Amie Barrodale

I just finished a great collection of short stories. Short story collections shine for me when they have variety, honesty, are clever and interesting, and they’re all brought together with great writing. I’d give this collection a gold star in all those categories. There were so many stories that I was forced to stop and think, Now, that’s good. How does she do that?

Being impressed is such a luxury in life. Day in day out, many lives can just go on and on, feeling mostly pretty pedestrian. But I’ve been lucky to have been impressed by a number of things that have almost always rewarded me for my time spent with them. Maybe I’m just too easy, but I don’t think that’s it. I think to appreciate great writing, painting, filmmaking, relationships, anything, you have to be receptive and open to them.

With this writer’s work, there was a clarity of writing most all of the time. Once, there was this impressive closing line in a conversation that had mostly concerned itself with taking drugs and making the scene. “I hope this day brings you many pleasant moments.” It worked perfectly in that moment of the story.

The stories in this collection, were weird, very different, all over the place, amusing, emotional, and even sweetly bizarre. They were right up my street, I loved them. Now, I must go on a quest for more of Amie Barrodale's writings.… (altro)

This book of short stories of Amie Barrodale was very difficult for me to enjoy. I gave it 2.5 stars which is very low for me because I usually read books that have been recommended etc. but this one did not resonate with me. There was a creativity to the stories, but they required too much effort for me to get any pleasure from. They may reflect a more modern obscure style that doesn't always work. The collection was not long and the earlier stories were better than those at the end. There are much better books to spend your precious time on… (altro)