Customer Reviews

The Clouds in Memphis: Short Stories and Novellas

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

 

 

These stories and novellas ache with the passions, aspirations, and disappointments of ordinary people in a particular place. The craftsmanship of displaying these emotions is precise and memorable. There is nothing funny going on here, only dedication to living by the survivors in these stories(there is much made of death and dying) and, by the author, a seering, relentless insight into his craft.

Mr. Hribal has written a set of stories that not only show amazing insight into the world and minds of women and children, but also draw powerful male characters. He somehow manages to keep a startling and beautiful prose on the page without ever drawing the reader away from the story. These stories and novellas are all terrific, but the finest of them is "And That's the Name of That Tune." In this novella Mr. Hribal manages to hold an engrossing tension together while adding humor and insight into a dysfunctional family. This is writing at its best, untouched by a need to be a bestseller these stories are allowed to be kept as they are, subtle, page-turning, and deftly wrought.

"Hribal slides the emotional fabric of America under a literary microscope to reveal the lies, betrayals, and yearnings that connect and divide us all, giving his stories extraordinary power. He establishes an American landscape in the tradition of Cheever and Updike, though his is a world not of cocktail parties but of trailer parks, bars, and courtrooms. The subtle power of these stories will leave the reader hungry for more."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)