Dream Lives of Butterflies: stories

by Jaimee Wriston Colbert

Fiction. DREAM LIVES OF BUTTERFLIES is about the discrepancy between the haves and the have-nots at the end of twentieth century in America, a time of stock-market boom and working-class bust. Colbert's characters are mostly in the latter camp. Set mostly in a St. Louis apartment complex, with connecting stories in Illinois and Hawai'i, DREAM LIVES OF BUTTERFLIES explores psychic damage and the flesh in conflict with the spirit. "Jaimee Wriston Colbert's new episodic novel-in-stories is a jewel in both its form and its feeling," writes Madison Smartt Bell. "DREAM LIVES OF BUTTERFLIES is full of startling wisdom and high-flown humor," writes Diana Abu-Jaber. Colbert, who was born and raised in Hawai'i, now lives in New York State.

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2007

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I know she's my teacher, but I can understand now why she's teaching at Binghamton. Though her characters are warm, often endearing, and the tragedy well paced and moving, the style was was ruined the read for me. At times, her flowing descriptions and fragmented sentences really played to her favor, but they were overused and often not appropriate for the action of the story. Another problem was with the characters' dialogue, which often waxed too philosophic, as though the characters were speaking as a writer should write; it didn't seem natural...or convincing, but hell, I doubt I'll get it right the first time myself.

[J Szewczyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dream Lives of Butterflies is a poetic novel in short story that demonstrates the beauty that can be the human spirit. The descriptions often move to the realm of the poetic and this definitely works in the book's favour. There are lines that remind me of the mastery of language used in Gatsby, but the twist is in the mix of Hawaiian and Midwest callaloo.