- Paperback: 204 pages
- Publisher: Mariner Books (11 May 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0618563725
- ISBN-13: 978-0618563722
- Product Dimensions: 21.7 x 14.1 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,092,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
Fantastical yet deeply human and intriguing stories.A" Erica Wagner, Times Gina Ochsner's exquisite new collection can be consumed in a sitting or two - Highly recommended.A" Daily Mail a beautiful, sensitive, frank book with a moving sense of the fragility of people's lives.A" Time Out
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Harpers & Queen
"Beautiful and unsettling."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Intuitive and well crafted collection of short stories. Utterly compelling, thought provoking and heart warming. Today in a bookstore I couldn't help myself advising a beautiful man to buy this book too...He was buying Christmas presents and everyone would be getting a book. He added this to his pile. I think the recipient will fall in love with the magic of Gina Ochsner and the beautiful man will seem even more beautiful because of his thoughtful gift. In the story The Fractious South, Ochsner writes, "They say we dream at night of what we want by day but don't have the words for"; indeed I wish I'd had more words today. Instead I shall read this book once more and dream of the beautiful man;-)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Gina Oschner writes about fear loneliness and longing with such fluidity that you are not moved to any extreme emotions even when reading about the most morbid subject matter, it all seems perfectly natural.. you are not attached to any of the characters in a way that you are hanging onto their actions, you are with them in their journies because they are so achingly human, yet you don't sort of wodner what comes next, there's no way of guessing- you trust the author to surprise you. sometimes you feel bleak, but you will find yourself laughing rather gently moments afterwards. embarrassments, addictions, connections, pain, emptiness are all discussed and felt and tossed away so lightly. This book is gorgeous. Deeply affecting and fresh, yet not obviously so. Once you take a breather and go for a cup of tea, only then does it occur to you how vast and tiny it all is, the whole of life. The messages may not always be easy to absorb, but it is definitely a hopeful book. Re-affirms your belief in it all.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
gorgeously written stories
19 May 2005
Format:Paperback
I first discovered Gina Ochsner when I read a short story by her published in The New Yorker last summer. I was so impressed and moved by it that I bought her first book, which I loved. This new collection is even better. Ochsner has an incredibly rich and original voice, and the varied characters and settings of these stories make the book a true joy to read. Highly recommended.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
a lovely read
19 May 2005
Format:Paperback
This is a beautifully written collection of stories. Ochsner writes about loss, faith, redemption and love, and each story seems to explore a different aspect of human nature. Many but not all of the stories are set in Eastern Europe. There are a number of stories in which animals play a role, and there's even one about a bird who speaks what its owners don't want to hear. I was especially moved by "Articles of Faith" which is about a Russian couple longing to have a child, and "Halves of a Whole" about twin sisters who work in their family's Hungarian funeral home and who are polar opposites. I also really loved "A Darkness Held" in which a recovering alcoholic substitute teacher returns to her old catholic school to look after an unusual group of students. Each one of the stories in this book was special in its own way, and though sometimes when I read short story collections I get bored or stop reading after the first couple of stories, I was actually sad when I finished this book. Overall, I was really moved, and look forward to reading more by this author.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Gina Ochsner has a wonderful voice
12 July 2005
Format:Paperback
I loved this book. Gina Ochsner has a wonderful voice. Her first book The Necessary Grace to Fall won the Flannery O'Connor Writing Competition with the University of Georgia Press. Beautifully written.
I recommend those who love People I Wanted to Be also purchase The Necessary Grace to Fall.
I recommend those who love People I Wanted to Be also purchase The Necessary Grace to Fall.
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