Emperor of the Air
by Ethan Canin
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 259)
Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
Fans of Twain and Michael Chabon.
I read "Carry Me Across the Water" last summer and thoroughly enjoyed it; so, I decided to give "Emperor of the Air" a try. Not bad. In fact, I would go so far as to say great. Canin's true strength is in his use of language. You'd be hard-pressed to find a misplaced word in the entire collection. He is a simple poet of domestic fiction. The only problem is that some stories soar and others merely have the language going for them. The title story made me cry upon readi...more
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Read in March, 2008
There are bands I like who basically play one song but... it is a good one (the Ramones, Motorhead, and Ministry all come to mind). I can pretty much put on any of their albums and enjoy it. Similarly , there are authors who have one basic story and write it overand over, but do it really well and I enjoy each one (Kurt Vonnegut & R.E. Howard, as different form each other as is possible in all other respects, come to mind). This collection of stories is like that -- one story (in this cas...more
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I like to think of Canin's work as the apotheosis of "Craft," as it's discussed and considered in the context of fiction workshops. Every story in this collection has a sort of airy, open quality, and he gets you through major plot points and time shifts with nary a bump to be seen. There are significant pluses and minuses to this talent of his, this ability to manufacture resonance from fragments and knit seamless stories together. The craft displayed in these stories makes them ex...more
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Read in January, 2007
I'd read "The Palace Thief" and hated it. So I approached this without expecting to like it...and ended up being bowled over in the opposite direction. "Emperor of the Air" is good, and particularly good reading for anyone who's trying to learn how to write short stories. Canin's stories are beautifully crafted, but they're also at the point where they're still possible for the learner to deconstruct them and come out with a number of lessons and ideas on how to frame thei...more
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When people complain about "workshop fiction," I always think of Ethan Canin. His prose is serviceable, his plots are adequate, and his characters are acceptable. I'm never certain why people praise him as if he's a contemporary Chekhov. I must confess that I feel a bit guilty about giving him two stars, but it just isn't three-star work. His later work began to show the maturity and development I find lacking in these stories. But still, no fire could ever be lit under me by such stan...more
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My three favorite stories in this collection are “Lies,” Where We Are Now,” and “Pitch Memory.” What they have in common is that they perfectly capture a moment, and what it means, while also layering in entire lives of several characters, and doing it in a compressed narrative. This is exactly what Canin seems unable to do in The Palace Thief. “Star Food” is also a great story, really nice juxtaposition of parental difference.
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Read in July, 2008
A wonderful writer. What is most amazing is his insight - all of the stories are in first person, and though most of his narrators are male (with one exception), their ages range dramatically. Considering he was about 26 when he wrote this, his ability to capture those different voices authentically is impressive.
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Read in July, 2008
I have wanted to try Ethan Canin for awhile, and I'd be happy to read more. What I enjoyed most was the direct and simple style of his narrators that still crystallize these very beautiful, writerly sentences without any jarring feeling. Particularly liked the title story and "We Are Nighttime Travelers."
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Prose like glass. Not a single unbeautiful sentence. "Emperor of the Air" and "Where We Are Now" are among my all-time favorites, because, unlike more than half the stories in this collection, they really go somewhere.
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
short story fans
This enjoyable and highly readable collection of short stories was recommended to me by a veteran educator. Canin's stories have the readability of Raymond Carver and the profundity of F.S. Fitzgerald.
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Tyler told me to read this and I was hesitant because I used to say I didn't really dig the short story. Now, I do though, partly because of Tyler and partly because of this book and how much like poetry it is.
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4 comments
As a collection, this is a fine book. But, for my money, "We Are Nighttime Travelers," included here, is the finest short story I've read in many years.
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This is a flawed but powerful collection of short stories, the best of which is "We Are Nighttime Travelers."
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Read in July, 2007
No comment for now, except that I should have read this two years ago, before I became a burnt-out case.
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I read this many years ago, but it remains one of my favorite short story collections.
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Read in July, 2008
Fucking awesome. If you like short stories, read this book. That's really all there is to say.
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This is my favorite book of short stories, along with Margaret Atwood's "Wilderness Tips.".
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
everyone
Stories so life like and sad that I almost confuse them with my own memories.
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Read in September, 2007
Some really great stories in this collection while others were just there.
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Read many moons ago. I remember no details except that I liked it.
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