Customer Reviews

Glass Houses

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

 

 

I thought I could read one story from the collection, then wait before going to the next. No way! Marvelous characterizations with a wide variety of colorful personalities, and the author comes up with a fascinating assortment of situations that will tickle your curiosity. Loved it all!

Masterful writing brings the reader intimately close to beautifully drawn characters: suburban residents, some fearful of themselves or of a nearby city ; a child living in comfort in a garbage house; a circus family in which a son with only one talent is absorbed by his act permanently... Rabasa shows us to share his respect and empathy for the weird, the sad, and the winning with intelligence and humor.

George Rabasa's writing is flexible and astute as he explores the conflict-ridden inward lives of home workers, security guards, disgruntled yuppies, and carnival performers, to name but a few of the many characters in "Glass Houses". With such a varied cast, it is the abundance of Rabasa's details that create the lives of these workers and provides a sense of cohesion to his collection of nineteen short stories. Rabasa strongly relies on his ability to convey the inner anxieties and often paralyzing fears of his characters in everyday occurrences. Most of the short stories in this collection are short enough to be read on bus rides, during a lunch break, and even in between classes. Rabasa provides an entertaining cast of characters that prove that we may be more alike in our everyday fears than we would probably like to admit.