Identify Books During Birds of America
| Original Title: | Birds of America: Stories |
| ISBN: | 0312241224 (ISBN13: 9780312241223) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Salon Book Award (1998), O. Henry Award for 'People Like That Are the Only People Here' (1998), Village Voice Book of the Year (1998), Irish Times International Fiction Prize (1999), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Fiction (1998) |
Lorrie Moore
Paperback | Pages: 291 pages Rating: 4.11 | 13549 Users | 1114 Reviews
Present Regarding Books Birds of America
| Title | : | Birds of America |
| Author | : | Lorrie Moore |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 291 pages |
| Published | : | September 23rd 1999 by Picador USA (first published 1998) |
| Categories | : | Short Stories. Fiction. Literary Fiction. Contemporary. Literature. American. Womens |
Description In Favor Of Books Birds of America
A long-awaited collection of stories--twelve in all--by one of the most exciting writers at work today, the acclaimed author of Who Will Run the Frog Hospital? and Self-Help. Stories remarkable in their range, emotional force, and dark laughter, and in the sheer beauty and power of their language.From the opening story, "Willing", about a second-rate movie actress in her thirties who has moved back to Chicago, where she makes a seedy motel room her home and becomes involved with a mechanic who has not the least idea of who she is as a human being, Birds of America unfolds a startlingly brilliant series of portraits of the unhinged, the lost, the unsettled of our America.
In the story "Which Is More Than I Can Say About Some People" ("There is nothing as complex in the world--no flower or stone--as a single hello from a human being"), a woman newly separated from her husband is on a long-planned trip through Ireland with her mother. When they set out on an expedition to kiss the Blarney Stone, the image of wisdom and success that her mother has always put forth slips away to reveal the panicky woman she really is.
In "Charades," a family game at Christmas is transformed into a hilarious and insightful (and fundamentally upsetting) revelation of crumbling family ties.
In "Community Life,"a shy, almost reclusive, librarian, Transylvania-born and Vermont-bred, moves in with her boyfriend, the local anarchist in a small university town, and all hell breaks loose. And in "Four Calling Birds, Three French Hens," a woman who goes through the stages of grief as she mourns the death of her cat (Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Haagen Dazs, Rage) is seen by her friends as really mourning other issues: the impending death of her parents, the son she never had, Bosnia.
In what may be her most stunning book yet, Lorrie Moore explores the personal and the universal, the idiosyncratic and the mundane, with all the wit, brio, and verve that have made her one of the best storytellers of our time.
Rating Regarding Books Birds of America
Ratings: 4.11 From 13549 Users | 1114 ReviewsAppraise Regarding Books Birds of America
I don't usually read short story collections but picked up this one for a book club.Moore's stories are well-written and insightful, and she can write humorous scenes, but overall I thought the book was somewhat depressing. In the end I was left with the impression that it's almost impossible for two people to have a fulfilling relationship and almost everyone is unhappy in one way or another. Though this may very well be true it's still dispiriting to read about.In some of these storiesI really liked Lorrie Moore's "How To Be an Other Woman" (from the love stories collection I read) but I was not wowed by this book. The stories all seemed very similar - isolated, lonely people (mostly women) dealing with husbands and families and communities. I just looked at the overwhelmingly glowing reviews here on goodreads, and hmm, I just don't get it.5 stars - "Four Calling Birds, Three French Hens"4 stars - the joke in "Beautiful Grade" about the professor writing Flannery O'Connor
4.5 rounded downIt took a little while for me to warm to the style but in all honesty theres not a weak story in this collection. Moore can write dialogue and convey human emotions and her characters thoughts in a way nobody else can.
Some stories are awesome, others are lacklusterbut some are awesome...Like this one
The writing is very smart and I like the dark humor, the wisecracks. But the stories themselves are too much alike, the main characters are more or less of the same type and there is not too much happening. Good to read a single story once and a while but not an entire collection.
Lorrie Morbid Moores book of stories were bleak and foreboding, but they appealed to me more than Id have thought. She is a very talented writer. Its always appreciated when you can go deep into the heads of characters to discover those remote yet recognizable elements of the way we humans can be. Its not like the stories are relentlessly dark. Theres even some humor at times good, sharply observed stuff. Its just drearier in tone than Im used to enjoying, so it surprised me when I did.
"Life: what an absurd little story it always made." ***This short story collection reveals exactly why Lorrie Moore is one of the most revered authors of our time. The twelve stories that comprise 'Birds of America' are hilariously funny, painfully sad, and deeply human. "Oh, the rich torment that was life," she writes in "Real Estate." Perhaps what I love most about her stories are the characters that bring them to life: they are real people, full of fears and flaws and imperfections. They
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