Thirst [Import] [Paperback]

Ken Kalfus (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 205 pages
• Publisher: Faber and Faber (July 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571197019
• ISBN-13: 978-0571197019
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting discovery, April 14, 2000

By 

Brent Woods - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thirst (Paperback)

There is always something exciting about stumbling across hidden treasure - finding something rich and wonderful when you least expect it. Kalfus is a wonderful secret - quietly writing some of the most imaginative and diverse short fiction I've read recently. It's a great book for those who want to look cool holding a book by an author few people have heard of yet, but it's an absolute must for anyone who loves to get lost in a story and hasn't read anything very original in a long time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Bag of Tricks, July 17, 2003

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thirst (Paperback)

The fourteen stories here (all previous published in various lit reviews) display an amazing range of styles and a great deal of promise. There is whimsical comedy is the opening two and half page "Notice" and in the faux records of "The Joy and Melancholy Baseball Trivia Quiz". There is a liberal dose of fantastical elements, such as the never-ending snowstorm of "The Weather in New York", the mysterious nomads of "A Line Is A Series of Points", or the dual-existence protagonist of "Night and Day You Are the One." There is also the unfortunately presence of the literary joke story "Invisible Malls" (a pastiche of the Italian writer Calvino's Invisible Cities), and a weak meaning semi-historical Borgesian effort "The Republic of St. Mark, 1849."

Kalfus's more "realistic" stories are equally uneven. The stories "Bouquet" and "Thirst" cover an encounter in Paris between an Irish nanny and an Moroccan, and are totally run-of-the-mill. The longest story is "No Grace On the Road" (at 40+ pages), a very awkwardly done story set in Vietnam about a young upper-class official caught in a storm out in the countryside with his American wife, and forced to shelter in a peasant's hovel, where a baby lies dying. It's a really clumsy piece, worthy of a college freshman writing class. On the positive side of the ledger, the brief "Cats in Space" is a simple and haunting story of kids being cruel to neighborhood animals. "Suit" is another short but sweet piece, about a boy being fitted for a suit for a court appearance. "Rope Bridge" is probably the most conventional story in the collection, concerning a man who lusts after a vivacious friend of his wife. But Kalfus treats the material with care and simplicity, creating an exquisite short work.

So, a typical first collection of very good pieces and some very bad pieces, with an atypical range of of styles and settings.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super!! An exciting new collection of outstanding writing, August 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Thirst (Hardcover)

Ken Kalfus is a terrific writer, a great stylist who can make any topic interesting. The first story -- "Notice" -- transforms the standard copyright notice paragraph found at the beginning of most books into a mini-story on the nature of memory. Other stories may seem experimental -- like the terrific "Invisible Malls" which pays tribute to Calvino's "Invisible Cities" -- but at their heart they always reveal truths about human nature. Highly recommended!