Lay Me out Softly

by Francesca Lia Block

In her renowned style, Francesca Lia Block creates postmodern worlds that are as magical as they are familiar, as haunting as they are beautiful, and in which love reigns supreme. Lay Me out Softly includes both previously published and original work.

Genres: Short Stories, Young Adult, Fiction, Magical Realism

123 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 12, 2013

About the author

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than twenty-five books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association and from the New York Times Book Review, School Library Journal and Publisher’s Weekly. She was named Writer-in-Residence at Pasadena City College in 2014. Her work has been translated into Italian, French, German Japanese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Portuguese. Francesca has also published stories, poems, essays and interviews in The Los Angeles Times, The L.A. Review of Books, Spin, Nylon, Black Clock and Rattle among others. In addition to writing, she teaches creative writing at University of Redlands, UCLA Extension, Antioch University, and privately in Los Angeles where she was born, raised and currently still lives.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection that's hard to put these stories in a genre. The author has her own type of fantasy prose that is very poetic.

[Miss Bookiverse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lay Me Out Softly ist eine Kurzgeschichtensammlung, die die Autorin in Eigenregie veröffentlicht hat. Viele der Kurzgeschichten sind aber schon vorher in diversen Anthologien erschienen.

Bei Selbstveröffentlichungen bin ich eigentlich immer vorsichtig und skeptisch, aber da ich die Autorin mit Roses and Bones: Myths, Tales, and Secrets lieben gelernt habe und es das eBook kostenlos gab, hab ich alle Zweifel über Board geworfen. Ja, hier und da sind ein paar Rechtschreibfehler drin ("CD's"), aber insgesamt ist diese Anthologie ein wahres Juwel.

Francesca Lia Blocks Schreibstil ist märchenhaft-romantisch, aber dabei weniger kitschig und mehr originell. Es gibt viele Themen, die man als Markenzeichen der Autorin beschreiben könnte. Naturverbundenheit, exotisches Essen, griechische Göttersagen, die verbotene Welt der Feen, die Liebe zum eigenen Kind und die Stärkung der eigenen Person ohne von einem Mann abhängig zu sein, finden sich in all ihren Geschichten wieder. Vor allem durch letzteres vermittelt sie ein tolles Bild der heutigen Frau. Kein Mädchen der Welt braucht einen Mann, um sich zu komplementieren. Natürlich sind romantische Beziehungen etwas Schönes, was einen bereichert, aber es ist auch völlig in Ordnung "nur" mit guten Freundschaften und einem erfüllenden Job zufrieden zu sein.

Schön finde ich auch wie offen mit Sexualität umgegangen wird. Es gibt weder Fade Out Szenen noch wird großes Theater um Sex oder jegliche Vorstufen davon gemacht. Es gehört einfach oft dazu, passiert manchmal und manchmal nicht. Die Beschreibungen sind treffend und nicht zu verblümt oder vulgär.

Ich brauche jetzt dringend mehr von Francesca. Zum Glück hat sie schon so unglaublich viel geschrieben.

[Francesca Leone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Satisfied but Disappointed

After reading this collection of short stories, I was both satisfied and disappointed. The book will give Francesca Lia Block fans their fix- her luscious prose and cool references are out in full force. But, it's sort of a reconfiguration of her previous work. I know she can branch out- look at The Elementals. These are beautiful stories- but nothing really new here.

[Nicole Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the exception of the first short in this collection, I thought this was a stunning display of Francesca's wide skills of writing and story styles.

Although most stories in here had a magical or mythical element, there were some that did not. Revenants Anonymous and Farewell, My Zombie were far more paranormal than they were mystical. I was surprised by how much I liked these two, although I felt a little bit of the writing style I love so much from Francesca was sacrificed to write in this way for these two stories.

While we were on the paranormal kick, there were also stories about vampires (Lilith) and werewolves (Unless You Change). It was in these two stories, just before midway through the anthology that I really began to feel Francesca's familiar writing style shining through. Particularly refreshing to see in stories of vampires and werewolves. Both stories felt they added something to genres that have had a lot added to them in recent years.

From here, we had Psyche's Dark Night, a Cupid and Psyche story, and amazing gems of wonder and myth were to follow on.

I think I understand, from the early stories in this anthology, how it has gotten some bad reviews. Readers of Francesca come to expect a certain thing -- that's certainly been my experience. And that 'thing' is definitely here. It's just, predominantly, in the latter half of this anthology.

Faeries on Facebook and While I Was Away, as well as being brilliant takes on fairy abduction stories, were also very Francesca stories. I loved them both. Possibly they were my favourites over all, at about three quarters of the way in. The last two stories, In Exchange for Everything and Saturn's Return left me thinking well after the stories were over, which I think is a perfect way of leaving a short story anthology like this.

I would definitely both recommend and reread.

[Cristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are gorgeously written in true FLBesque prose and a few are quite affecting, but I greatly prefer her Blood Roses, The Rose and the Beast: Fairy Tales Retold, and Girl Goddess #9: Nine Stories collections. :)

[Ellie Julio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man... I hate giving anything FLB writes three-star rating, but I honestly had trouble with this collection. While the last three stories are fantastic - true magic - the others are not up to par. They're rushed, messy, clunky, and unsatisfying, which is especially bizarre because they're nearly all republished works from other anthologies. I can't recommend this over her other works, but "Psyche and Cupid," "Faeries on Facebook," and "Saturn's Return," are worth picking this up for, even if those are the only stories you read.

[Cecilia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This short story collection was kind of a mixed bag for me. Some of the stories were touching and others were tedious. However, I can't go higher than two stars on this work because it was so disappointing compared to Block's previous short story collections. Thank goodness I got this for free on Amazon! It seems like lately I have been disappointed in most of Block's new work, though I still hold out hope that the next thing I read of hers will be just as magical as what she used to write.

[selfie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5*
Nach längerer Zeit mal wieder was von Francesca Lia Block. Leider haben mich diese Kurzgeschichten nicht überzeugen können. Ich fand die ein oder andere Geschichte interessant, diese konnten mich fesseln, aber leider waren das die Ausnahmen. Ihr Schreibstil ist unvergleichlich, magisch und dunkel zugleich, was mich so an ihren Werken fasziniert, doch leider hat es für mehr als 2,5 Sterne nicht gereicht. Ich hoffe ich lese bald wieder ein Werk von ihr, dass mich restlos überzeugen kann.

[Niki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the kind of book I could not put down once I got started. The writing is in short fragments, like poems, and this collection of short stories kept my short attention span. Dark writing, vivid landscapes of the west coast, sad girls who keep finding the wrong guys, loneliness, heartbreak, it's a young adult girl's book. Hey, I eat this stuff up!

[Scarlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished this. Really good.