The Roaring Girl: Stories

by Greg Hollingshead

Fine in glossy illustrated wrappers with French flaps. SIGNED first edition - First printing, a trade paperback original. True first edition of this collection of twelve short stories, winner of the Governor General's Award for Fiction. SIGNED on the title page. 196 pp.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Canada, Canadian Literature

196 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Gregory "Greg" Hollingshead, CM is a Canadian novelist. He is currently a professor of English at the University of Alberta. He lives in Edmonton, Alberta. He is a graduate of the University of Toronto Schools and the University of Toronto. Wikipedia

Reviews

[Marissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found these stories to be rather pointless and boring. Finishing this book was a struggle.

[Victoria Shepherd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating buffet of well-written, enigmatic stories.

[Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zero stars. Couldn't connect with any of the stories or characters.

[Cinthia Ritchie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really, really hate to give bad reviews, but I just couldn't relate to any of these stories, didn't care about the characters and found much of the dialogue, while well-written, to be a bit self-involved, as if the author were thinking, 'Oh, aren't I clever," as writing. I don't understand how this collection won the 1995 Governor General's Fiction Award, but so be it. Others might enjoy this book; sadly, I didn't.

[Greyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Amy for getting me this book which I otherwise would never have read. Loved the prose, and the stories are an unsettlingly truthful look (in concept if not facts) to the lives of suburban/semi-rural families in in the late 20th century.

Groundbreaking? Not at all, but more Carver-esque family portraits are always welcome on my shelves.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

No disrespect to Author or readers who liked this short story collection, but this was by far the worst book I've ever read. Other than one, none of these stories made any sense! I continued to read because 1)- I paid money for this book and 2) - I needed it to fulfill a PopSugar Reading Challenge Prompt. I'm rating this read one-half *. On to something more enjoyable!

[Renee Layberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slightly unsettling, thought-provoking, deftly written short stories. I like Hollingshead's sparse, unpredictable style.

[Evelyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gave it 50%. There was not a single short story to which I had an emotional response. Not worth my time.

[M Walford · Rating 4 out of 5]

textured, if a little rough. not altogether memorable.

[Sami Georgiou · Rating 1 out of 5]

I kept waiting for these short stories to be good, but they weren’t.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this collection just so-so, split between a few remarkable stories (the most memorable being the title piece) and some duds that strained my patience for the characters and their dilemnas. When it wasn't working, the opaque narratives frustrated my empathy for the characters, preventing me from gaining enough of a foothold on the action. When it was clicking, it felt cunning and perceptive, but not often deep enough for me. Perhaps this was fresher twenty years ago, but I personally find Can Lit short story efforts nowadays to be far more distinguished.

[Alison Hardtmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This melancholy collection of stories concerns the odd interpretations that children give to adult situations, the things that we don't share with our loved ones and the embarrassment caused as a result of miscommunication. The stories were well written and some were memorable, but I always felt at a remove from the stories, even when written in the first person.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't remember much about this except that I bought it on the strength of having enjoyed 'The Healer' and found it vaguely disappointing, but that could very easily have been due to the fact that I rarely find short stories as satisfactory as a novel

[Donald Schopflocher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hit and miss short story collection. The hits are ascerbic witty portraits of lower middle class suburbia circa 1980s, often about children and earliest sexual experiences. The misses? Too grotesque, too obscure.

[Shawn Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a 'read' in progress. Got the book back east, wanna read it...

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this collection and would like to read more from Greg Hollingshead.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short stories, the best was "Rose Cottage"