Customer Reviews

Adriana's Eyes and Other Stories

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Anthony Maulucci writes compelling stories about hypersensitive characters who struggle with their inner demons and learn how to cope with emotional pain. He challenges himself with complex psychological portraits of individuals searching for more meaningful lives. The stories resonate very deeply for me and offer profound insights for anyone who enjoys exploring important questions about the human condition. The reader from New York must have a personal grudge against the author -- perhaps he/she is one of Anthony Maulucci's former students. I had him as a college English professor and I know how demanding he could be, but he helped me grow as a writer.

I did not know that so many cliches existed in the English language until I read this book. Take at least the last 20 movies you've seen and every British author from the 18th and 19th centuries, and you have this author in a nutshell. Go watch an epidsode of the Godfather or the Sopranos, anything, just don't waste time or money with this ... ...

While traveling with the author through locales, both physical and metaphysical, the book overreaches in its attempts to know and celebrate the soft, vulnerable underside of the human condition. Shared experiences that might have felt authentic and profound if conveyed, perhaps, with a lighter touch straddle the maudlin; being saccharin and preachy when sweetness and insight are just out of reach. The author's conspicuous omission of any reference to his first marriage and children further undermines his credibility as a bearer of genuine soul and seeker of truth.

I've just discovered an important new writer -- Anthony Maulucci. These stories are simply wonderful! He writes with passion and beauty. He captures the subtleties of the modern psyche in stories that are so well put together they stand like marble sculptures. I don't care for a lot of contemporary fiction -- it reads like it came off an assembly line and it has all the passion of a styrofoam cup. These stories have real substance, although there are two that just didn't have the power of the others and should probably not have been included. But overall this is an excellent collection, well worth the money because you will enjoy them more and more each time you read them.

"Adriana's Eyes and Other Stories" is a compelling collection of short stories. Each one keeps the reader wanting to know what happens next and has a surprise ending...they all pack a punch.

From the first paragraphs, I'm drawn in completely, transported to any number of locales and introduced to couples and characters that seem both vaguely familiar and singularly unique. These short stories are gently steeped in irony. O. Henry for the 21st Century?

Anthony Maulucci picks up where John Cheever left off