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When Bobbi shows Gard her improved typewriter.... chills! “Not a trick, Gard.”

Gard’s nuclear power rant is possibly my favorite Stephen King chapter, period.

“The alcohol started to flow and the cyclone started to blow.”

This collection ends on a high note with “Patricide”, a 5-star story about the life, and death, of a womanizing literary author, and the strained relationship he has with his adult daughter. Absolutely exquisite.

“Lovely, Dark, Deep”: The 5-star title story is a historical fiction piece about poet Robert Frost, and an interviewer that knows too much about him (Frost). So well done.

“Betrayal”: In this 5-star story Oates takes a tried-and-true formula (son wants to branch out on his own, deviating from his parents’ plan) and twists it into something original, and horrific.

“The Jesters”: This unsettling, melancholy tale is one worth mining for literary treasure, though it does suffer a bit from predictability. 4 stars.

“Forked River Roadside Shrine, South Jersey”: This one is narrated by the spirit of a teenager, set at the scene of his death. Super cool stuff. 5 stars.

“Things Passed on the Way to Oblivion”: Meh. 2 stars.

“The Disappearing”: A gut-punch of a story, told with this author’s typical deft hand. Oates is unafraid to ratchet up the paranoia.

“The Hunter”: A beautiful and brilliant story about an In-Resident Poet, and a College President. 5 stars

“‘Stephanos Is Dead’”: A riveting, albeit slightly overlong, tale of mourning and illness. Seems to be a common theme in this collection. 3.5 stars

“A Book of Martyrs”: I am blown away. Absolutely devastated. 5 stars. Stories like this are why I read short fiction.

“Distance”: A 5-Star hallucination; an anxiety attack of the worst kind. My favorite so far. Heartbreaking.

Mastiff”: This stiff and slightly overwritten story earns 3 stars from me; it is saved by its emotionally poignant latter half. Also, this is the second story in this collection to be set in a hospital, and to (at least partially) concern itself with living wills, and next of kin.

“Sex With Camel”: a 5-star tale of a teenage boy’s love for his grandmother. Heart-achingly sweet, with a few hidden sharp edges mixed in. Stellar introduction!

This is insane!