- Paperback: 165 pages
- Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (Nov 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060855789
- ISBN-13: 978-0060855789
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.5 x 1.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,356,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
‘The roll-call of honour, from Eudora Welty, to John Cheever, John Updike, William Maxwell, to Richard Ford, Tobias Wolff and Annie Proulx, is long and rich. Just when it seemed that things could get no better, along comes David Means.’ Eileen Battersby, Irish Times
‘Extraordinary accomplished.’ Matt Thorne, Independent on Sunday
‘These are brittle, masculine stories of shifting surfaces and hard edges, true insight and tenderness.’ Lisa Allardice, Daily Telegraph
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.Spectator
'David Means has a gift for describing the life-changing moment.'
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I found the excessive use of reviews on the cover of this book a little off-putting at first, as I generally don't like being told how good something is and would rather form my own opinion, then compare it to what others think after.
Anyway, once I got over this and started reading these stories, I was gripped pretty much straight away and finished the whole collection in 4 sittings or so. Given the overall length of the book, I could have read them in one go, but I chose to limit myself and let each story (or 2 at a time) sink in as I felt they deserved this.
I won't give a synopsis of each story, as this can probably be found elsewhere, but they all share a common theme of being a snapshot of the character's life (or lives) at key events in their existence, whether they know it or not. Most of the stories deal with loss, be it of someone they love (What They Did, for example), or innocence (Sleeping Bear Lament and The Widow Predicament) or life (Tahora).
Some are sad, some mildly unsettling and others just poignant (Coitus and The Grip being good examples of the latter). These are stories that I feel will stay with you, they are about normal people going about seemingly normal lives and it gives a glimpse of what minor things can alter those lives in the most subtle of ways.
An excellent book then and I'm pleased to say I agree with most of the reviews on the cover!
Anyway, once I got over this and started reading these stories, I was gripped pretty much straight away and finished the whole collection in 4 sittings or so. Given the overall length of the book, I could have read them in one go, but I chose to limit myself and let each story (or 2 at a time) sink in as I felt they deserved this.
I won't give a synopsis of each story, as this can probably be found elsewhere, but they all share a common theme of being a snapshot of the character's life (or lives) at key events in their existence, whether they know it or not. Most of the stories deal with loss, be it of someone they love (What They Did, for example), or innocence (Sleeping Bear Lament and The Widow Predicament) or life (Tahora).
Some are sad, some mildly unsettling and others just poignant (Coitus and The Grip being good examples of the latter). These are stories that I feel will stay with you, they are about normal people going about seemingly normal lives and it gives a glimpse of what minor things can alter those lives in the most subtle of ways.
An excellent book then and I'm pleased to say I agree with most of the reviews on the cover!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Most of these short stories are set around Lake Michigan, and most involve death in some way. All of them also work in a very poetic way that is only usually found in magic realist prose writers, like Milan Kundera and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Each of Means' stories works a thread from a single moment in time, exploding that moment and then exploring its myriad constituent parts and its consequences.
This is most clearly highlighted in 'The Gesture Hunter', in which the protagonist begins by saying: 'I'm interested in how people go about their daily lives,. You know, how they bide their time, what they fill all that time up with. Not the big motions, but the little ones, I suppose: someone hanging clothes on an old fashioned line...the fluid motion of her arms lifting the sheets, a wooden pin between her teeth, the sway of the line.'
Each story draws out and rests on precise moments like this, before spiralling off into memory or other tangents, in a way reminiscent of Virginia Woolf's stream of consciousness.
This is a thoroughly thoughtful collection, that makes up for its brevity (160 pages) with the sheer density of its language and import.
This is what the short story is for. For bridging the gap between prose and poetry, for allowing a kind of controlled freedom over a small space that the novel's clunking form doesn't often allow.
Means has a voice that stands out from the field, and it is one to keep track of in the future.
Each of Means' stories works a thread from a single moment in time, exploding that moment and then exploring its myriad constituent parts and its consequences.
This is most clearly highlighted in 'The Gesture Hunter', in which the protagonist begins by saying: 'I'm interested in how people go about their daily lives,. You know, how they bide their time, what they fill all that time up with. Not the big motions, but the little ones, I suppose: someone hanging clothes on an old fashioned line...the fluid motion of her arms lifting the sheets, a wooden pin between her teeth, the sway of the line.'
Each story draws out and rests on precise moments like this, before spiralling off into memory or other tangents, in a way reminiscent of Virginia Woolf's stream of consciousness.
This is a thoroughly thoughtful collection, that makes up for its brevity (160 pages) with the sheer density of its language and import.
This is what the short story is for. For bridging the gap between prose and poetry, for allowing a kind of controlled freedom over a small space that the novel's clunking form doesn't often allow.
Means has a voice that stands out from the field, and it is one to keep track of in the future.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Very well written, but ultimately there's very little story telling involved. He creates the setting and the characters quite well but nothing much actually happens. Or does it? Maybe I missed the plot? All in all it feels like a pleasant journey along a road to nowhere that soon becomes nauseating when you realise his storys never arrive anywhere. I had to reverse back a few times as I thought I'd taken a wrong turning. A bit of a waste - of his talent and my time.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Carver Connection
Two unrelated events affected my reading of this collection:
1. Listening to David Means read a Raymond Carver short story for the excellent New Yorker Fiction podcast... Read more
1. Listening to David Means read a Raymond Carver short story for the excellent New Yorker Fiction podcast... Read more
Published 7 months ago by randolfff
a range of horrors!
For the most part, "Assorted Fire Events" is a strong debut collection - violent, (sometimes) brutal stories delivered in Means's powerful sharp-edged prose, though Means's style... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Michael Murphy
Really good collection
I hadn't read any David Means before picking this up, and in turn this is a re-released collection, originally published in the early 90s, though it stands up nicely in the mode of... Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2010 by ghandibob
A gritty detailed writing style makes for hard reading
As a fan of short stories and American literature, I was keen to read this book. The first story leads with a sad tale of a man who walks into his own murder in a state of seeming... Read more
Published on 12 Sep 2009 by Kevin Hutchinson
Not for me, might be for you though.
First, let me set the context, I like books that move fast, if the author describe a hell of a lot I get really bored, it does NOT mean the author is crap, it is just that for my... Read more
Published on 27 Aug 2009 by David Calcano
Stunning
This is a stunning collection of ideas - single-minded storytelling with often blistering results. It is a tough book and a tough read at times - Means understands technique,... Read more
Published on 18 Jun 2009 by Richard Hammond
An impressive collection
This is a very decent collection of short stories. Means has a style that sees him twist disconnected narrative into a story line so characters brush against each other in a way... Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2009 by A. Macfarlane
Beautifully written, captures small life-changing moments superbly
This is a powerful collection of short stories that is recommended for readers who have enjoyed the similarly acute, 'finger on the pulse of American society' writing of great... Read more
Published on 25 May 2009 by Jeff Markham
A little book of small deaths
A slim volume of short stories should be an easy read? Not in this case, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Read more
Published on 7 May 2009 by Paul T Horgan
Literary, accomplished, dull
David Means is a good writer. He is observant, insightful about human character, and convincing; but hardly any of the stories in this book are actually interesting. Read more
Published on 3 May 2009 by William Fross
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