Customer Reviews

The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford

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

 

 

I encountered Stafford's story "In the Zoo" in a collection, and was mesmerized immediately. These are easily some of the best stories I've ever read, and I dare say among the best ever produced by a writer of the United States. (via The New Yorker) Each story is a complete work; almost like a full-length novel. I was surprised I'd never heard of her, but then, not really. So many writers of this generation have gone the way of so many neighborhoods of this time, and so many old houses. Some people know they're there, but the greater population is looking elsewhere. If you care to peek in, you will find a glimpse of who may have inhabited those houses in Jean Staffords writing.

I urge you to get this book and read "In the Zoo", after which you are free to skip around, or start at the beginning, but get the book!

This is a generous, staggering collection that exhibits over and over again the power of the short story when in the hands of a master of the craft. Stafford's emphasis here is on the outsider, the lonely one, and in dozens of stories she portrays them in different guises, forced to face difficult situations with a cold eye on reality. The writing is pitch-perfect for short stories; each character is fleshed out in Stafford's beautifully expressive language, each story is an original departure from the others, and each is tied up with bittersweet, haunting resolution. On a side note, Stafford is a maser of choosing the just-right final sentence, which adds new layers of depth to each story. Each one is enjoyable, with personal highlights for me being "Caveat Emptor," "A Reading Problem," and "Children are Bored on Sundays," the last of which I will be returning to time and time again. While this volume is not as well-known as Katherine Anne Porter or John Cheever's collections, the quality is all the same. A must for those who love to read and/or write short stories.

This collection won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

The two other customer reviews on this collection have given 5 star ratings but I didn't enjoy this the way they did.

Sometimes that just means the material isn't suited for the style I enjoy. Stafford's collection is certainly thoughtful and varied. The settings parallel her life experience. They are usually told from the perspective of a young woman and were written mostly in the current time. She wrote the stories brwteen the 1940s and 1960s.

There are basically 4 major sections which are divided by geography. The first section deals with Americans being slightly out of place in Europe. I liked this section quite a bit and recommend it.

The second and fourth sections deal are set in and around Boston and New York. These were the sections I most looked forward to but they really missed for me. Stafford writes from a removed perspective and I found the city stories to be cold and quite uninteresting.

For me, by far the best section were her stories set in and around the city of Adams, Colorado. These stories capture a time and a place very well and the they were captivating. The apparently fictional city involved the lives of people in the Great West. Many of the people had come to the city for the clear air and often had tuberculosis. I really felt that she painted a compelling picture of the setting and characters.

Perhaps 2 1/2 stars is a bit of a harsh rating but I didn't care for half s the book so that's how I see it. I recommend half the book (sections 1 and 3) and not the other half (sections 2 and 4).

I am reading every Pulitzer Prize winning novel since the award was created so since this was on
the list, I read it. The stories vary from really good to what did I just read. The author has an
outstanding vocabulary and uses it. She is a sophisticated writer and that may put the average reader off
but she is interesting and each story is unique.