Customer Reviews

The Selected Stories of Richard Bausch (Modern Library)

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I just recently finished reading Bausch's book, and was pleasantly surprised. What I find so wonderful is the versitility of each story, how differently Bausch can speak of relationships: compare the two different kinds in "What Feels Like The World" and "The Fireman's Wife." I especially like that Bausch doesn't tell all. There is a treasure within each story, something waiting behind it that is available to the reader if he/she is so inclined to find it. The way he deftly handles his characters, both lovingly and slightly critically, is just amazing. I was really moved by these stories.

One of Bausch's short stories was featured on the radio show, This American Life. Loved the story, so I bought his book. He seems to have innate ability to capture the subtleties and nuances of interpersonal relationships. And he's versatile, covering a wide range of subject matter.

Richard Bausch is a masterful storyteller. Ever since I first met him, as a fiction writing student at George Mason University in Fairfax VA, I've been intrigued and mystified by his literary skills. This collection of some of his best stories includes my favorite: "What feels like the World", a heartbreaking tale of a grandfather and his grandaughter. How can your heart not break in that closing passage? I first read "The Man Who Knew Belle Starr" as a college freshmen. That was my introduction. I've been hooked ever since.

Simply put, I carry several of these stories with me in my mind, even years after I read them, and wonder that he could have anticipated so much that would matter in my everyday dealings with life and humanity.