Customer Reviews

Enormous Changes at the Last Minute

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

 

 

This is one of the best books of American short stories, period. Whether you sympathize with Paley's politics or social concerns, it's irrelevant. Her stories beautifully capture the minutiae of everyday life and expose it for it's life-changing import. A simple sentence of Paley's can say as much as another author's entire novel. If you're at all interested in the short-story form or good writing in general, don't pass this book up.

Good writing is a book that you just can't put down. Crazy fantastic writing is a book that you close, bookmark in place, because you want to save more for later. And meanwhile go out and tell a friend, who asks the obvious question: why wasn't Paley much more well-known?

Not every one of these short stories is great, but all explode with amazingly evocative lines. Conversations sizzle, metaphors shimmer. Characters are immediately realistic, and whole. No, actually, many are broken, but that's what real people are like. Read, laugh, cry, rush onward.

Grace Paley is one of my favorite writers in the world, and this is my favorite of all her books. Every story here is funny and original and gorgeously written. She's one of the wisest and most generous writers I've ever read, and I'd recommend this book to anyone.

I was not very impressed by this book. Its stories were disjointed and repetitive. When properly done, a complex narrative style can be very rewarding(e.g. Thomas Pynchon). However, in this case all it did was confuse the issue. I quickly became disinterested in what the book had to say. Even after a second reading, many of the stories lacked any sort of coherence. I would not recommend this book.

I want use this book for my class.