MALE OF THE SPECIES

by Alex Mindt

Pub 2008-09-16 239 English HarperCollins The title story of this highly praised book. about a small-town Texas science teacher threatening to flunk his high schools brilliantly talented football star. sets the collections timely theme . the conflict between the image of how American men are supposed to act and the way they secretly feel like acting This theme is skillfully modulated in almost all of the books 11 selections -. from Stories of the Hunt. about a boy discovering that his ostensibly he-man woodsmans father doesnt in fact know the first thing about tracking deer. to Immigration. about a Vietnamese refuge working in a Las Vegas casino and dreaming of becoming the worlds greatest Elvis impersonator.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

239 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2007

About the author

Alex Mindt has published stories in numerous magazines, including the Missouri Review, Fiction, Confrontation, the Literary Review, and The Sun. His plays have been produced in Seattle and Los Angeles, and he co-wrote, directed, and produced the feature film Nowheresville, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival and on Showtime and won the audience award at the Las Vegas International Film Festival. He has taught at the Gotham Writers' Workshop and Columbia University. Alex holds a BA from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University.

Reviews

[Jay Phillippi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a very bad habit of resisting reading recommendations, even from people I respect. Along the way I've missed out on some great books. This collection of short stories came with the VERY enthusiastic endorsement of my daughter. Since I'm trying to overcome this habit I put it on my "To Read" pile.

If all the recommendations were as good as this one I'd break this habit in a minute.

Alex Mindt is a gifted writer working in what many people beleive is the hardest writing category there is - the short story. This collection focuses about relationships with our fathers. In eleven stories he takes to an astounding cross section of humanity. From Vietnamese immigrants trying to find their vision of the American Dream ("King of America") to a small town teacher who is willing to do what he believes is right no matter what ("Male of the Species"). The story of a son who is a complete puzzle to his father ("An Artist at Work") to a daughter trying to find her way back to a father with dementia ("Karroo"). They criss cross our nation and our experience of family.

As I prepared to write this I thought about which was my favorite, which spoke to me most deeply. As I reviewed the stories I realized I couldn't choose any one, or even a couple. Each story is a jewel, infinite in wonder.

These characters have richness and depth. The stories are simple but filled with complex emotion. This is a book that you can read again and again and again.

Let me recommend it to you.

(For more book reviews and other media commentary visit my blog www.theviewfromthephlipside.blogspot.com)

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

These aren't your run of the mill, New Yorker short stories, where there's some angst and some shuffling of feet, and nothing really HAPPENS. These are great page turning, hard to believe it's finished, wish you could find out what happens to the characters afterward stories. And the language is wonderful, enviable and delicious.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

simply brilliant and the author is so cute.

[Tom Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

All excellent stories. Quite varied. Some from the female perspective, some from the male perspective. I am surprised that he hasn't written a novel yet and I am not sure if he has another volume of short stories out there. I especially liked "Sabor a Mi", "Male of the Species", and "Karooo". though all are good with lots of emotion put in by the writer as well as taken out by the reader.

[Shaindel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this collection last night. LOVED it. I only wish I'd had more spare time so I could have read it sooner--and taken less time to read it--so the stories could have held together as a collection more for me.

I first heard about this book when I met Alex on MySpace (perhaps the greatest networking tool for writers, EVER!) and then bought it when I learned that US Weekly had given it a good review. It's really a great collection, all held together by the theme of fathers--hence the title _Male_of_the_Species_. This is a terrific exploration of fatherhood; some of the fathers are: a Latino father who is hitch-hiking to his daughter's lesbian wedding and awkwardly tells the driver who picks him up that he's going to a funeral b/c the truth is just as awkward for him, a son who learns the truth about his father's "hunting trips"... Many, many great stories. Not a weak one stands out in my memory.

A great read for someone putting together a story collection.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of these stories are interesting, and a couple of them really ring true in describing personal relationships within families, the nature of memory, regret, and decisions. The author has a skillful way of building tension through ambiguity of plot developments.

An unfortunate title, which is taken from one of the stories. Most of them have a common element of the relationship between fathers and their children.

[Wils Cain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a fan of short stories. That's exactly what I said to the person that recommended this book of short stories. He said many others said the same thing and still loved this book. Count me among them. Almost all of the stories had me engrossed - very well done.

[Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Mindt's debut collection, but it includes stories previously published in some fine magazines, including The Sun and Missouri Review.

[Stefanie Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex's debut short story collection - wonderfully written and incredibly diverse.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because the author friended me on myspace. It wasn't bad.