The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Maria Concepcion walked carefully, keeping to the middle of the white dusty road, where the maguey thorns and the treacherous curved spines of organ cactus..." (more)
Key Phrases: maguey fields, Cousin Eva, Herr Bussen, Uncle Gabriel (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Here is the ideal spoken word cassette to enrich your reading of The Letters of Katherine Anne Porter...The moral edge to these tales is as cutting as that in Nathaniel Hawthorne's fabulations." -- Living Room Learning, July 1990

"The four selections included in this high quality audio tape provide an excellent introduction to the short stories of this popular Pulitzer Prize-winning author. The tape also serves as a showcase for the talented stage actress Siobhan McKenna, a life-long friend of Porter. McKenna's reading is flawless. The voice of each character in the four stories is distinctive...Porter's keen observation of the inner lives of her characters is clearly presented in this dramatic reading. Highly recommended." -- Kliatt, January 1992 --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Review

"Here is the ideal spoken word cassette to enrich your reading of The Letters of Katherine Anne Porter...The moral edge to these tales is as cutting as that in Nathaniel Hawthorne's fabulations." (Living Room Learning, July 1990 )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: Harvest Books; 1st Harvest HBJ ed. edition (September 19, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156188767
• ISBN-13: 978-1561887675
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #176,818 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nobody Writes Like Porter: Incredible, July 18, 2004

By	Jon Linden (Warren, N.J. United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book is perhaps the best written 500 pages bound in one place anywhere. Porter has a unique style of writing, that is hers alone. Her use of long, but salient and understandable sentences is terrific. Her use of simile and metaphor is almost unequaled. And her observational abilities and articulation of inner feelings makes her stand out as one of the best American writers of all time.

The book consists of 19 Short Stories/Long Stories/Short Novels and they are all extraordinary. In a shockingly well written story, she writes in "Pale Horse, Pale Rider" a description of going into a depressive pit, the likes of which I have never seen before, fact or fiction. Her style is so good, she leaves the reader guessing what is fact and what is fiction, in her fiction, with respect to her plot line in this very surreal story of a lady going into depression. Her characters are so intimately real life, as to make the reader feel they know them, almost personally. But what we readers know truly, is how wonderfully Porter expresses herself, and how incredible are her endings and beginnings, as well as wonderfully written middles.

No appreciator of American Literature should pass up the opportunity to read this book. In paperback, it is one of the true bargains in America today. For about 15 to 25 hours of extreme reading pleasure, this book fits the bill quite perfectly.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These stories move me and touch my soul., February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter: The Cracked Looking Glass/the Grave/Magic/Flowering Judas (Audio Cassette)

"The Grave," a story about a woman whose past is as close to her as her present, is an incredible story. Like Faulkner's brilliance, she understands that men and women cannot escape their pasts, and the actions and events of youth play an indelible role in adulthood. Sometimes that past is forgotten, but small items, such as the shape of a particular hard candy, trigger emotional and poignant memories in the protagontist. This story blows me away every time I read it, and triggers fond and sad, emotional and trivial - memories - of my own childhood.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A buffet of words, March 15, 2002

By	Kimberly Wells (Shreveport, LA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Have you ever gone to an all-you-can-eat buffet and overdone it? Then left feeling stuffed but satisfied? This collection of the works of KAP is sort of like that-- you can really binge because there are so many stories, and they're all of high quality. You just want to fill your plate and "eat too much."

But you should really slow down, read some again and again. Maria Concepcion is a great tale of revenge and betrayal; "Virgin Violeta" a coming of age type story... "The Martyr" story about a famous painter (Diego Rivera type) who is in love..."Magic," "Rope," "He," "Theft"-- all of these are powerful looks into human relationships and are so well done that you really feel that you know the people that Porter describes.

Read it slowly, go back and savor the spices & intricate details of every story.