanie
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There is nothing familiar about the situations or circumstances in this book, but the characters and the raw human emotion they experience makes me feel like I, too, have lost parents in the Amazon or hunted for the Loch Ness monster. The stories feel so effortless, as though they are being repeated from memory and as I read, I keep wondering how she does it.
Jan 30, 2011
Patricia
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Laura van der Berg deals with people who are obsessed with myths - from the Lochness monster to the myth of family. Each story takes you into another country and another constellation of characters and I found my self slowed down because of the language of her writing, which you want to take in word by word.
Oct 16, 2010
Brian
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These stories focus on female protagonists caught in moments of great intrigue, and they happen in locales all over the globe. van den Berg's ability to place her stories and characters in a variety of settings is rather impressive for no other reason than for the feeling that the reader gets that he/she is actually there. It's a simple complement, but the writing should be applauded for how well place becomes a part of each story. So often a collection of stories focuses on one primary locatio
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Jun 10, 2010
Kossiwa
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I loved the stories in this book. Every story told in first person. The author brings the stories alive from the first word to the last word. I hope she continues writing short story collections even if she sprinkles her career with novels.
Jan 16, 2010
Robert
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I'd heard a lot of great things about this collection, and therefore I think I went into it with very high expectations. The stories themselves are fine; there is nothing wrong with them at all, but none of them really hit me in a way that made me want to sit up and reread passages.
Sep 04, 2010
Erin and Jim
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I spotted this collection of stories at the library and decided to check it out because the title was so intriguing. It is one of the most interesting short story collections that I have read, as the author explores themes surrounding science, mysterious creatures, and the search for one's true identity. The title story was my favorite story in the collection.
Feb 09, 2011
Lisa
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A beautiful collection of intimate short stories that make you want more. I feel incredibly fortunate to not only win this book, but also to have enjoyed it so much. I can't seem to think of anything else to say.
Feb 10, 2010
Traci
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Great book of short stories. Unlike a lot of short story books, I really enjoyed all of these stories. They were often subtle in their approach, but held a deep meaning for me. I also loved all the unusual environmental/natural themes and images.
