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American Innovations: Stories Hardcover – May 6, 2014

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Rivka Galchen (Author)
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Rivka Galchen (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars 16 customer reviews
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Four girls on a trip to Paris suddenly find themselves in a high-stakes game of Truth or Dare that spirals out of control. Learn More
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (May 6, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0374280479
  • ISBN-13: 978-0374280475
  • Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #847,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsWitty and melancholy
By Ksenia Anske on August 30, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
This story collection is wonderfully witty and melancholy, or more melancholy than witty, filled with innuendoes that at times I couldn’t understand, being originally not from America, but sensed on some other level. On a universal level. On a level of connection with words and images that stayed with me like bright flashes of every day strangeness. Simple strangeness of existence. Things we do to fill our lives, to think we know where we’re going, when in fact we have no clue.

There are two levels to these stories. The humor glaze upon the soft tender inner something that is sad and wondrous and lonely and lost sometimes. Most of the stories are told from the point of view of a young woman, sometimes a writer, going about her life, meeting people, thinking, ruminating. Perhaps the funniest and my favorite story was Sticker Shock, on affair of a family told through numbers, house cost numbers, insurance numbers, year numbers. It’s fantastic how underneath it all there was so much feeling, and so much irony, it made me laugh out loud. In another story, a young woman witnesses her furniture escape her apartment, like it made up its mind and decided to leave her. In another she gets tangled into a relationship with two men, one of whom is the son of the other from the future. And through all of them, like a nerve, is strung some kind of a longing, for being, for togetherness, for love, and yet there is never an answer. Just like in real life.

All in all, a delicious collection. Beautifully written. Of periwinkle blues and Kantian sublime and wit.
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4.0 out of 5 starsIf you like Ms. Galchen's work, it's for you.
By Amazon Customer on June 3, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Rivka Galchen has her own particular style (which, I guess, is true for all writers). I had enjoyed her previously published short stories, and therefore, these.
(Duplicate review, since I purchased this as a gift, and have no other way to get it out of my "to be reviewed" list)
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4.0 out of 5 starsPlayful
By Stephen T. Hopkins VINE VOICE on May 28, 2014
Format: Hardcover
After I began to read the third short story in the collection of ten by Ricka Galchen titled, American Innovations, a growing impression hit me hard: this woman loves to write. Once I gave myself over to her quirky charms, I delighted in these stories, and found them witty, surprising, unconventional and fun. Readers who enjoy literary fiction, especially short stories, are those most likely to enjoy the finely written stories in this collection.

Rating: Four-star (I like it)
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4.0 out of 5 starsvery perceptive
By Edward G. Molinaro on June 15, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I left one star off because some of the stories didn't do much for me. BUT the others are very enjoyable. Ms. Galchen writes in a style that carries the reader off effortlessly. She has a gift for descriptions and also much insight (often presented with humor) about the strange relationships we can find ourselves in.

I highly recommend.

Ed
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4.0 out of 5 starsAuthor clearly sees the world from a "different" perspective.
By Abey on July 19, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This was a very interesting collection of short stories. I really enjoyed reading them. The author wrote from a different perspective than any other book I have read from. All of her stories had the perspective of women who were all a little crazy. That is one of the things that makes the stories so fascinating to me. I liked her style but the characters were what made me enjoy this book.
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5.0 out of 5 starsOne of my favorite short story collections
By The Emmy Project on October 1, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This is one of the best short story collections I've ever read - and I've read dozens. Many of Rivka Galchen's stories in this collection somehow manage to describe the sense of both living both within time and outside of it, conveying a reality that is both recognizable and surreal at the same time. There is gorgeous writing in these stories, as well as real humor. Buy this if you haven't already.
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5.0 out of 5 starskitty cats
By Dr. Wilson Trivino on July 2, 2014
Format: Hardcover
What caught my attention of this book was the funny cover of a cat balancing himself with all type of odd objects balancing it. But it what is most intriguing is inside the book. I have not read any of Rivka Galchen books, but in this one American Innovations she shares her unique way in which she sees the world.
Most of these tales are short and to the point but her writings is light and lively. She allows her imagination to take her in her everyday day duties to places we could only imagine.
This collection of short stories was a joy to read and is sure to give you a smile.
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2.0 out of 5 starsIf you don't like one, you won't like any
By Thomas M Bechtold on August 18, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
These are not so much stories as they are a series of loosely linked abstractions. Galchen's characters all have the same off-kilter way of looking at the world, and each story is told with the same non sequitur jumps, the same lurching voice. Take a taste before you purchase, if possible. If you don't like one, you won't like any.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsThe writing was somewhat reminiscent of Wells Tower. However ...

The writing was somewhat reminiscent of Wells Tower. However, I think I've had my fill of tales of such quite desperation. Nothing against the writer, though. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Sandeep Rao
5.0 out of 5 starsI loved the combination of heart and imagination in these stories

I loved the combination of heart and imagination in these stories, with a humor that is born of waking insights in the midst of dreams.

Published 10 months ago by Barbara T.
5.0 out of 5 starsInsightful short stories about women in America, mostly young ...

Insightful short stories about women in America, mostly young and, whether married, close to their families, employed or supported by others, very much alone.

Published 18 months ago by J. Devleming
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

good book.

Published 21 months ago by Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 starsWish I liked it better

I'm surprised to not like this collection more. I like quirky but I couldn't get excited about many of the stories.

Published 23 months ago by Patty Jenkins
3.0 out of 5 starsIncomplete

While I found these stories interesting, the author had not written them with the traditional beginning, middle, and ending. Read more

Published on August 7, 2014 by Dixie Tucson
5.0 out of 5 starsA wonderful writer

Rivka Galchen composes with heart, brain, wit and imagination. Like her wonderful novel "Atmospheric Disturbances", these stories attend to modern dilemmas without falling... Read more

Published on July 24, 2014 by scumble

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