Living after Midnight

by Lee K. Abbott

A collection of five short stories and one novella in the "noir" tradition, each dealing with the sudden disruption of ordinary life by bored and often desperate people during the hours between midnight and dawn

Genres: Short Stories

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Michael Hagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those out-of-print masterpieces only writers seem to know about. There's no one on the planet like Lee K. Abbott, and that may be a good thing because I'm not sure the world could handle two at the same time. This guy is quite simply the short story Shakespeare of our time. I can't read more than a few Lee K. Abbott stories at any given moment, because if I do I start writing the way he writes, and that's not good for either of us. He's a genius, plain and simple. I wouldn't be surprised if he writes the way God thinks. Whenever I need to come off my writer's high horse and eat a slice of humble pie, I crack open this book, then close it a story or two later with my head spinning and my humility back in line. Lee, you're the best! Tito in a jar!

[Bill Householder · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good collection. Mr. Abbott excels at the short form, but as he himself says the long form is not his forte. So it is with the ending novella and title story. It goes on a little too long and is not sure what it wants to be, character study or crime story. He approached the dilemma of two college buddies diverging in life's woods better in the story "Revolutionaries" in Dreams of Distant Lives. That said, I would still recommend this collection, as well as any Abbott collection, without hesitation. The man writes one helluva story.

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the stories feeling a little dated at times, this collection shows Lee K. Abbott at his best, with terrific and interesting characters on the precipice between success and loss, and prose that is both riveting for its styling as it is for its insights into the human condition. Top notch.