Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tender and lyrical stories, May 4, 1999
After reading the first three chapters of "The Acorn Stories" , I knew that I wanted to purchase Simolke's book. I live in West Texas, the setting for this collection of fiction. On the Texas plains, any nuance in the landscape calls attention to itself, and Simolke's writing is rich with nuance: simple gestures, like the movements of hands or the flips and turns of a swimmer, can shape a story. The prose is spare and lyrical. Simolke treats his characters and their situations with genuine tenderness. I give "The Acorn Stories" five stars on the basis of its first twenty-five pages, and I look forward to sitting down with this book and enjoying the next two hundred pages.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Wide Variety of Personalities Awaits You, August 13, 2001
It was a real pleasure to read about the fictional town of Acorn, TX and get to meet all the different and varied people that Mr. Simolke so eloquently fleshed out. The many and varied voices with which he was able to assume to bring these characters to life made me wonder at times if he'd even transcribed recordings! He was successful in making me believe he was young, old, White, Black, Hispanic, straight, gay, male, and female. It is the mark of a truly talented author who has the ability to listen and look at a wide variety of people, then translate what he hears and sees of them onto paper--and successfully make me believe. And even though each of the vignettes was relatively short, I had a sense that I really knew each of the characters who was speaking or thinking. Mr. Simolke is an author one shouldn't ignore.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Acorns for Cancer, September 16, 2002
It was an extreme pleasure reading The Acorn Gathering. This talented group of writers have put together a wonderful collaboration of short stories. What makes this an outstanding buy is that all the royalties go to the American Cancer Society for cancer research. I highly recommend you going out, buying copies for yourself and your loved ones, and enjoy reading this book.Each story in The Acorn Gathering deals with situations in life that most of us can easily relate to and have experienced. They deal with breast cancer, life on an Indian reservation, struggles of gay life in a small town, losing weight, divorce, coming to terms with feelings of an abandonment, and wonderful story about a hero who goes to New York City to help after the September 11 Terrorist Attacks, just to name a few. If you think none of those stories sound like you, wait until you read them and experience the way each writer brought those issues into a world we all understand. I found myself caught up in several of the stories, feeling at times, that they were about my own life. This collaborative work, even though it is made up of different short stories, has a common thread that runs throughout the book that gives it an unbroken flow. One story seems to lead right into the next even when they are dealing with new people and new topics. Duane Simolke had put this book in perfect reading order. The Acorn Gathering has something for everyone. The stories will provoke happiness, laughter, sadness and sometimes anger. Each is an extremely poignant view into the life of people that are all around us. The subject matter is extremely diversified that not only will you enjoy this book but it will open your eyes to the broader picture of how life exists for others around you.
As a person who's life has been greatly impacted by cancer, I applaud the writers of The Acorn Gathering for sharing their talents with us through these stories and the proceeds to help find a cure for those with cancer. The American Cancer Society is a responsible choice to receive these funds. Your contribution by purchasing this book will be well spent. No better gift can be given to someone who is suffering from cancer, than hope. You support of this book will do just that.
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