Customer Reviews

When the Nines Roll Over: And Other Stories

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

At a time when the shelves are FILLED with wonderful and interesting books about contemporary life from a female perspective, at long last there is a book that does the same thing for guys.

I found this as I was desperately looking for something to read on a long plane ride, and it was fantastic. Funny, and insightful. Some of the same themes and sensibility as Palahniuk's FIGHT CLUB, but much more relevant to "every day" life: if you liked FIGHT CLUB, you'll love this even more! Are the characters exotic and off beat? Yes, and that makes it more fun. What makes it captivating is that what these characters go through is something any one -- and particularly, any guy -- can relate to, at least to some extent. This book will make you laugh and it will make you think: what more can you ask for! You will not regret this purchase!!!!!

"This is what you need to know about my father: He was a man who made a living killing animals, though he adored animals and disdained men. But I was his love's son and that gave me immunity from disdain, immunity from the cool hunter's stare he aimed at everyone else. His turn in this world was far from gentle, but he was gentle with me."

David Benioff from the short story "Zoanthropy"

I'm not a short story fan. Typically, short stories are either touchy-feely poetry fiascos that lack depth or they are compact verbiage crammed debacles that are too abrupt to allow proper character and plot development. Ironically, one of my favorite short story writers is Stephen King because he can scare the crap out of you in relatively short order. However, King doesn't count, because he considers 200 pages epigrammatic. Nevertheless, I actually stumbled upon an amazing work of short stories by the author of "The 25th Hour". The book is entitled "When the Nines Roll Over & Other Stories" by David Benioff. Each of the eight stories was a unique gem waiting to be discovered under some fertile yet shallow soil. I was able to read one complete novella during each of the study hall sessions I monitored during my 16th year of teaching at Susquehanna Township High School. Each tale left me invigorated and filled me with the gusto necessary to take on the challenges of the rest of my teaching schedule. I'm already worried about what I will do next week without the magical digressions each story provided me.

Although I enjoyed all eight of Benioff's short stories, four of them held a special place in my heart. "The Devil Comes to Orekhovo" was the most haunting tale in the lot. It began with two twenty-something veteran Russian soldiers (Nikolai and Surkhov) and an eighteen-year-old newbie named Leksi. The three men were scouting the Chechen countryside for enemy guerrillas. Since the Chechen terrorists were rumored to crucify unfortunate Russian soldiers and even place their severed heads on the doorsteps of their families' houses, the mission transformed Leksi's mental state into total disarray. Eventually the three men broke into a house to establish a headquarters of sorts only to stumble upon the residence's elderly female inhabitant. A cunning game of cat and mouse ensued, and the powerful story walloped its readers with one hell of a character piece and one amazingly assembled narrative.

My second favorite tale was entitled "The Barefoot Girl in Clover". Although fairly simple and contrite, this story involved a teenager's unplanned escape from his small New Jersey town via a stolen 1955 Eldorado. However, instead of running all the way to California as he initially envisioned, the young athlete only managed to make it to Hershey Park, Pennsylvania. While near Hershey, the car thief encountered a unique girl and fell head over heals in love. The one day romantic affair blossomed into a life altering experience with a wham-bam-smack in the face conclusion that any reader of this yarn could never forget.

I also really enjoyed "Zoanthropy" about an escaped lion roaming New York City streets, and I was fond of "Merde for Luck" about the horrors of AIDS and the ordeals regarding those pitiable people that served as Guinea Pigs during experimental drug treatments. All the short stories were written with impetus, style and compassion. As can be gleaned from the opening quote, Benioff also delivered potent expressions meant to sear the soul of his readers. Although I was unable to watch all of Spike Lee's "25th Hour" (it really bored me to tears), I know I would have enjoyed the original novel written by this truly remarkable author.

Jay's Grade: A

Some of the short stories in this collection made me laugh out loud -- others (particularly "The Devil Comes to Orekhovo") made me shiver. I thought this was a wonderful collection of stories and, ordinarily, I am not a huge fan of the genre -- I happened to pick this book up because I had rented "The 25th Hour" last weekend and enjoyed it. I TOTALLY disagree with others who characterized this as a "MALE" book: I am a 32 year old female and really loved it. "The Barefoot Girl in Clover" was very moving and made me remember my high school days. And "Zoanthropy" (my personal favorite) was offbeat, but really, really wonderful. This is a book that both men AND women will love. I've already lent my copy to a friend!

Not much you can say about this author to dispute that that he's a pro. He can obviously write any way he wants, but he has pegged a particular style that doesn't show off his way with words but just unreels an engaging yarn, one after another. In short stories there's not a lot of room to detour, but instead he builds his random details into his stories so they come off contemporary and quirky and still stay on track. Personally, I think his style is perfectly suited to short stories - little investment, short engaging trips. And they manage to get under your skin enough to make you attached. The stories are all over the place in range, from a rock band management tale to a Russian soldier's march to a gay artist dying of AIDS to a last-man-on-earth transmission. That one, about a guy in his shelter typing away and not daring to come up to the surface, really stuck with me.
Really good stuff, no complaints. Not groundbreaking, so I wouldn't give it five stars (I couldn't give five stars to anything that would be at home in the New Yorker - for five stars I want my head spun around), but easily good bang for the fifteen bucks.

I first read Benioff a few years ago in "All-Story" magazine, where three of the stories in this book first appeared (they are actually available online at All Story's site for those interested in sampling his writing). I then read and loved his novel "The 25th Hour", and so am glad to get my hands on this collection of eight stories. There aren't that many young American writers whose work excites me, but Benioff is certainly one of them (Mark Jude Poirier and John McNally are two others). His prose is clear and crisp, without the affectation or self-consciousness one finds in so much coming out these days. The stories collected here show a nice range of subject matter and tone, ranging from pure realism to slight surrealism, but almost all contain threads of loss, disappointment, and forlorn hope. Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay to the stories, is that even though I didn't connect with some of them, I still loved reading them.

The opening (and title) story, is one of these, following a record label A&R man (essentially a high-end scout) who pursues a talented punk girl and spirits her away to Los Angeles and out of the life of her drummer boyfriend. It felt a little old-fashioned in a lot of ways. Do record label execs still act like that? Are they really that interested in transforming punk chicks into superstars? But it did nicely capture that moment in relationships when one person has moved on to bigger and presumably better things, and their lover just doesn't fit in the picture any more. Another story, "The Garden of No", is very similar thematically, only here it's a waitress turned television actress, and the man is a short-order cook.

Misfiring romance figures prominently in three other stories as well. "Barefoot Girl in Clover" tells of a 30ish man who tries to track down a girl he hung out with for a day as a teenager. "Neversink" is about a New York couple and the aftermath of their breakup. In "Merde For Luck", a gay man recounts his last relationship from beginning to grim end. What's interesting is that in all three of these stories, the narrator is either missing a crucial piece of information or operating under some major misconception. This allows Benioff to set each up for a major fall late in the story, when all is revealed. The lesson seems to be that if women don't betray you, life will find a way to.

The three other stories are a little harder to categorize. "The Devil Comes to Orekhovo" is a great story with a very traditional feel to it. It follows three Russian soldiers on patrol in Chechnya as they scout out a house that may or may not contain Chechen separatists. Benioff brilliantly captures the unease and awkwardness of the youngest, rawest soldier, as the older men mock him and eventually put him to a nasty test. It deserves a place with Tolstoy and Lermontov's stories of the Russian experience in the Caucuses. "Zoanthropy" is a strange story about a young man whose father is called in to shoot lions when they appear in New York. It left me kind of blah, but again, I enjoyed reading it. Finally, "De Composition", is a Twilight Zone-inspired take on a man locked into a bunker with his computer following some kind of global cataclysm. Felt a little derivative, but nicely done with a clever ending.

On the whole, this is a very strong collection of stories. Hopefully Benioff can find time away from the lucrative world of screenwriting to write another novel.

I was perhaps at a disadvantage coming to these stories after reading "City of Thieves" and "The 25th Hour", which I felt were both 5 star material. The short stories were too variable in quality. Some extraordinary, but others mediocre. I liked and would recommend the book, but felt it didn't merit five stars.

This is a completely different book from Benioff's other two excellent novels, The 25th Hour and City of Thieves.

To state the obvious, it's made up of short stories, although one could just as easily call them precious gems. The writing is spectacular and the memory of the stories stays with you for months after.

The stories run all over place and time. There's a great story about a ruthless music agent, how he disassembles a NYC band to pluck its star, and what happens to him when an aggrieved member of the band tracks him down to LA. There's a story about a man whose father shot animals which also features the Greatest Lover on the East Coast (not counting Florida; they're independent, the author tells us, tongue in cheek.) There's a story about a double blind study of AIDS medications. There's a story about a trio of Russian soldiers looting a suspected collaborator's home in Chechnya.

In reexamining the book, I tried to pick a favorite story and failed miserably. One moment I think its about the soldiers, but then I think about the AIDS test, and then...

Several things stand out about Benioff. First of all, he's got a great imagination. The range and scope of these stories is very wide, and he seems equally at home roaming the Russian countryside in winter as well as walking through an AIDS ward in an IC Unit or stalking an escaped lion in the heart of the city. Secondly, he has some unbelievable turns of phrase that are very well crafted. And, his characters are finely drawn inside of a few pages. In his story about the jilted lover, the reader really feels the pain of the narrator and perfidy of his paramour.

There's a big surge in interest in good American shortstories. I'd have to put this book on the short list for anyone interested in this area.

Richly recommended.

A collection of eight stories! Each story is unique and the writing is very, very modern. Throughout the book, he mentions things like Sam's Club, Pearl Jam, etc., and many other places/things that actually exist! No one story in the book is overly long or drawn out, each one seems to be the perfect length to explain the story completely.

"When the Nines Roll Over: And Other Stories" is one not to miss if your a fan of Benioff and/or witty short stories! The writing is excellent, very vivid descriptions and characters. Unfortunately this book is out of print, but it is very easy to find elsewhere online.

The eight short stories are:
(brief descriptions without giving anything away)

When the Nines Roll Over~
(the story of a punk band's lead singer and her boyfriend and a business savy talent scout that wants to sign them)
4 out of 5 stars!

The Devil Comes to Orekhovo~
(the story of three Russian soldiers, sent out to occupy a supposed empty house in enemy territory)
5 out of 5 stars!

Zoanthrophy~
(the story of a lion hunter in New York City, his son and the worlds greatest lover)
4 out of 5 stars!

The Barefoot Girl in Clover~
(my personal favorite, the story of a high school football star who steals a car and sets out for California, but only makes it to Pennslyvannia and meets a girl he will never forget)
5 out of 5 stars!

De Composition~
(the story of a man who makes an elaborate bomb shelter in his backyard, he thinks the world is coming to an end and locks himself inside)
3 out of 5 stars!

Garden of No~
(the story of an aspiring actress who is about to get her big break)
5 out of 5 stars!

Neversink~
(funny story about a man who meets a girl that talks endlessly about her amazing deceased father, who she happens to have cremated and keeps his ashes in her apartment)
5 out of 5 stars!

Merde for Luck~
(the story of a man who has a very awkward bathroom accident while aboard a plane, he flashes back and tells the story of how he got to this point in life)
5 out of stars!

*****
Author David Benioff is married to actress Amanda Peet(Martian Child, Griffin & Phoenix, The Whole Ten Yards, A Lot Like Love, Saving Silverman), his first book, "The 25th Hour" was a huge success and was turned into a movie with Ed Norton! His new book "City of Thieves" has gotten great reviews and is on my list to read soon!

A writer friend of mine has a completed novel and a collection of short stories to his credit. He believes the novel is "not bad" but his heart and soul can be found in his short story collection. While he believes his novel will not have too many problems being published, he has less hope for his short story collection. The popular theory in the world of publishing is that short story collections do not capture the reader's attention and the market is very limited. Short story collections do not get the attention or press they often deserve and David Benioff's WHEN THE NINES ROLL OVER & OTHER STORIES is a case in point. This is a great collection of well written and captivating stories but it has hardly received the attention it deserves.

Benioff, who is known for his novel THE 25TH HOUR, his adaptations of books for film (he is currently working on a screen version of THE KITE RUNNER), gives us eight short stories that can engage a reader. The stories are varied and include tales about a recording exec who falls in love with a punk rocker, a man who searches for a girl he met briefly who mesmerized him in high school, a man who is battling AIDS and the moral implications of being a part of a research study as well as other beautifully told tales. Benioff's gifts as a writer are evident throughout, but his ability to create distinct voices in his main characters and tell eight very distinct stories is amazing.

Since Benioff is a young writer, we are certain to be hearing more from him in the years to come, or at least I hope we hear more form him in the future. He has a gift for writing and a voice that is certain to entertain and challenge readers.

It's been a long time since Benioff's first book (the enthralling "25th Hour"), but the wait has been worth it. Capitalizing on his newfound status as one of the most praised new writers of the decade, Benioff provides us with a broad range of stylistic achievement, from dark comedy to existential tragedy and everything in between. With a deft hand and biting wit, Benioff makes short work of delivering prose long on style and heavy with emotion. From a chillingly honest depiction of Russian soldiers embroiled in a Chechen hell to a proverbial tale of a sleazy record agent in LA, Benioff's writing aptly displays the breadth of his keystroke. If you read no other anthology of short stories this year, make this the one. The only bad taste you'll be left with is the unendurable wait for his next novel.