Loading...
189th out of 345 books
—
481 voters
My rating:
add to my books
We So Seldom Look on Love: Stories
NOW IN PAPERBACK, this masterfully crafted story collection by the author of the internationally best-selling novel Mister Sandman is a haunting book that is certain to both disturb and entertain. With a particular focus on obsession and the abnormal, We So Seldom Look On Love explores life at its quirky extremes, pushing past limits of convention into lives that are fanta...more
Paperback, 246 pages
Published
June 1st 1998
by Zoland Books
(first published 1969)
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.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
568)
We So Seldom Look On Love, Barbara Gowdy's first published book, is a compilation of short stories. Like her novels, we see her championing the misfits and outcasts and explore their worlds in an honest and sympathetic fashion. Regardless of how outlandish her protags appear to be (...a woman exhibitionist, a two-headed man, a girl with her dead Siamese twin's trunk growing from her hip, a woman who literally embraces death...), her stories come off as compassionate and true.
This bo...more
This bo...more
Went around the house collecting brief and odd or somewhat strange stories to review and shelve here and was pleased to rediscover this forgotten gem.
As noted: "The characters in these eight masterfully crafted stories are from life's extremes -- a female necrophile, a lonely exhibitionist, a two-headed man, Siamese twins, a young girl with a severely enlarged head, a transsexual -- but with her certain hand Barbara Gowdy transforms the extraordinary into the familiar."...more
Gorgeous, disturbing short stories by a writer I had never heard of. One or two missed the mark, and a few have weak endings, but in general a very impressive collection. I'm partial to short fiction anyway, but these were just stunning: Wildly imaginative, richly characterised, and so thoroughly engaging I avoided anything that might disturb me mid-story, to the point of being somewhat rude to the people around me. Many of Gowdy's characters would be considered oddities -- the eccentric extras ...more
Possibly one of the most disturbing books I've ever read...certainly some of the imagery will be with me forever. The last story, "Flesh of My Flesh", has to be separately rated from the book, because I found it offensive, and, at the same time, almost unbearably sad. I wept and raged simultaneously. It must be my week for reading books that are beautifully written but go places I am uncomfortable with. First Barry Hannah's Ray and now this...
TV Ontario carried a literary show called Imprint, and it was here that I first heard of Barbara Gowdy. But it was as an interviewer and it wasn't until a couple of years later that I learned she was also a writer, and quickly becoming one of this country's best. So finally
I decided to knock this one off my reading list.
It's a collection of eight stories featuring outcasts, freaks and depraved souls who are brought into a sensitive light by fine writing.
The stories are mostly ...more
I decided to knock this one off my reading list.
It's a collection of eight stories featuring outcasts, freaks and depraved souls who are brought into a sensitive light by fine writing.
The stories are mostly ...more
Brilliant! Barbara Gowdy takes extreme characters - a two- headed man, Siamese twins, & a female necrophile- and makes them comfortably familiar. I don't know which of the eight stories in this collection is my favorite because they are all wonderful !
Barbara Gowdy does such a good job writing beautifully about dark topics. I love that she is not afraid to take stuff to a weird place. One of my favorite authors.
One of my favourite story collections! I always get shivers reading the stories in this book, and they hold up over countless re-readings.
Noorin Hasan
added it
Literally disturbing but nevertheless well written.
It's goodish, but it is really, really intense.
there are some really crazy, grotesque stories in here and thought provoking satires on what "love" is to different people. many of the stories were quite alluring. the last one was my favorite, flesh of my flesh- so sad, condemning and then beautiful and accepting.
A collection of short stories by Barbara Gowdy who investigates in these stories, life at its extremes, pushing past limits of convention into lives that are fantastic and heartbreakingly real.
Christy Stewart
rated it
There are fantastic stories in here like the beautiful necrophiliac or the two headed man personifying good and evil, but my favorite story was the one about the foster children. Gowdy told the story in a beautiful and loving way that made it far more arresting then other pieces I've read like it in which the authors try to be shocking.
I sought this book out after seeing the movie "Kissed," based on one of the short stories in this collections. It's a fantastic book that has lingered with me and that I think about frequently. I should re-read it. I've been very disappointed with her novels, but Gowdy's short stories are tight, revealing, wonderful.
What a strange collection of characters fill this book of short stories.
From a two-headed man, to a four-legged girl, a necrophiliac, and an
exhibitionist. In places, this book headed into some nearly pornographic
territory that I found rather unnecessary and manipulative. Not really my
cup of tea.
From a two-headed man, to a four-legged girl, a necrophiliac, and an
exhibitionist. In places, this book headed into some nearly pornographic
territory that I found rather unnecessary and manipulative. Not really my
cup of tea.
This book is great, as the first story is about a girl born with a sycophantic conjoined twin--basically, she has two child-sized legs growing out of her stomach. Loved it. The rest of the stories, eh, not so much...but that one was really good...
This is one of my all-time favourite short story collections. Bitter and twisted? Maybe. For me it ranks right up there with early Ian McEwan though. Now where is my copy??? I remember the original paperback cover being red and blue....
Supreme, sublime writing. In the story 'We So Seldom Look Upon Love' Gowdy created a sympathetic necrophiliac. A horrible thought, truly, but a testament to Gowdy's writing. This book is not for the squeamish or the overly sentimental.
An actual subgenre is "Southern Ontario Gothic." A librarian suggested this to me. Vaguely reminiscent of Flannery O'Connor in the use of the grotesque.
Rachel
rated it
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes good fiction
Recommended to Rachel by:
Slammerkinbabe :)
An amazing collection of stories. Moving, sometimes funny, often repellent in the very parts that are most erotic, and fascinating through and through.
view 2 comments
Welche Kurzgeschichten haben mir am meisten gefallen?
"Seltsam wie die Liebe" und "Dreiundneunzig Millionen Meilen weit weg".
"Seltsam wie die Liebe" und "Dreiundneunzig Millionen Meilen weit weg".
Perverse, twisted, deranged. Simply a stunning set of (not so) short stories.
Sandra
marked it as to-read
Ivan E. Coyote said this was one of the best books she ever read...
Paul Hathaway
rated it
Recommends it for:
Rubber-Neckers
Recommended to Paul by:
Girl on Anti-depressants. True Story!
Kid with giant head, heartbroken necrophiliac, you get the picture.
If you liked Geek Love, you'll groove on this.
Disturbing and amazing. Disturbingly amazing.
Jillian
marked it as to-read
Laura
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Barbara Gowdy is a Canadian novelist and short story writer. Born in Windsor, Ontario, she is the long-time partner of poet Christopher Dewdney and resides in Toronto.
More about Barbara Gowdy...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
