Patrick's review
The Coast of Chicago
by Stuart Dybek
So I should read "I Sailed With Magellan"?
Yeah, I think you'd love those stories. It's sort of a connected collection, bordering on novel-in-story-form.
I love you, Patty.
Patrick's review
The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek
Patrick's review
rating:
A good collection, maybe even great, but ultimately not quite as good as his more recent I Sailed with Magellan. "Pet Milk," "Hot Ice," and "Blight" are all terrific stories, especially "Pet Milk," which is so fucking achingly beautiful that I can hardly stand it. I had some trouble with the interminable "Nighthawks," a story that seemed gimmicky, something Dybek's stories rarely are. I have to confess that I don't really like stories where none of the characters have names, where they all seem to exist in pronoun land. If you're going to do a story like that, keep it to a page or two, a short short.
Some people think Dybek's stuff is too sentimental. I don't know, maybe I'm just an old sap, but I love his writing. He conjures that certain part of Chicago in that certain time perfectly. He owns a part of the world, "fictionally" speaking, and it's perfectly rendered. Nostalgic, maybe, but wonderfully so.
Some people think Dybek's stuff is too sentimental. I don't know, maybe I'm just an old sap, but I love his writing. He conjures that certain part of Chicago in that certain time perfectly. He owns a part of the world, "fictionally" speaking, and it's perfectly rendered. Nostalgic, maybe, but wonderfully so.
So I should read "I Sailed With Magellan"?
Yeah, I think you'd love those stories. It's sort of a connected collection, bordering on novel-in-story-form.
I love you, Patty.