From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Adam Haslett…
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What Members Thought
I reread this April, 2012. I still think it's a cool collection of short stories about about people struggling with mental instability and illness. This is maybe my fourth time reading it.
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I idly picked this up off the counter at the house where I'm petsitting and can hardly set it back down. I've become a fan of short stories, after avoiding them for some unknown reason for many years. These are nothing less than amazing! I was able to focus for more than an hour and a half, an almost unheard of feat for me. I would have kept reading if I didn't need to sleep for work the next day.
I had to get this from the library to finish and sadly, had only one story left. There was only one ...more
I had to get this from the library to finish and sadly, had only one story left. There was only one ...more
Very moving short stories - many involving mental illness, people out of whack, etc.
Spoiler below!
Some of the funniest lines I've read in a while (from the last story "The Volunteer") come from one stoned teenager to another who has fallen onto the floor and into the cat food dish at a party.
"Duude. You gotta get up outta that food over there, man, don't let it waylay you, don't get detained by it." ...more
Spoiler below!
Some of the funniest lines I've read in a while (from the last story "The Volunteer") come from one stoned teenager to another who has fallen onto the floor and into the cat food dish at a party.
"Duude. You gotta get up outta that food over there, man, don't let it waylay you, don't get detained by it." ...more
This is my all time favorite book of short stories. Haslett has the most unique gift for creating broken characters that evoke unexpected emotions making the reader cares about them; however flawed they may be. I consider him one of THE most talented living authors today.
Read it!
Read it!
Tender and provocative and unsettling. Mental and terminal illness are running themes - how the protagonists move through the world as they are in the middle of unraveling is what propels these stories. My favorites were “War’s End,” “Divination,” and “Notes to My Biographer.”
"The Good Doctor" literally took my breath away as I considered the possibility of such circumstances.
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