The Ex-Files: New Stories About Old Flames

by Blake Ferris (Editor)

"Ex-files" are becoming something of a folk institution on the Web, where an ever-increasing number of personal Web sites reveal stories about ex-lovers for the reading enjoyment of Websurfers. In this book, some of today's best new writers give a decidedly literary twist to this phenomenon, providing a multifaceted view of past loves and the way they haunt the present.The contributors include both established talent such as David Foster Wallace, and lesser-known but critically acclaimed newcomers like David Means, Ben Marcus, and Amy Sohn. Their stories range from nostalgic memoirs to humorous tales to dark accounts of violence and obsession. Representing voices both male and female, young and old, gay and straight, they illustrate the infinite variations of misadventures of the heart and their often unexpected consequences.

382 pages, Paperback

First published February 2, 2000

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highlights:What Was Interesting-Lydia Davis, Bury Your Head- Ben Marcus, The Paper Eye- Lisa Carver, Like Incest- Ken Foster, Edgewater- Alix Ohlin, The Deciding Factor-Evany Thomas, BI#20 New Haven CT- David Foster Wallace, Honeybees- Derrick Jensen, Neversink-David Benioff, Real Men- Elissa Wald, Ode To a Pole-Nazi's Lapdog- Tristan Egolf, The Black Rhinoceros- Scott Driscoll

[grundoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall a reasonably varied and literate collection. Some quite good, a few fail to resonate, one which inexplicably cuts off and directs you to the web to finish (frankly, there was no point; the story had well overrun its course by then anyway - and all the more inexplicable when there was apparently no effort to actually maintain the URL provided).

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm adding this late, but just reminded of it. It is one of those few books that you keep just so you have it to drag out on a rainy day when you're too lazy to go to the bookstore.