My rating:
add to my books
Loading...
Animal Crackers: Stories
by
Hannah Tinti (Goodreads Author),
Laural Merlington , Dan John Miller
With bravura storytelling, daring imagination, and fierce narrative control, this dazzling debut introduces that rare writer who finds humanity in our most unconventional behavior, and the humor beneath our darkest impulses.In these strange, funny, and unnerving stories, animals become the litmus test of our deepest fears and longings. In the title story, an elephant keepe...more
Compact Disc
Published
by Brilliance Audio
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
505)
I wanted to like this more than I did. I found the characters and stories flat and unappealing, and while I'm not terribly squeamish, some of the callous violence (especially toward animals) was repulsive and (at times) gratuitous.
The only humorous bit was the list of demands from three giraffes to their zookeeper. I kept hoping for more of the wit and humor promised on the book's back cover, but none of the "humour beneath our darkest impulses" was apparent to me.
...more
The only humorous bit was the list of demands from three giraffes to their zookeeper. I kept hoping for more of the wit and humor promised on the book's back cover, but none of the "humour beneath our darkest impulses" was apparent to me.
...more
A good set of short stories that loosely are tied together by animals that appear in them mostly as plot devices, rarely though sometimes taking center stage. The animals range from a dog in "Home Sweet Home" that only appears as a prop feeding on cereal that has been spilled by a man who has been murdered to a stuffed bear at a natural history museum in the story "Preservation" that appears to come to life to a young woman who is painting backgrounds for exhibits while also...more
This is a solid and satisfying collection of stories, though I think maybe they aren't flattered by being grouped together in a collection-- when you read a couple of them at a time, you see two things: first, that they all employ the same gambit, to rush a large cast of arbitrary eccentrics onto the stage for our enjoyment, and then, more damningly, that these stories, as near as I can tell, aren't about anything. I don't mean something as crass as to say that stories should be about human traf...more
"Animal Crackers" is a collection of short stories written by Hannah Tinti, author of "The Good Thief". This collection has 11 tales.
I read this book for one reason, The Good Thief: A Novel is a great book. "Animal Crackers" was Tinti's debut book and I wanted to be able to say I've read all her work.
This collection won't knock you off your feet, but it does have it's gems:
Preservation - Mary the daughter of a well-known artist...more
I read this book for one reason, The Good Thief: A Novel is a great book. "Animal Crackers" was Tinti's debut book and I wanted to be able to say I've read all her work.
This collection won't knock you off your feet, but it does have it's gems:
Preservation - Mary the daughter of a well-known artist...more
When reading the acknowledgments at the back (and this means I must like a book, for me to read the acknowledgments), I saw A.M. Homes included in Tinti's list of teachers and I thought, "OF COURSE. I EFFIN LOVE A.M. HOMES." There's a lightly grim touch to all the stories in this collection, the very best of which ("Animal Crackers," "Talk Turkey") leave emotional contusions to go along with the quick cuts.
1.) "Animal Crackers" - a worthy titl...more
1.) "Animal Crackers" - a worthy titl...more
view all 9 comments
It has taken me a couple of days to decide how I felt about this book. When you have to pick how many stars and what that means, you have to make a decision and live with. I'm such a wimp! I chose the middle star. Most of the stories were provocatively strange but about half where strangly strange. Don't read this book if you are squemish!
I always wonder 'when' in the author's life did they write those particular stories. It would be fun to know.
I was expecting more a...more
I always wonder 'when' in the author's life did they write those particular stories. It would be fun to know.
I was expecting more a...more
I loved The Good Thief so much I decided to read Tinti's short story collection too. It's interesting to feel that you've seen a writer grow from book to book. Even though I read these in the reverse order you can really see her development. The stories feature really interesting and well drawn characters and great timing when things go from mostly normal to very very strange, but the stories aren't carried off as well as her novel is. Part of this is the genre. It's much more acceptable to have...more
This book was hard for me-- I admit I only read the first five or six stories and then returned it to the library. The writing is excellent and unusual but every story involves a gruesome death, either human or animal, and I was having nightmares. (It didn't help that I was reading a story before going to bed.)
Doesn't it seem like stories are much more likely to be disturbing than novels? Once you're in a novel, you have some expectation of whether, in the next 25 pages, something wi...more
Doesn't it seem like stories are much more likely to be disturbing than novels? Once you're in a novel, you have some expectation of whether, in the next 25 pages, something wi...more
What's so impressive about this collection is Tinti's range - she captures completely the voices of so many characters, an impressive, all-encompassing cast. Others have remarked on the brutality in this, but truthfully, it's one of my favorite aspects of the whole thing. "Slim's Last Ride" and "Bloodworks" both detail children's violence towards pets, but the stories aren't mirror images. The few stories that acted as accounts, heavy on telling and light on scene, tended to ...more
This book is a quick read - the author is very clear and her storytelling flows well, I didn't love this book however as I felt all the stories fell short. You could see where she was going with them but they didn't quite get there. I think Tinti certainly has a lot of potential, her stories were a bit like an amateur attempt at Patricia Highsmith - dark, disturbing morality tales. I think if she develops her stories a little bit more she has the makings of an excellent writer. I would like to t...more
I love Hannah Tinti. I love One Story. I love her on Selected Shorts. I loved this collection. I read every story, and every story was super good. Sometimes story collections have one or two duds that piss me off. Like, they stop me in the reading. "Home Sweet Home" was probably my favorite. A couple gets murdered and then you find out about an affair and a wayward child and it kind of makes sense. The animal violence kind of got to me. I'm the person who reads labels looking for NO AN...more
The book is a collection of stories by an incredibly talented writer. These eleven stories ostensibly center around a consistent theme: animals becoming a litmus test of sorts for human fears and longings.
The writer herself is quite talented. But a second reading revealed that she might use six-degrees-of-separation tricks among her characters a little too often. She also has a tendency to cheat a little with her theme. A few of these stories don't seem to use the animal in question...more
The writer herself is quite talented. But a second reading revealed that she might use six-degrees-of-separation tricks among her characters a little too often. She also has a tendency to cheat a little with her theme. A few of these stories don't seem to use the animal in question...more
There was some good buzz regarding Hannah Tinti's first novel, 'The Good Thief.' A young woman who hails from Salem, Massachusetts, telling a tale of a one-handed figure with words like 'gothic' and 'spooky' being used to describe her writing. And it was almost Halloween! I decided to show some reserve and start with these short stories, her first major published work, which I don't usually have the courage to do. I hoped they'd be spooky too.
All the stories revolved around animal ...more
All the stories revolved around animal ...more
Very engaging and easy to get lost in. Each story, individually, would have made a great novel. These were different from the type of stories I usually read. They were edgy and took a lot of risks, including dabbling with fantasy (although I guess it's up to the reader to decide if the fantastical is insanity or not). Very good for a young writer. I'll keep an eye out for more from her.
Simple, complicated stories with the mixing of human and animal consciousness. What makes great fiction? When you laugh as you read, recognizing some of your own absurd complexity. There are no easy answers or resolutions, but the human condition is on display in how we use, treat, and fear the other inhabitants of our planet. Why did I put off reading this gifted author?
I am always a sucker for short stories, and this collection is surreal and touching, beautiful and bizarre all at once. (It doesn't hurt that Hannah Tinti is HOT!)
6/29/09
I had forgotten how good these stories really are. Tinti has such a confident hand and sure writing style. She just boldy charges into these stories, and dares you to try to keep up. Nothing is spelled out, nothing is certain, nothing is explained, and yet everything is. In two sparse lines, she say so muc...more
6/29/09
I had forgotten how good these stories really are. Tinti has such a confident hand and sure writing style. She just boldy charges into these stories, and dares you to try to keep up. Nothing is spelled out, nothing is certain, nothing is explained, and yet everything is. In two sparse lines, she say so muc...more
Maybe I just didn't get it. I thought a lot of the violence towards animals was unsettling, even if it was in a fictionalized world and there was a "point" to it. It reminded me of Chuck Palahniuk, in that how offensive/violent can I make this for the sake of being offensive/violent kind of way.
This was darker than I was in the mood for - I'd probably give it 2.5 stars if I could, because objectively I think it was better than just okay but there were only a couple of stories that I could really say I liked. I'm not sure if I'd read it again.
Pretty good little collection of short stories. Some of them cute, some of them graphic, but an interesting concept: Every story has something to do with animals (if if some are connected by the thinnest wisp).
A good book. Took me only a couple of days to finish. Most of the stories were very good and a few were verging on great. Certainly, Tinti has some wonderful lines and an eye toward the poetic detail.
This collection of strange and wonderfully unusual short stories mixes reality and the warped world where human characteristics are intertwined with animal symbolism.
-Ariel, The Book Cellar-
-Ariel, The Book Cellar-
I don't know how to describe this book. So I won't. I just love Hannah Tinti. This is a great set of short stories that you will talk about to strangers.
Tinti's craftsmanship is outstanding as her stories are lean and insightful. "Reasonable Terms" is one of my favorite short stories.
Loved it! What an amazing author. Easily as imaginative as John Irving, but not as creepy.
Great book of short stories although a couple of them are particularly disturbing...
With the exception of Amy Hempel, I don't think I've ever given five stars to a collection of short stories. Usually, there are too many misses for me to go above three stars. But there was something about Tinti's writing that allowed me to forgive/gloss over the shortcomings.
These stories are bizarre in the best kind of way. Tinti's sense of humor is wonderful, and her created worlds turn "reality" on its head just enough for anything and everything to happen.
S...more
These stories are bizarre in the best kind of way. Tinti's sense of humor is wonderful, and her created worlds turn "reality" on its head just enough for anything and everything to happen.
S...more
different. kind of like walking into a nursing home or an emergency room and asking "hi everyone, could you please describe the most traumatic and horrific thing that has ever happened to you?" and then meticulously recording them and leaving out anything uplifting or positive.
great shorts - quirky, unexpected
Beautiful, strange stories.
Not anywhere near her second book, The Good Thief. Now THAT was a brilliant bit of work!
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Hannah Tinti grew up in Salem, Massachusetts, and is co-founder and editor-in-chief of One Story magazine. Her short story collection, Animal Crackers, has sold in sixteen countries and was a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway award. Her first novel, The Good Thief, is published by The Dial Press (US) and Headline (UK). The Good Thief is a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, recipient of the Ame...more
More about Hannah Tinti...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
