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40th out of 100 books
—
16 voters
This Cake Is for the Party
Finalist for the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize
Longlisted for the 2010 Frank O'Connor Award
Sarah Selecky’s first book takes dead aim at a young generation of men and women who often set out with the best of intentions, only to have plans thwarted or hopes betrayed.
These are stories about friendships and relationships confused by unsettling tensions bubbling beneath the surf...more
Longlisted for the 2010 Frank O'Connor Award
Sarah Selecky’s first book takes dead aim at a young generation of men and women who often set out with the best of intentions, only to have plans thwarted or hopes betrayed.
These are stories about friendships and relationships confused by unsettling tensions bubbling beneath the surf...more
Hardcover, 229 pages
Published
January 1st 2010
by Thomas Allen & Son
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I enjoyed these stories, but would like to read them in print. This collection was one of my early forays on an e-reader. Short stories are hard to read on a device because a human reader needs to be able to quickly flip back and forth and re-read significant parts to understand how the writer led him or her to the a-ha moment.
"This Cake Is For The Party" is an addictive little book of short stories that are magical. I first started reading thinking I would find them mundane and ordinary. Sarah Selecky was an unknown author to me. Having mostly recognition from Canada and not a well-known writer thus far in the US, I was skeptical about her book. But, I soon found her stories addictive, and found myself returning again and again to the book when I really wanted to start reading another novel every day!
What's so captiv...more
What's so captiv...more
All I know of Canada is based on DeGrassi, Justin Beiber, and Toronto’s Carnival. But reading Sarah Selecky’s book of short stories “This Cake Is For The Party” introduced me to a side of the great maple nation that many Americans such as myself have made no consideration of. Selecky’s short stories are a slice-of-Canadian life, and not surprisingly it’s a lot like what life is like for people south of the (Canadian) border: people struggling to make sense of their worlds, wading through the muc...more
Selecky surprised me right from the first lines with such a confident and wry voice. She brushes over topics of sex, children, death, religion, drugs etc. with an indifferent yet full of mocking tone. She never expresses anger, disapproval or contempt toward any of her characters directly, but somehow, beneath that wry writing is a satirical smile hidden so well and artistically.
Her stories may start out with the ending, for example, "Where are you from sweetheart". However, readers soon realize...more
Her stories may start out with the ending, for example, "Where are you from sweetheart". However, readers soon realize...more
The ten stories in This Cake are mostly (with one or two exceptions) first person narratives, and each of the stories deals with a particular grasp on human sadness and disappointment. In Throwing Cotton, the protagonist struggles with suspicions of her husband's infidelity while simultaneously trying to get pregnant. In Watching Atlas, the male protagonist deals with the reality of a dead-end job and the creeping anger he feels with his partner's childhood pal, a drunk who is all too ready to d...more
Sarah Selecky dazzles with ten taut, smartly searing stories in her first published collection, This Cake Is for the Party. Selecky levels her gaze upon a younger generation whose best intentions unravel in the face of hidden truths, betrayal, and unsettling tensions riding just below the surface.
Stand out pieces include "Go-Manchura," in which a lonesome introvert embroils herself in a health food pyramid scheme, and the heartbreaking "Where Are You Coming From, Sweetheart?", in which a young g...more
Stand out pieces include "Go-Manchura," in which a lonesome introvert embroils herself in a health food pyramid scheme, and the heartbreaking "Where Are You Coming From, Sweetheart?", in which a young g...more
A great collection of short stories, which ranged from a variety events or issues that have a profound effect on the characters and their lives, or in some cases the lives of those around them. In fact the more I think back about the collection and what I got out of the short stories, the more I find myself enjoying them.
Standing Up for Janey and Paul Farenbacher's Yard Sale are three short stories that have stuck with me, even after I've finished them and moved on to the next short stories. Th...more
Standing Up for Janey and Paul Farenbacher's Yard Sale are three short stories that have stuck with me, even after I've finished them and moved on to the next short stories. Th...more
My streak of bad luck book wise is over! I have found a book that if I didn't love it, I definitely LIKED it! Short stories normally aren't my thing, but this collection was just so beautifully written. I don't even know if I can pinpoint what I liked so much about it. As I was reading I just kind of let the stories wash over me.
Selecky's writing is captivating and short stories were really the perfect form for all of these stories. The stories worked to varying degrees, but as a collection they...more
Selecky's writing is captivating and short stories were really the perfect form for all of these stories. The stories worked to varying degrees, but as a collection they...more
A man with a hard decision to make about the neighbour’s boy. A woman who tries to sell health products to her friends. Two couples entangled in infidelity. A woman writing a letter to her estranged husband’s mother. A young woman in love with a man… and his ex-girlfriend. A fire in the candle factory.
These are a few of the stories in Sarah Selecky’s This Cake Is for the Party, nominated for the Giller prize in 2010.
I read this book because I’m currently taking Sarah’s Story is a State of Mind e...more
These are a few of the stories in Sarah Selecky’s This Cake Is for the Party, nominated for the Giller prize in 2010.
I read this book because I’m currently taking Sarah’s Story is a State of Mind e...more
Have decided this year to read as many books of short stories as I can. Why? I am trying to decipher what exactly it takes to make a good short story collection and to discover the differences in each book of stories. Short stories seem a little more personal, maybe tells a little more about who an author is and how they view things as a person. In other words short stories cut away much of the fluff and fauna. In this collection the author writes stories about average occurrences many people wi...more
This Cake Is for the Party is a collection of ten short stories set in Canada. The stories are completely separate. There is no character sharing or over bleeds. The stories have some aspect of food in them, either characters prepping or sharing a meal. Despite their short story status, the main characters are sketched deftly, and you have a birds eye view into their thoughts and world. Marital, familial, and friendship bonds are strained and tested. I'm not a big fan of short stories, but this...more
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I haven't read many short stories. I tend to feel like I don't get enough information about the characters and setting and that they end far too quickly. I was pleasantly surprised with Sarah Selecky's "This Cake is For the Party". Each story was well-crafted and made me think long after the story was completed. Even with the brief nature of the stories, I felt that that author chose her words well, painting a str...more
I haven't read many short stories. I tend to feel like I don't get enough information about the characters and setting and that they end far too quickly. I was pleasantly surprised with Sarah Selecky's "This Cake is For the Party". Each story was well-crafted and made me think long after the story was completed. Even with the brief nature of the stories, I felt that that author chose her words well, painting a str...more
Selecky is a 21st Century Canadian Ann Beattie. This is a remarkably consistently strong collection that should, in my view, have won the 2010 Giller Prize.
Her characters lead complicated lives. Sometimes the complications are of their own making - the 'ironic bride' who can't resist having an affair immediately before her wedding, the teenage girl whose rebellion coincides with her widowed father's descent into abject misery, the woman who's finally ready to have a child but isn't, really.... O...more
Her characters lead complicated lives. Sometimes the complications are of their own making - the 'ironic bride' who can't resist having an affair immediately before her wedding, the teenage girl whose rebellion coincides with her widowed father's descent into abject misery, the woman who's finally ready to have a child but isn't, really.... O...more
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A lot of readers think of short stories like the crumbs on the cover image of Sarah Selecky’s stories: short stories are what’s left behind when a writer couldn’t make something whole out of an idea, couldn’t serve it properly on a plate. For these readers, short stories are failed novels, forever in a wanna-be state. And these readers will be disappointed in Sarah Selecky’s stories. (But I doubt they would have picked up the collection anyhow, despite its Giller-nomination.)
Readers who recogni...more
Readers who recogni...more
This collection of short stories is a definite need-to-read. They are tales of people's lives, intersecting, sensuous, random, non-random, filled with hidden truths and wonderment. Selecky writes so smoothly you consume them like bites of butter-icing cake, feeling them slide over your mind like melted chocolate, perhaps with a pinch of cayenne.
There are surprising moments, where the reader wonders, why? I reread a couple of stories, looking for the foreshadowing, the links forms tart to finish....more
There are surprising moments, where the reader wonders, why? I reread a couple of stories, looking for the foreshadowing, the links forms tart to finish....more
Yet another good first book find (although she was on the Giller list, so not that hard to find her).
A solid collection of stories. Each one focuses in on an interior left turn (like the garden of forking paths). They're all a little dark and a little unexpected, which is a fabulous combination.
There's the man who ends up in an affair with his best friend's wife, whom he doesn't like much. A woman whose mother-in-law has never accepted her, who has a kind of extra-body experience. And another wo...more
A solid collection of stories. Each one focuses in on an interior left turn (like the garden of forking paths). They're all a little dark and a little unexpected, which is a fabulous combination.
There's the man who ends up in an affair with his best friend's wife, whom he doesn't like much. A woman whose mother-in-law has never accepted her, who has a kind of extra-body experience. And another wo...more
I won This Cake Is For The Party as part of First Reads.
The thing I like best about books of short stories if if I don't like a story, I'm done quickly without committing to a full book and I can get away from something dull and lifeless.
The thing I dislike about books of short stories is getting to the end of a story and thinking "nooooooo I wanted to keep reading about these people."
This book has far more of the second stories than the first. Well over half of the stories I got buried in de...more
The thing I like best about books of short stories if if I don't like a story, I'm done quickly without committing to a full book and I can get away from something dull and lifeless.
The thing I dislike about books of short stories is getting to the end of a story and thinking "nooooooo I wanted to keep reading about these people."
This book has far more of the second stories than the first. Well over half of the stories I got buried in de...more
My first foray into the short story genre and I was not let down. They're clever and wicked. Just slightly mysterious until the last line, without giving the complete story away. Just enough to make you go "Hmmm...". On a side note, I also got the suspicion that I found out a lot about the author herself. I got the sense she writes about what she actually knows, what she has actually experienced in life; dinner parties with other creative types... and slowly their secret lives coming out after o...more
This book cover tells us this author was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize ... and if you know what that is feel free to share the info because I have never heard of it. Basically this book turns out to be a collection of short stories. Some better then others and some are down right odd but all are readable. I raced through this book in a day and it's writing carried that pace without effort. I personally just wish almost all of the short stories had been lengthened into actual books....more
Strong collection without any weak entries added to fill out the book (a frequent problem with short story collections, imho).
Most of the stories seem just long enough. They develop satisfying characters and give you some real meat to dig into. Surprising but believable shifts are a delight throughout.
My only complaint is that I'd like a wider scope of topics, characters and settings. There's much to explore in the dissatisfied lives of (relatively) privileged young adults, but sometimes I was...more
Most of the stories seem just long enough. They develop satisfying characters and give you some real meat to dig into. Surprising but believable shifts are a delight throughout.
My only complaint is that I'd like a wider scope of topics, characters and settings. There's much to explore in the dissatisfied lives of (relatively) privileged young adults, but sometimes I was...more
This is the first time I've purchased a book because it made on of the "big" lists (in this case, The 2010 Giller Prize list). I was drawn to the book for a couple of reasons: because the title is so intriguing, because the cover is so eye-catching, and because I am addicted to short stories.
I enjoyed this book a lot. It covers interesting turf. The characters struggle with relationships (some more than others) and they live in a world that is familiar to me geographically and, in some cases, th...more
I enjoyed this book a lot. It covers interesting turf. The characters struggle with relationships (some more than others) and they live in a world that is familiar to me geographically and, in some cases, th...more
This brilliant collection of short stories is nominated for this year's Giller! As other reviewers have said, these stories are what the genre should be. There's wit in here, and great characters and situations. The stories have an undercurrent of threat to them, and definitely move along. I liked the unrest in these stories, and the sense of tension that Selecky is able to create.
Selecky also seems to have a fascination with food and cooking, as these elements appear numerous times in her stor...more
Selecky also seems to have a fascination with food and cooking, as these elements appear numerous times in her stor...more
This is one strange collection of short stories. Highlights include:
• Go-Manchura, in which a woman invites couples to a weekend cabin stay for the purpose of selling organic products;
• Where Are You Coming From, Sweetheart? tells the tale of a 14-year-old and her rejection of her widower father’s behavior; and
• One Thousand Wax Buddhas, in which readers meet a candle-making couple, one of whom is mentally ill.
The stories are odd and engrossing. Interestingly enough, the title of the collectio...more
• Go-Manchura, in which a woman invites couples to a weekend cabin stay for the purpose of selling organic products;
• Where Are You Coming From, Sweetheart? tells the tale of a 14-year-old and her rejection of her widower father’s behavior; and
• One Thousand Wax Buddhas, in which readers meet a candle-making couple, one of whom is mentally ill.
The stories are odd and engrossing. Interestingly enough, the title of the collectio...more
A compilation of short stories from Sarah Selecky filled with angst-ridden, desperate characters. Some stories are descriptive with no focus, whereas some are purely random and did not capture any emotion or connection for me. It fell sorely short of all the reviews I had read and I was hoping for greater vividness of character and imagination on the author's part.
In comparison to Jhumpa Lahiri's incredible short stories, these plots and characters failed to resonate with me. Lahiri's prose and...more
In comparison to Jhumpa Lahiri's incredible short stories, these plots and characters failed to resonate with me. Lahiri's prose and...more
I LOVED this collection of 10 short stories by Sarah Selecky. This Cake is for the Party is full of unexpected enjoyment. I admire how this collection is like a snack cake...something I crave! I would highly suggest this to anyone looking for a unique new writer. I am giving it a 5 star and sharing it with my college literature professors.
My rating system is as follows:
5 stars - Excellent, Worth Every Penny, Made It Into My Personal Library!
4 stars - Great book, but not a classic.
3 stars - Good...more
My rating system is as follows:
5 stars - Excellent, Worth Every Penny, Made It Into My Personal Library!
4 stars - Great book, but not a classic.
3 stars - Good...more
The Short of It:
Never has such an unassuming collection of stories held my attention from beginning to end.
The Rest of It:
I love quiet stories and if they center around relationships, even better. From the very first page, I found myself falling right into this book. You know that feeling? That feeling where everything around you stands still and all you can focus on is the book in front of you? That is the feeling I had while reading these stories. When this book was in my hands, nothing else s...more
Never has such an unassuming collection of stories held my attention from beginning to end.
The Rest of It:
I love quiet stories and if they center around relationships, even better. From the very first page, I found myself falling right into this book. You know that feeling? That feeling where everything around you stands still and all you can focus on is the book in front of you? That is the feeling I had while reading these stories. When this book was in my hands, nothing else s...more
This Cake is so depressing. But the writing is amazing. I kept flipping and flipping and stayed up late reading. There aren't enough stars in the rating system to express how impressed I am with this book.
Sarah Selecky makes me think of a younger, hipper Alice Munro. The writing is that clear, and that deep. The book is filled with juicy details that make every character distinct - hard to do with ten short stories where new people are introduced every few pages.
Like with Alice Munro's writing,...more
Sarah Selecky makes me think of a younger, hipper Alice Munro. The writing is that clear, and that deep. The book is filled with juicy details that make every character distinct - hard to do with ten short stories where new people are introduced every few pages.
Like with Alice Munro's writing,...more
I have to admit I have never been one for short stories. I never fully understood the potential of this genre until I picked up "This Cake is for the Party" because it was on the Giller list. I was blown away by the depth of characters and my visceral reaction to the situations that Selecky was able to squeeze into these short stories. I was amazed that fiction could be so short yet pack a huge wallop. This collection has inspired me to pursue other collections of short fiction.
Another 3.5 stars, but instead of rounding up to 4, I chose to gave only 3, since I would have rated more of the individual stories as 3 stars.
I'm not usually a big fan of short stories, as I find that you just start to get involved with the characters when the story ends. And also, I find I don't have the literary "depth" to fully understand the message of some short stories, and some of the stories in this book fall into that camp. To me, short stories are only a step above poetry in ease of u...more
I'm not usually a big fan of short stories, as I find that you just start to get involved with the characters when the story ends. And also, I find I don't have the literary "depth" to fully understand the message of some short stories, and some of the stories in this book fall into that camp. To me, short stories are only a step above poetry in ease of u...more
My favourite was the last one, "Ten Thousand Buddhas."
Excellent short stories that convey so much character and background with such little narration. It's in the dialogue (which is great, because she doesn't even use quotation marks). Every story starts in the middle of the story, but they also end in a way that you know the story is not finished. If you had a telescope and could zoom into people's lives at random, these might be the lives you encounter.
And such variety!
Excellent short stories that convey so much character and background with such little narration. It's in the dialogue (which is great, because she doesn't even use quotation marks). Every story starts in the middle of the story, but they also end in a way that you know the story is not finished. If you had a telescope and could zoom into people's lives at random, these might be the lives you encounter.
And such variety!
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Oct 22, 2011 05:56pm