Twice Told Tales: Stories

by Daniel Stern

Daniel Stern’s sparkling reinventions of six great literary worksTwice Told Tales is a new take on some of literature’s greatest stories. In a bravura performance, acclaimed novelist Daniel Stern channels the particular styles and spirits of six classic pieces—even the writings of Sigmund Freud—into unexpected new settings. E. M. Forster, Henry James, and Ernest Hemingway are updated in brilliantly drawn portraits, at once affectionate and satirical. Stern’s approach is deft and witty, yet always attentive to the timeless characters and ideas with which he works.

Genres: Short Stories

173 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Russell Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never been a huge fan of short stories. But I was drawn to Daniel Stern’s Twice Told Tales because of his premise: stories inspired by writings of other authors, specifically Lionel Trilling, Ernest Hemingway, E. M. Forster, Sigmund Freud, and Henry James. Despite the facts I have taught literature and am a writer myself, I can’t speak as to how well Stern’s stories echo the ones he patterns after. I’m a huge fan of Henry James—and that was the main reason I bought this book—and yet, I still couldn’t tell you how Stern’s story parallels James’s story. What I can say is that Stern’s characters are brilliantly developed, his plots are quite inventive, his writing superb, and his wit shines through. My favorite of the stories was the one based on E. M Forster entitled Aspects of the Novel by E. M. Forster. Stern tells of a reluctant novelist and his mentor, an editor wounded in WW2 and now in a wheelchair. The editor lives life with a “don’t care” attitude in that he does what he wants when he wants and never thinks about social norms of the post-war times in which the story is set. The man is liberating for the would-be novelist. I suppose I liked this story because I’m all too familiar with writer-angst. But I also loved the plot development and the delicious characters. But other stories in the collection are equally as inventive. Stern was fond of big cities, and his stories in Twice Told Tales joyfully are set in cities around the world. And the final story in the book brings back a character in the first story. Her tale is long, involved, and amazing. Featuring her young daughter, we see the girl being taught by none other than such luminaries as Georges Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Eugene Ionesco, Harold Clurman, Kermit Bloomgarden, and other luminaries of the arts and literary world of NYC in the mid-twentieth century. What inspired writing this is!

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was one of the absolute worst that I've ever read. Stern's gimmick is that he takes "the great Modernist Seminal Works" (the use of that phrase alone should have been a warning sign) and writes new stories that revolve around the older works. I see why the idea is interesting, but in practice I found it boring and pseudo-intellectual.

I can't remember who recommended this book to me, which is probably for the best!