Listening Is an Act of Love is a book of short stories that are filled with slices of everyday life, from normal, everyday people, just like you and m...moreListening Is an Act of Love is a book of short stories that are filled with slices of everyday life, from normal, everyday people, just like you and me. The only difference between us is that they visited a StoryCorps booth (in New York city or a mobile recording booth) and committed their story to audio CDs. The CDs are then archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Excerpts from their stories (which are in interview format) are played on NPR's Morning Edition. This book is comprised of a selection of those interviews.
Do the stories suffer for being read rather than heard, as was originally intended? Maybe a bit. But they were still powerful enough that I occasionally found myself getting choked up. The first story, in which an impoverished mother goes out of her way to create something special for her daughter (out of basically nothing) was especially touching to me. A section containing two 9/11 stories was also very moving.
The most amazing thing about this book is that the people recounting their stories are often being interviewed by close relatives or friends, which brings a sense of intimacy and openness that might not otherwise occur. I love the end of this one:
William: Well, it was very special for me, Seth. I just loved doing it. And just looking at you and answering you, with your eyes looking into mine and mine into yours, it's just great. Seth: I love you, Grandpa. William: Thank you, Seth. I love you, too.
It reminds us of what we should be saying to our loved ones every day.
This review is quickly going the way of a Hallmark special so I'm going to stop here, before I need to get out the tissues. And you should note that the book is not as hokey as my review. It's uplifting, and a good reminder that there's something special about everyone.
I don't know what I expected when I started reading this book, but it wasn't for little pieces of my soul to be eaten away as I finished each story. S...moreI don't know what I expected when I started reading this book, but it wasn't for little pieces of my soul to be eaten away as I finished each story. Such a promising title: Lust. But this is not a book of happy frolicking lust... it's more like the soul-crushing lust of unfulfilled affairs, dead-end romances, and inexperienced fumblings mixed with peer- and self-pressure.
I was expecting much more from this book. Edited by Ben Karlin - former editor of The Onion, former executive producer of The Daily Show and co-creato...moreI was expecting much more from this book. Edited by Ben Karlin - former editor of The Onion, former executive producer of The Daily Show and co-creator of The Colbert Report - this book should have been a rip-roarin'-romp through male inadequacy and insecurity. It started out strong, but somewhere along the line it became the male version of chick lit: dick lit. And boring to boot.
At first, it was good for a few laughs. But then I laughed less. And got bored. And maybe started to skim a bit. And then started to think about what I was going to read next... while I still had it in my hands, "reading" it. Not a good sign.
It gets three stars from me for the four-star stories that started the book, averaged with the two-star stories with which it closed.(less)
This is a compilation of strange, melancholy, and at times gut wrenching short stories by Raymond Carver. It's the first thing I've read by him, and I...moreThis is a compilation of strange, melancholy, and at times gut wrenching short stories by Raymond Carver. It's the first thing I've read by him, and I was surprised by how he could take a somewhat normal set of circumstances and twist them around until I was uncomfortable while still making them seem everyday. As if you'd see the world like that, too, if you just looked harder.(less)
When I first started reading this book, I found myself disappointedly thinking that it was just more of the same from David Sedaris - stories that eit...moreWhen I first started reading this book, I found myself disappointedly thinking that it was just more of the same from David Sedaris - stories that either make you laugh out loud or make you cringe (or more often both). Don't get me wrong - he's still funny - but I was expecting more from this one... some evolution in style or content. I liked his earlier books because they were more raw, the stories a bit more unexpected. The beginning of this one felt a little recycled, and I was ready to be done reading it.
But then about two-thirds of the way through, the stories lost their formulaic feeling, and an unexpected poignancy crept in. I ended up really enjoying the the last few stories, in particular the last, titled The Smoking Section.
I think the editors started out with the lightest stories and saved the best for the end. I wish I'd read it backwards.(less)
I'm putting this book down because I have no interest in finishing it. Don't get me wrong - it's kind of funny - but in the way that getting a little...moreI'm putting this book down because I have no interest in finishing it. Don't get me wrong - it's kind of funny - but in the way that getting a little drunk and talking to a friend and telling childhood stories is funny. It's good for a couple of chuckles, but that's about it. I like a little more depth with my humor, and that was lacking here.
Plus it's more fun to hang out with a friend and get a little drunk and tell stories.(less)
Not a Chance is a book of short stories filled with yearning. Yearning to find something or someone so much that it puts you off-kilter. Enraged. Lost...moreNot a Chance is a book of short stories filled with yearning. Yearning to find something or someone so much that it puts you off-kilter. Enraged. Lost. Searching.
These stories show people that no one wants to be, but there's something in each that's relatable or identifiable as something in yourself. It's unnerving and unsettling. Jarring. All the good things that a short story should be. Like a quick punch you weren't expecting but deserved.(less)
I loved these books when I was little. The four-star rating is what I would've given it when I was ten.
For your reading pleasure:
The Girl Who Stood on...moreI loved these books when I was little. The four-star rating is what I would've given it when I was ten.
For your reading pleasure:
The Girl Who Stood on a Grave
Some boys and girls were at a party one night. There was a graveyard down the street, and they were talking about how scary it was.
"Don't ever stand on a grave after dark," one of the boys said. "The person inside will grab you. He'll pull you under."
"That's not true," one of the girls said. "It's just a superstition."
"I'll give you a dollar if you stand on a grave," said the boy.
"A grave doesn't scare me," said the girl. "I'll do it right now."
The boy handed her his knife. "Stick this knife in one of the graves," he said. "Then we'll know you were there."
The graveyard was filled with shadows and was as quiet as death. "There is nothing to be scared of," the girl told herself, buy she was scared anyway.
She picked out a grave and stood on it. Then quickly she bent over and plunged the knife into the soil, and she started to leave. But she couldn't get away. Something was holding her back! She tried a second time to leave, but she couldn't move. She was filled with terror.
"Something has got me!" she screamed, and she fell to the ground.
When she didn't come back, the others went to look for her. They found her body sprawled across the grave. Without realizing it, she had plunged the knife through her skirt and had pinned it to the ground. It was only the knife that held her. She had died of fright.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I wonder if she still got the dollar.(less)
Loading...
