From the Bookshelf of Ask Jess Walter…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
these stories by Jess Walter are mostly about desperate people. people looking for redemption. even in the shortest stories (one was only two pages) you get a real sense of the characters. after the two-page story, i had to put the book down and think about it for a while.
at the end of the book he has a section titled "Statistical Abstract for my Hometown, Spokane, Washington." he mixes stark facts with short paragraphs of stories about his life in Spokane and in his neighborhood. it helps you ...more
at the end of the book he has a section titled "Statistical Abstract for my Hometown, Spokane, Washington." he mixes stark facts with short paragraphs of stories about his life in Spokane and in his neighborhood. it helps you ...more
Jess Walter is in my top three favorite authors, and this collection was great. Was it my favorite thing he's done? No, it wasn't. Is it worthy of five stars? I wavered between four and five, but when I thought back to the end of the last story, a story that was both irritatingly structured and wonderfully ended, I think the five stars are right on.
Regarding listening vs reading, I both listened to and read Beautiful Ruins and The Financial Lives of Poets, and enjoyed the audio version as much o ...more
Regarding listening vs reading, I both listened to and read Beautiful Ruins and The Financial Lives of Poets, and enjoyed the audio version as much o ...more
Great collection of short stories, dealing with the present and future in and around spokane. It's dystopian at times, heavy at times, poetic always. I look forward to reading one of his novels soon. Highlights: "Anything Helps", "Virgo", "Please" and the chilling "We Live In Water"
...more
Once again a win by Jess Walter. I got this collection of short stories - they apparently have all been published previously though I'd never read any - from Edelweiss, and I leapt at it since Walter is absolutely one of my favorite authors right now.
The stories are all good, especially Virgo, Don't Eat Cat and the titular story We Live In Water. Two smaller stories are related and the weakest of the bunch (Can A Corn is like three pages long) but overall this is simply more proof that Jess Wal ...more
The stories are all good, especially Virgo, Don't Eat Cat and the titular story We Live In Water. Two smaller stories are related and the weakest of the bunch (Can A Corn is like three pages long) but overall this is simply more proof that Jess Wal ...more
Jess Walter at his most cynical, no more sea side italian villages - here is down town Spokane in all its ugly, dirty glory. Love, love, love - genius contemporary writing.
Feb 01, 2013
Christina
marked it as to-read
Feb 08, 2013
Carol Smith
marked it as firstreads-entries
Feb 09, 2013
Celine
marked it as to-read
Feb 12, 2013
Debbie
marked it as to-read
Feb 26, 2013
Andrew
marked it as to-read
Mar 03, 2013
Laurna
marked it as to-read
