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Going Away Shoes
The foibles of the people in Jill McCorkle's world are so familiar that we want nothing so much as to watch them walk into-and then get out of-life's inevitable traps. Here, in her first collection in eight years, McCorkle collects eleven brand-new stories bristling with her characteristic combination of wit and weight.
In honeymoon shoes, mud-covered hunting boots, or gl...more
In honeymoon shoes, mud-covered hunting boots, or gl...more
ebook, 288 pages
Published
September 14th 2010
by Shannon Ravenel Books
(first published September 22nd 2009)
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I took a class with Jill McCorkle (at the past Tennessee Williams Fest just a couple months ago) before I really read anything by her, and I immediately fell in love with her as a teacher and a person -- she's got this great vibe about her. I got a chance to speak with her when I found her alone waiting to go into a panel on the last day of the Fest and she couldn't have been more gracious.
These stories remind me of something, yet it escapes me what that something is. And while they might not be...more
These stories remind me of something, yet it escapes me what that something is. And while they might not be...more
The thing with short story collections is that unless you're familiar with the author, you have to be careful because you're not going to know what you're getting into. My favorite short story author is Flannery O'Connor. That woman can do no wrong with the short story. They're so dementedly elegant that you can't put them down. But she is only one of a very few whose short stories I like. The rest . . . meh.
This is one of the meh. I'd never heard of Jill McCorkle before I snagged this book at B...more
This is one of the meh. I'd never heard of Jill McCorkle before I snagged this book at B...more
Collection of 11 short stories about women and different relationships in their lives, being a daughter, mother, wife, divorce, singleon. Each story portrays a slice of the womans life and the challenges she faces. The characters and problems are all very relatable. The stories are unrelated, yet they fit well together as they are all about the struggles of love and relationships.
The title story is a type of Cinderalla story about a single woman caring for her very ill mother, and her sisters le...more
The title story is a type of Cinderalla story about a single woman caring for her very ill mother, and her sisters le...more
Before starting this book of short stories I read the praise on the back (still have yet to see a book with horrible, yet true things on the back). The three reviewers raved about how funny and lighthearted these stories were. After reading Going Away Shoes, I am left scratching my head. Did I read the same book as the reviewers? Some of the stories were funny and others were down right depressing. I liked how the stories were connected through death, divorce, abandonment, but these topics are n...more
Jun 08, 2009
Kari
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
southern-fiction,
short-stories
I'm generally not a reader of short story collections, and I have mixed feelings about them. On the one hand, I finish a story feeling unsatisfied and wishing to know more about the characters that I got to know so well. On the other hand, I understand short stories, from a literary perspective--how all it takes is several pages to make a point. And generally, I remember short stories long after I read them.
I was most excited to see Jill McCorkle at BEA, as I have read some of her other novels....more
I was most excited to see Jill McCorkle at BEA, as I have read some of her other novels....more
This is a collection of short stories about a series of women across the country. As much as I usually love short stories, I was a bit unimpressed with this selection. The point of short stories, in my opinion, is to provide the reader with several in depth (but short) vignettes about various characters. I thought these stories were really boring because they skimmed the surface. All the women have something obviously wrong in their lives (divorced, cheating on their spouses, hate their kids, wh...more
1 like · like · see review
The last and shortest story "Me and Big Foot" is the only good story and the only reason I kept this book instead of donating it back to the same library I bought it from. All the other short stories are horribly depressing. Divorce, domestic abuse, dying spouses, terminal illnesses and more devastate the lives of all these poor innocent Southern white women and their terrible children.
I agree with several of the other readers, this is NOT a funny collection. Not even in the slightest. "Me and B...more
I agree with several of the other readers, this is NOT a funny collection. Not even in the slightest. "Me and B...more
I enjoyed most of these stories very much when taken individually, but reading them one after the other in the context of a collection made them a bit tedious. Most of the stories centered around a sad divorced woman, so to read so many similar stories one after the other got a bit redundant. Obviously a collection should have an overarching theme that ties all the stories together, but this was a bit overkill, especially in the first half. The stories in the second half of the book had a bit mo...more
The strength of a short story collection is how many stories you remember afterwards. For me there were two stand outs "PS" and "Intervention." The author's writing is solid, though some times the subject matter seemed a bit repetitive with the well-to-do wife (middle aged or older) pondering her life post-divorce, during marriage, or otherwise.
One story had an interesting take from three different POVs (a young girl, a middle aged woman embarking on an affair, and an older woman) but still man...more
One story had an interesting take from three different POVs (a young girl, a middle aged woman embarking on an affair, and an older woman) but still man...more
Short stories can be challenging reads. Too often I finish a short story and think “what does this mean” or I am longing for more story, or more character development. In Jill McCorkle I have found the perfect author of short stories. Her latest short story collection, Going Away Shoes, is quite simply delightful. Deftly combining wit and pathos, the stories in this collection superbly illustrate the various roles of women; single mother, daughter, sister, and second wife. McCorkle has a keen ey...more
Shoes figure somehow in each of the 11 stories here, sometimes prominently and sometimes not. What ties these tales together, though, is McCorkle's clear-eyed evocation of romantic love in its changing forms and stages. In "Intervention," the main character frets about confronting her husband about his drinking several decades after perhaps she should have; "Driving to the Moon" finds its footing when the central character realizes that the sweet boredom of domesticity outweighs her longing for...more
OK-written but depressing stories. Something personal or heartfelt is missing: They sound like they were assignments in a creative writing class: write a story about screwed-up teenagers intersecting with unhappy suburbanites, write a story about a family with secrets, write a story about a kid who will do anything to keep his father from remarrying and the implications ... There was one story, though, that felt real to me--a woman writes a letter to her former couples therapist. It was very fun...more
I drowned in the negativity in each short story. Many of the short stories was about being alone, divorced, ex's new wife, death, wild kids and cheating and/or wanting someone. I don't think many of the stories had a happy ending, perhaps if anything just coming to terms with a blah zay life. Needless to say, I try to finish a book even when I don't enjoy it that much. Thus I have punished myself and have not read much in the last two months and started up on crossword puzzles on my Nook. Now it...more
I really loved this. The epigraph is by Gloria Steinem ("If the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot?"), and every story in the book has a quiet feminist sensibility to it. I heard McCorkle read back in February, and I'm interested in reading more of her work.
Favorite quotes:
"This fear of nothingness is why many people stay put even when unhappy and disillusioned, daily sidestepping the problems and debris. It is why they ask the four questions again and again as they seek their own answer...more
Favorite quotes:
"This fear of nothingness is why many people stay put even when unhappy and disillusioned, daily sidestepping the problems and debris. It is why they ask the four questions again and again as they seek their own answer...more
Admittedly unfair, I've always compared Jill McCorkle's short stories to Lee Smith and McCorkle's work has always come up a little short (wow, that was a bad pun). Anyway, something about these stories struck a chord with me, almost seeming more real to me than the funniest Southern gal that Lee Smith has conjured in recent memory.
...
From "Midnight Clear"
The downside in incorporating knowledge and an open mind and respect for all religions in young children is the blurring of facts. Though I see...more
...
From "Midnight Clear"
The downside in incorporating knowledge and an open mind and respect for all religions in young children is the blurring of facts. Though I see...more
This is the second collection of stories that I have read by McCorkle, the first being Creatures of Habit. I like Going Away Shoes just as much or more. McCorkle has a gift for description and dialog and engaging the reader with her protagonists. My favorites in this book were the title story about a woman who has denied herself all opportunities for a separate life in devoting herself to her aging and now dying mother; “Another Dimension” a tale of secrets and regrets, and the poignant “Drive M...more
The title was interesting, and I thought that it would go with a good novel, but unfortunatly when I started, I didn't relize that it was a compalation of short stories, but the 2 I read, really didn't even have a begining, middle and end, it was more like a monolog from two different women.
I'm not a fan of most short stories, and I'm not a fan of a tedious monologue, and that is all this book was going to be, I made it 50 pages in.
I'm not a fan of most short stories, and I'm not a fan of a tedious monologue, and that is all this book was going to be, I made it 50 pages in.
Jill McCorkle is this generation's Eudora Welty. Her stories are so beautifully written, the voices so strong, the stories so compelling. In this new collection, I have several favorites, but the most powerful story has to be, hands down, "Intervention." This story has been anthologized already! I've heard McCorkle read it several times and I never get tired of it and I'm never not blown away by the story and it's ending.
This book was very mediocre for me.....there wasn't a consistent plot, it was just little vignettes about different characters in each chapter. I kept waiting for her to connect the characters or make some overall theme/point. I guess maybe it's about transition and change- but I wasn't really inspired by any of the stories. Some of the stories really were just downers. I didn't get it. Sorry, Jill McCorkle!
My favorites in this collection of stories is the title piece, "Going Away Shoes," and "Driving to the Moon." I found strong connections in both stories--especially "Shoes" with its image of the Holocaust museum shoes. She didn't overdo any of the obvious puns, something I need to use restraint with. I'm going to read it again just to savor each story. And maybe I'll get to her reading at Salem tonight.
This probably suffered from the comparison with the classics I've read this week. But the stories of sad and damaged families seemed lightweight. I did like the first story that gives the book its title, but was under the mistaken idea that all the stories related to shoes in some way. They don't so that was a disappointment. However ps was wickedly funny and reason enough to skim through this book.
My favorite humorous stories here, "PS", "Me and Bigfoot," and "Midnight Clear" all made me laugh out loud. Mccorkle is great at making the every day struggles of her, usually female, characters come to life in ways that show both the pathos and the humor of the messes we get ourselves into. I also loved "Intervention," a story which has stayed with me, in the way Alice Munro's stories do.
Although I found these stories to be quite well written, they were uninspiring. The characters, in general, were in sad places in their lives at the beginning of the story and were still in sad places at the end. Overall, I found the stories to leave me with little hope for the characters, just desperation. I find it hard to recommend a book that lacks hope.
Jill Mccorkle used to be a favorite of mine many years ago. This is the first new book I've seen or read in years and I really enjoyed it. The stories involve women of a certain age (of which I am one) looking back over their lives and considering how they might have turned out had different choices been made. I completely related. . . Loved it.
Short stories? They weren't stories; they were slice of life vignettes. The cover promised "laugh out-loud funny". I thought the title story was terribly depressing. The next story was no better. After starting the third story and going down the same road, I stopped reading and will not go back. I will avoid this author in the future.
This lovely collection of stories was loaned to me by a friend (thanks, Doug Wedge!). The entire collection revolves around relationships, mostly husbands and wives, but also parents and children. It is easy to see parts of yourself in many of these characters and that is what makes this book so inviting.
I read the ARC of Going Away Shoes & really enjoyed it. Mccorkle is a great Southern writer & her short stories all have that Southern dimension to them. Her stories were humorous & poignant at the same time. Probably her least involved story was the last & it was my favorite. When I figured out what the narrator was doing, I laughed out loud. This book will be published in September.
This is a great collection of short stories. Jill McCorkle writes with wit, insight and empathy about contemporary women facing hard choices. I found a similarity in both her writing style and content to the novels of Anna Quindlen. I look forward to reading her other collections of short stories.
Some of the stories within this collection sparked my interest more than others, but as a whole (and read all at once) I found them bleak, bitter, and depressing. I'm not saying I want my stories to be all sunshine and roses, but McCorkle's stories were a little too dark for me.
I bought this for my mom for Christmas and had a bit of time to sneak in some reading of a few of the stories, which I thoroughly enjoyed. One of the stories (Intervention) I'd already read in the Atlantic. I'm encouraging my mom to read it now so to see if she likes it as much as I do.
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Five of Jill McCorkle's seven previous books have been named New York Times Notables. Winner of the New England Booksellers Award, the Dos Passos Prize for Excellence in Literature, and the North Carolina Award for Literature, she has taught writing at the University of North Carolina, Bennington College, Tufts University, and Harvard. She lives near Boston with her husband, their two children, se...more
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Apr 22, 2010 08:26pm
Apr 23, 2010 07:06am