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[Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day] [By: Loory, Ben] [July, 2011]
Loory's collection of wry and witty, dark and perilous contemporary fables is populated by people–and monsters and trees and jocular octopi–who are united by twin fear and desire. In his singular universe, televisions talk (and sometimes sing), animals live in small apartments where their nephews visit from the sea, and men and women and boys and girls fall down wells and fly through space and find love on Ferris wheels. In a voice full of fable, myth, and dream, Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day draws us into a world of delightfully wicked recognitions, and introduces us to a writer of uncommon talent and imagination.Contains 40 stories, including "The Duck," "The Man and the Moose," and "Death and the Fruits of the Tree," as heard on NPR's This American Life, "The Book," as heard on Selected Shorts, and "The TV," as found in The New Yorker.A selection of the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program and the Starbucks Coffee Bookish Reading Club.Winner of the 2011 Nobbie Award for Best Book of the Year."This guy can write!" –Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451
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First published July 1, 2011
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About the author
Ben Loory
4 books729 followersBen Loory's first book, Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day, was a selection of the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Program, and was named one of the 10 Best Fiction Books of the Year by Hudson Booksellers. His second collection, Tales of Falling and Flying, was named a Favorite Book of 2017 by the staff of the Paris Review, and one of the 50 Best Fantasy Books of All Time by Esquire Magazine. Loory's fables and tales have appeared in The New Yorker, Fairy Tale Review, Electric Literature, and BOMB Magazine, and been heard on This American Life and Selected Shorts. He is also the author of a picture book for children, The Baseball Player and the Walrus.
"This guy can write!" –Ray Bradbury
"This guy can write!" –Ray Bradbury
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 462 reviews
June 12, 2020
first of all, i want to mention that i did NOT win this in the firstreads program. poops. ben loory is not a poop, though; even if you miss his book signing because you go to the wrong bookstore and instead sit through an entire presentation about the merriam-webster dictionary, nervously wondering when ben loory is going to come out and claim the stage, he will still give you a copy of his book and eat nondairy frozen fruit desserts with you.
i admire that in an author.
the minute i saw this cover in the firstreads offerings, i knew i had to have it. it is way too nice not to own—observe the tentacles! and he is a discover author which, say what you will about the company for which i work (and you all have), the discover program has picked some mighty fine books in the past. i don't think i have read a dud yet, and this is no dud! that's not just the free copy talking, this is definitely something you should read. especially if you are greg.
i don't know what these stories are: light horror? dark fantasy? they are little flashes of nightmares—little blinks into spookytown. they are somewhat reminiscent of millhauser. right? they are sleek like his stories, and have the same "dangerous poisons lurking within bright-colored lollipops" thing that millhauser is so good at. i have no control over my metaphors tonight. i blame my hurricane feast of cheese and more cheese. i have dairy-logy brain.
i am doing a disservice to this book. what an asshole i am.
i swear, all cheese-langour aside, the stories are great fun—and so damn short i read the whole book in one day. which is probably the wrong thing to do. i feel like i should have spaced them out more—maybe read one a day and savored them, the way i make my easter cadbury eggs last, so that i can still enjoy one in september, if i want to. instead i did what i do with girl scout cookies, which is a massive binge-and-regret. (purging is for rich folks—i cannot waste food—it goes against my upbringing) and i do regret it, a little bit. because now what am i supposed to do?? i could read them again, and i probably will, but now the thrill of discovery is passed, and that is the best part!! the novelty, the punchline. i'm sure there is a word for this kind of deep sincere regret, perhaps in the merriam-webster, but i was too filled with shame to pay much attention to mr peter sokolowski, lexicographer extraordinaire.
sorry, peter sokolowski!!
wow. focus, karen.
you people should read the book. and then tell me what i should have said about it to make you want to read it. i know—i am getting all möbius and shit on you (not "shit on you," but "möbius and shit" on you) but you get my meaning. i think con edison has turned off the power to my brain, so i will end this here and batten down my hatches and whatnot.
you will like these stories. that is all.
come to my blog!
i admire that in an author.
the minute i saw this cover in the firstreads offerings, i knew i had to have it. it is way too nice not to own—observe the tentacles! and he is a discover author which, say what you will about the company for which i work (and you all have), the discover program has picked some mighty fine books in the past. i don't think i have read a dud yet, and this is no dud! that's not just the free copy talking, this is definitely something you should read. especially if you are greg.
i don't know what these stories are: light horror? dark fantasy? they are little flashes of nightmares—little blinks into spookytown. they are somewhat reminiscent of millhauser. right? they are sleek like his stories, and have the same "dangerous poisons lurking within bright-colored lollipops" thing that millhauser is so good at. i have no control over my metaphors tonight. i blame my hurricane feast of cheese and more cheese. i have dairy-logy brain.
i am doing a disservice to this book. what an asshole i am.
i swear, all cheese-langour aside, the stories are great fun—and so damn short i read the whole book in one day. which is probably the wrong thing to do. i feel like i should have spaced them out more—maybe read one a day and savored them, the way i make my easter cadbury eggs last, so that i can still enjoy one in september, if i want to. instead i did what i do with girl scout cookies, which is a massive binge-and-regret. (purging is for rich folks—i cannot waste food—it goes against my upbringing) and i do regret it, a little bit. because now what am i supposed to do?? i could read them again, and i probably will, but now the thrill of discovery is passed, and that is the best part!! the novelty, the punchline. i'm sure there is a word for this kind of deep sincere regret, perhaps in the merriam-webster, but i was too filled with shame to pay much attention to mr peter sokolowski, lexicographer extraordinaire.
sorry, peter sokolowski!!
wow. focus, karen.
you people should read the book. and then tell me what i should have said about it to make you want to read it. i know—i am getting all möbius and shit on you (not "shit on you," but "möbius and shit" on you) but you get my meaning. i think con edison has turned off the power to my brain, so i will end this here and batten down my hatches and whatnot.
you will like these stories. that is all.
come to my blog!
October 9, 2022
با خوندن این کتاب بیشتر به این نتیجه رسیدم که فعلا تا مدت های خیلی زیادی نمیخوام هیچ کتابی بخونم ( شاید هم تا همیشه😂)
این مجموعه داستان هم به نظر من ارزش یک ستاره رو هم نداشت ولی دیگه چه میشه کرد🚶🏻♀️😪
این مجموعه داستان هم به نظر من ارزش یک ستاره رو هم نداشت ولی دیگه چه میشه کرد🚶🏻♀️😪
August 10, 2011
The Love Letter
The woman had a terrible fight with her husband. There was arguing, some screaming, some tears, and a few soft things were thrown. That night she packed a bag with some clothing, a credit card, and she stood at the door and said, “I'm leaving for a while. I'll be at my mom's house. I have to think. I don't know when I'll come back.”
The husband sunk his head into his shoulders. He was sad, but he didn't argue anymore. He touched the doorknob as she left. He watched her go.
Two days went by. She moved into the extra bedroom in her mother's ranch house in the country. She made her bed every morning with very straight corners. She kept her clothing folded in the bag. She bought nothing with the credit card. Her mother made very few comments about this new arrangement.
On the third day a letter arrived. It was from her husband. It said, “My dear, you can't understand how much I miss you. The house is so empty. Please, let's talk. Help me understand. I love you, Ben”
She read the letter, folded it carefully, tucked it in the empty top drawer of the dresser. She closed the drawer.
On the fifth day a small package arrived. It came from amazon.com. Diamond earrings. Expensive. The packing list was enclosed, charged to her credit card. She slid the earrings back into the amazon box, and placed them in the top drawer. She closed the drawer.
On the seventh day another letter arrived. It was thick. The typed letter said, “My dXar, I am lost without you. I doX't XvXX kXow who I am. ComX Xack to mX, aXd lXt us start agaiX. LovX, XXX” Something else was in the envelope; she looked inside. They were the keys from his keyboard, letter N, letter B, letter E.
On the ninth day another package arrived. It came from Barnes & Noble. It was a book called Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day. It had a red 20% off sticker on the cover. She opened it and began to read.
Inside was a story about an octopus who returned to the sea. There was a story about a father who realized he could fly. One was about a man who was seduced by a hat. And one was about a duck who fell in love with a stone. She read all the stories. When she was done, she placed the book in her bag, on top of her folded clothes. She lay on top of her tightly-made bed for a long time and stared at the ceiling. She stared and stared for hours and hours, maybe days; who knows, it was a very long time. Then she got up and wrote her husband a letter. A love letter. She used only the words that had the letters N, B, and E. The letter said, “ Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben”
On the eleventh day her husband received the letter. He looked at the return address; it was from a long time ago. He opened it in the foyer, not even sitting down first. He read every single word.
Even before he was done, he heard a key in the lock. As he stood there the door opened. She stood in the doorway, holding her bag.
She smiled.
The woman had a terrible fight with her husband. There was arguing, some screaming, some tears, and a few soft things were thrown. That night she packed a bag with some clothing, a credit card, and she stood at the door and said, “I'm leaving for a while. I'll be at my mom's house. I have to think. I don't know when I'll come back.”
The husband sunk his head into his shoulders. He was sad, but he didn't argue anymore. He touched the doorknob as she left. He watched her go.
Two days went by. She moved into the extra bedroom in her mother's ranch house in the country. She made her bed every morning with very straight corners. She kept her clothing folded in the bag. She bought nothing with the credit card. Her mother made very few comments about this new arrangement.
On the third day a letter arrived. It was from her husband. It said, “My dear, you can't understand how much I miss you. The house is so empty. Please, let's talk. Help me understand. I love you, Ben”
She read the letter, folded it carefully, tucked it in the empty top drawer of the dresser. She closed the drawer.
On the fifth day a small package arrived. It came from amazon.com. Diamond earrings. Expensive. The packing list was enclosed, charged to her credit card. She slid the earrings back into the amazon box, and placed them in the top drawer. She closed the drawer.
On the seventh day another letter arrived. It was thick. The typed letter said, “My dXar, I am lost without you. I doX't XvXX kXow who I am. ComX Xack to mX, aXd lXt us start agaiX. LovX, XXX” Something else was in the envelope; she looked inside. They were the keys from his keyboard, letter N, letter B, letter E.
On the ninth day another package arrived. It came from Barnes & Noble. It was a book called Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day. It had a red 20% off sticker on the cover. She opened it and began to read.
Inside was a story about an octopus who returned to the sea. There was a story about a father who realized he could fly. One was about a man who was seduced by a hat. And one was about a duck who fell in love with a stone. She read all the stories. When she was done, she placed the book in her bag, on top of her folded clothes. She lay on top of her tightly-made bed for a long time and stared at the ceiling. She stared and stared for hours and hours, maybe days; who knows, it was a very long time. Then she got up and wrote her husband a letter. A love letter. She used only the words that had the letters N, B, and E. The letter said, “ Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben”
On the eleventh day her husband received the letter. He looked at the return address; it was from a long time ago. He opened it in the foyer, not even sitting down first. He read every single word.
Even before he was done, he heard a key in the lock. As he stood there the door opened. She stood in the doorway, holding her bag.
She smiled.
August 9, 2011
Someone is going to start a cult based around this book. In less than a generation its followers will outnumber the Mormons and have a greater impact on the media than the Scientologists. There will be schisms, heresies and wars. It is entirely possible that I will rise to power as a Torquemada like figure in the Loory-following theocracy that the Western US shall become. I shall spend my every waking moment rooting out and torturing those who have not read this tome.
It would be for the best if you just read it now.
It would be for the best if you just read it now.
July 29, 2016
I don't necessarily seek out books by savvy GR-reviewers, but if I happen to run into their work in the wild, as it were, I'm often automatically intrigued. I have a Eugene Lim novel that I snatched at Unnameable Books around here somewhere. I may have clutched at a Ben Spivey at that amazing new d.i.y. library in East Williamsburg. And so this popped up outside Book Thug and I grabbed it immediately. Naturally.
Loory's concern here is with the basic ground zero storytelling forms: the fable, the fairytale, the myth. Each has been pared down to the bare essentials of its action, floating in short motions of words that twist and shift with or against the reader-expectactions of the form. Thematically, there's an elemental quality to the simplicity. Without echoing, exactly, the archetypal examples -- in fact, these often veer into wildly unexpected places -- Loory constructs arcs that seem inherently archtypal. New archteypes, at best. At worst, a casting about for startling developments that have no reflection in the story that leads up to them.
However, also, the extreme streamlining, the simplicity, the archtypalness -- they're perfect when they're perfect, but dicey when not quite. The elegant oddity of something like "The Women and the Basement" seems like it will stick with me. But sometimes austere simplicity of word and plot can just be an emptiness, a void impossible to fill from the reader's side of the page. Sometimes lack of detail can just be lack of imagery, lack of memorable flesh. Without the slight breath of words needed to give a story an atmosphere of its own, we risk suffocation.
Loory's concern here is with the basic ground zero storytelling forms: the fable, the fairytale, the myth. Each has been pared down to the bare essentials of its action, floating in short motions of words that twist and shift with or against the reader-expectactions of the form. Thematically, there's an elemental quality to the simplicity. Without echoing, exactly, the archetypal examples -- in fact, these often veer into wildly unexpected places -- Loory constructs arcs that seem inherently archtypal. New archteypes, at best. At worst, a casting about for startling developments that have no reflection in the story that leads up to them.
However, also, the extreme streamlining, the simplicity, the archtypalness -- they're perfect when they're perfect, but dicey when not quite. The elegant oddity of something like "The Women and the Basement" seems like it will stick with me. But sometimes austere simplicity of word and plot can just be an emptiness, a void impossible to fill from the reader's side of the page. Sometimes lack of detail can just be lack of imagery, lack of memorable flesh. Without the slight breath of words needed to give a story an atmosphere of its own, we risk suffocation.
July 26, 2011
Raymond Chandler once said that a "good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled." When I first came to read Ben Loory's stories five years ago, I began to see just what Chandler meant. For me, these stories were, and are, a revelation: in some ways so modern, their brevity suited to our contemporary attention span, so easily consumed sitting on the subway, while wondering how a particular tale might end (I never could guess what would happen next), and yet so familiar: so like the fables, and myths, the sagas, and the dreams and the twilight zones that I have loved, that they feel they must have existed before Ben wrote them.
Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day is pure distillate of story, boiled down to the essential words that unfurl inside and take up residence, and the disarming restraint of their sinewy form only serves to bring me in closer so that I'm collected inside them, as they are inside this book, as they collect inside my memory, as they make laugh (oh so hard), cower (equally hard), and smile (hardest there is). They make me feel, for those moments when I am in them, that I have a reprieve from this world, and have really lived these stories myself, that I was part of them and those sublimely surreal other worlds that we are still left to discover in this looryverse.
The most visceral moments in reading are the ones to wait for, so absorbing you can almost reach out and touch the taut atmosphere, and the tension of the tale resolves itself inside you. Ben’s book is full of these moments, told with a direct simplicity and metre; his words wash over you, delightful and unexpected, like a convenient sprinkler on an unbearably hot day. This writing is no inch of ivory but more a paint-with-water book, the paint inked on in defined lines, just enough, mind, and you simply add your own water to a world that becomes more vivid and real every moment, and then you wipe off the brush, or eye, if need be.
I don’t want to give too much away in this review about what you will read in these pages: I will not point out favourites (though i do have them) because each of the stories has its own secrets at its core, and it’s how we reflect these stories on ourselves that we come to love one or another best. I will say that these pages are a pastiche of the paranormal mixed with some magic, deepened by dazzling darkness, populated with people, trees, ducks, tvs, the sea, and the breeze, so very many things and beings changing, and they morph before our eyes and as the characters change, we change too.
If it’s not clear by now, this is an exhortation to people that might read this review: I recommend you get this book the minute it comes out. I’m hard on books, but I know what I like, and I love this … I knew at first reading that there was something very special in these stories. I know you will find charm, and enchantment, some anxiety, some sorrow, some sweetness, and occasionally hope here. This is a breathtakingly lovely collection of little stories, so full of nighttime and day, so spare and so fine, I cannot now imagine living my life without it, and can’t for the life of me, think why you should either.
Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day is pure distillate of story, boiled down to the essential words that unfurl inside and take up residence, and the disarming restraint of their sinewy form only serves to bring me in closer so that I'm collected inside them, as they are inside this book, as they collect inside my memory, as they make laugh (oh so hard), cower (equally hard), and smile (hardest there is). They make me feel, for those moments when I am in them, that I have a reprieve from this world, and have really lived these stories myself, that I was part of them and those sublimely surreal other worlds that we are still left to discover in this looryverse.
The most visceral moments in reading are the ones to wait for, so absorbing you can almost reach out and touch the taut atmosphere, and the tension of the tale resolves itself inside you. Ben’s book is full of these moments, told with a direct simplicity and metre; his words wash over you, delightful and unexpected, like a convenient sprinkler on an unbearably hot day. This writing is no inch of ivory but more a paint-with-water book, the paint inked on in defined lines, just enough, mind, and you simply add your own water to a world that becomes more vivid and real every moment, and then you wipe off the brush, or eye, if need be.
I don’t want to give too much away in this review about what you will read in these pages: I will not point out favourites (though i do have them) because each of the stories has its own secrets at its core, and it’s how we reflect these stories on ourselves that we come to love one or another best. I will say that these pages are a pastiche of the paranormal mixed with some magic, deepened by dazzling darkness, populated with people, trees, ducks, tvs, the sea, and the breeze, so very many things and beings changing, and they morph before our eyes and as the characters change, we change too.
If it’s not clear by now, this is an exhortation to people that might read this review: I recommend you get this book the minute it comes out. I’m hard on books, but I know what I like, and I love this … I knew at first reading that there was something very special in these stories. I know you will find charm, and enchantment, some anxiety, some sorrow, some sweetness, and occasionally hope here. This is a breathtakingly lovely collection of little stories, so full of nighttime and day, so spare and so fine, I cannot now imagine living my life without it, and can’t for the life of me, think why you should either.
March 22, 2022
Weird, unsatisfying, beautifully written, impossible to recommend to anybody. I loved it.
January 7, 2016
I have been wanting to read this book for a loooong time -- so long that I don't quite remember why. This gauzy wasteland that I call a memory is trying to tell me that Ben Loory has written for McSweeney's and also that his mom is Barbara Ehrenrich, who wrote Nickel & Dimed? But I find all that to be highly suspect, and I think I probably am confusing him with one or more someone elses. Anyone want to confirm or deny these suspicions? [Edit: I've been corrected in the comments -- what a dummy I am. But I now have zero clue what made me so eager to read this.]
Annnnyway. These stories. Idk man, they're really just too much, which may seem like a strange thing to say about tiny little 3- to 4-page flitters, as these are. But after the first couple weird little dreamy fables, the shine wears right off and it all just feels so empty. Oh there's an octopus and he lives in a city! Oh there's a duck who falls in love with a rock! Oh a man finds an invisible crown in a dishwasher and becomes a king! Oh a lady has a martian as a maid but he is so boring!
What what what?
I don't care, is the thing. I don't care whether the drowned couple is still in love, or why this man is afraid of that hat, or whether the octopus will go back to living in the ocean because he has agoraphobia or something. It's all too twee, too quaint, too precious, too absurd. I feel curmudgeonly and lacking in imagination or something to say that, but bah. I'm (probably) never going to finish this, and I honestly feel pretty okay about that.
Annnnyway. These stories. Idk man, they're really just too much, which may seem like a strange thing to say about tiny little 3- to 4-page flitters, as these are. But after the first couple weird little dreamy fables, the shine wears right off and it all just feels so empty. Oh there's an octopus and he lives in a city! Oh there's a duck who falls in love with a rock! Oh a man finds an invisible crown in a dishwasher and becomes a king! Oh a lady has a martian as a maid but he is so boring!
What what what?
I don't care, is the thing. I don't care whether the drowned couple is still in love, or why this man is afraid of that hat, or whether the octopus will go back to living in the ocean because he has agoraphobia or something. It's all too twee, too quaint, too precious, too absurd. I feel curmudgeonly and lacking in imagination or something to say that, but bah. I'm (probably) never going to finish this, and I honestly feel pretty okay about that.
August 16, 2011
This is a weirdly addictive book. You think: oh, a collection of short little minimalist fable-y stories, I'll just read a couple of these before bed or when I have a few minutes to kill or whatever. But they turn out to be like Pringles, or Lay's, or any other snack whose slogan hinges on the consumer's putative inability to eat only a moderate amount. Except I can't actually remember the last time I "popped" a can of Pringles, let alone the last time I found it impossible to "stop." So there goes that analogy. But you know what I mean: unlike a regular short story collection, which intends for you to read one story in one sitting and then put the book down, the "postmodern fairy tales" in Ben Loory's collection are meant to be gulped down voraciously.
With their unnamed characters, unembellished language and extreme brevity, these fables seem to represent an effort to retreat to the most basic, primal level of storytelling. To that end the book is certainly enjoyable, but I'm not sure it works on any other level. Sure, some of the stories have an allegorical feel, but they're all so brief that nothing really sticks in the mind. It is a very ephemeral book, which may have been part of the point, I guess, but makes it difficult for me to fully embrace it. Also, many of the endings, maybe even most of them, struck me as weak. I know endings are hard, but if you're going to write a three-page story, and if your aim is to distill the fundamental elements of storytelling, I do think you should have a pretty tight conception of how that story is going to end. Too many of these tales end in sighs, shrugs, shrouds meant to evoke mythic mystery but evoking eye-rolls in me.
Although part of me resisted this book, the resistance was mostly ex-post-facto. While I was reading, I was into it. And I'm willing to wager that you will be, too, so: solidly recommended, despite the tepid three-star rating.
With their unnamed characters, unembellished language and extreme brevity, these fables seem to represent an effort to retreat to the most basic, primal level of storytelling. To that end the book is certainly enjoyable, but I'm not sure it works on any other level. Sure, some of the stories have an allegorical feel, but they're all so brief that nothing really sticks in the mind. It is a very ephemeral book, which may have been part of the point, I guess, but makes it difficult for me to fully embrace it. Also, many of the endings, maybe even most of them, struck me as weak. I know endings are hard, but if you're going to write a three-page story, and if your aim is to distill the fundamental elements of storytelling, I do think you should have a pretty tight conception of how that story is going to end. Too many of these tales end in sighs, shrugs, shrouds meant to evoke mythic mystery but evoking eye-rolls in me.
Although part of me resisted this book, the resistance was mostly ex-post-facto. While I was reading, I was into it. And I'm willing to wager that you will be, too, so: solidly recommended, despite the tepid three-star rating.
January 31, 2015
A book full of off the wall short stories. Very good writing. Some I liked better than others. The one that had the most effect on me is The Tunnel. It made me feel claustrophobic just reading it. Very creepy indeed.
December 18, 2011
I just didn't get it. Wow, that writing so trite and juvenile could be seen as inventive blows my mind hole. Is this where we are in a genre that O. Henry and Raymond Carver mastered! These under-written stories read like outlines to be fleshed out later. Yes, the writer's ideas behind these magic realism vignettes, ala Kelly Link, are wildly imaginative. Loory's intent and tone seems to be to create modern folk tales with giant morals. (An octopus that decides to live in an apartment house is visited by sea dwelling relatives, for example, and realizes his true nature) They are told in such simple sentence, middle school essayist prose, that after reading two or three, and reading all the book jacket hype, you think of another folk tale, The Emperor's New Clothes, and feel Loory has pulled a fast one on you and the publisher.
December 26, 2011
Here's the thing about the stories in Ben Loory's collection Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day, each one will make you feel something different. One of them made me cry with its sad beauty. Another scared the bejeezus out of me with its quiet terror. Another made this desert rat of a girl long for the ocean. And still another made me laugh out loud with delight. Some of them torture you with their brevity...wait, you say, that's it? But I want to know more! But Mr. Loory doesn't tell you more. And it's ok really. Only giving you that bit that he's giving you and making that bit so very powerful is what keeps his stories with you for days and days after you've read them. Pondering...imagining...weighing.
March 12, 2018
I really enjoy these collections from Ben Loory - they're usually quite a few very short stories, and this is one of those.
The odd story here and there is more short than story, and doesn't necessarily make sense - but only very few. And the amount of feeling - and sometimes horror - that he manages to pack into some of the others is truly impressive. An author I always enjoy coming back to.
The odd story here and there is more short than story, and doesn't necessarily make sense - but only very few. And the amount of feeling - and sometimes horror - that he manages to pack into some of the others is truly impressive. An author I always enjoy coming back to.
October 30, 2013
The stories in this book reminded me of the works of Arnold Lobel (specifically Owl at Home), if Lobel had written for adults. They share the same daydream quality, the same wandering imaginative struggles and circular, fanciful routines that come from spending a great deal of time alone, or even out of just plain old loneliness. I was also reminded of the humor cartoonist Chris Ware manages to find in quiet despair, the charming, absurd moments from small lives lived unseen and eventually crushed by an indifferent universe. This is a collection of fables, lots and lots of tiny stories and tall tales, featuring (as a very small sampling) a love affair between a cliff-bound house and a gravity-bound ocean, a city-dwelling octopus who receives a visit from his nephews from the sea, a tree who unroots itself to see the world, a duck who falls in love with a rock, a television set that writes an opera about Winston Churchill, and a man who invites a moose to go skydiving with him.
There is much enjoyment to be had here. However, I'd recommend that readers drink this in small sips. This is a heady mix of whimsy and unfulfilled desire, of absurdest humor and bleak, utter hopelessness, of charming and bizarre anthropomorphisms and violent urges, of insanity and magic, of worlds within worlds of inescapable cosmic frustrations.
There is much enjoyment to be had here. However, I'd recommend that readers drink this in small sips. This is a heady mix of whimsy and unfulfilled desire, of absurdest humor and bleak, utter hopelessness, of charming and bizarre anthropomorphisms and violent urges, of insanity and magic, of worlds within worlds of inescapable cosmic frustrations.
August 20, 2011
This is a handsome book, smooth, textured pages, and with a UFO and an octopus tentacle on the cover I was instantly captured. The short form of the stories was intriguing to me, the breif sections were ambitious- they could have ended up really helping or hurting the stories. I think it ended up hurting most of them. Hardly any of the charcters have names, the anonymity really begins to wear around the thirtieth story. Attatching even an arbitrary name would have helped the significance of the characters if only a little. In some of the stories the absurtity seems forced, as with a few of the endings. A lot of the concepts are likeable, cool, or cute. An Octopus that drinks tea, a walking tree, a lightswitch that controls the weather, but the stories are ultimately hindered by the terse form. A little bit more would have gone a long way. Some of the details were also lazy and began to become boring, mostly because the same format was repeated too many times- ex: We walked, and walked, and walked, and walked, and walked some more. There were three stories that I loved and thought the short form was successful, The Swimming Pool, The Rope and the Sea, and Hadely. The last story which did not follow the short form like the rest was good as well, it had more meat to it, I would like to see meatier stories from Ben Loory.
May 29, 2018
داستان ها با چهارچوب " یکی بود یکی نبود " طور شروع میشن و پایان اکثرشون معلوم نیست چی میشه اصلا.
بیشتر داستان هاش در واقع چیز خاصی هم نمیخواستن بگن. صرفا یک داستان با آغاز و تقریبا بی پایان بودند.
البته به نظر میاد که همه این تفاسیر نقطه ضعف باشه اما برای من نقطه قوت بود.
این کتاب چند روز باعث میشد من غرق در یک داستان کوتاه بشم و صرفا یک داستان بدون نماد خاصی یا هدف خاصی رو بخونم.
نویسنده این کتاب رو نوشته بود که فقط داستان بگه. یه جورایی هر تخیلی به ذهنش رسیده بود رو روی کاغذ اورده بود.
البته بعضی داستان هاش هم ته داشتند و قابل قبول بودند. که اگه بخوام بهشون اشاره کنم به داستان " اختاپوس" یا "مار در گلو" اشاره میکنم.
خوندنش رو به کسی توصیه نمیکنم چون احتمالا کسی ازش خوشش نیاد ولی من در حالت روحی فعلیم دوستش داشتم و برام آرامش آور بود.
همین
بیشتر داستان هاش در واقع چیز خاصی هم نمیخواستن بگن. صرفا یک داستان با آغاز و تقریبا بی پایان بودند.
البته به نظر میاد که همه این تفاسیر نقطه ضعف باشه اما برای من نقطه قوت بود.
این کتاب چند روز باعث میشد من غرق در یک داستان کوتاه بشم و صرفا یک داستان بدون نماد خاصی یا هدف خاصی رو بخونم.
نویسنده این کتاب رو نوشته بود که فقط داستان بگه. یه جورایی هر تخیلی به ذهنش رسیده بود رو روی کاغذ اورده بود.
البته بعضی داستان هاش هم ته داشتند و قابل قبول بودند. که اگه بخوام بهشون اشاره کنم به داستان " اختاپوس" یا "مار در گلو" اشاره میکنم.
خوندنش رو به کسی توصیه نمیکنم چون احتمالا کسی ازش خوشش نیاد ولی من در حالت روحی فعلیم دوستش داشتم و برام آرامش آور بود.
همین
September 4, 2020
چی میخواستی بگی؟ چی رو میخواستی ثابت کنی؟ که میشه ۱۷۹ صفحه داستانهای کوتاه نوشت که سر و ته نداره؟ بهترین داستانش در حد بدترینهای یه نویسنده بد باشه؟ موفق شدی. کاش میشد صفر داد. تنها احتمالی که میتونم بدم اینه که این یک سبک داستاننویسیه. کاش من یاد بگیرم کتاب بد رو بذارم کنار و عذاب وجدان نگیرم که اگر اینطور بود بعد از صفحه ۵ میذاشتمش کنار. آقای امرایی مترجم، شاید شما یه چیزی میدونستی که من نمیدونم اما کاش در کل وقتت رو صرف کارهای بهتری کنی.
August 15, 2011
Surreal. A box of candy, or a bucket of chicken wings, depending on what you find delicious. Most of these bite-sized stories are wonderfully crafted, ending with a shiver or a sigh. It can all be gulped down in an hour or two but should be spread out a little, for digestion.
February 2, 2011
. . .nobody writes stories like ben loory . . .they just don't . . . i can't always make sense of them, but by god, i never get tired of trying . . . loory is truly an original voice . . .
July 26, 2011
This is an amazing book. When Ben Loory read a small piece of it in Denver, my girlfriend and I both cried. When Ben Loory sent me the manuscript for a blurb, I held it in my heart each night for a summer while my girlfriend was in Taiwan. Oh, to get through the day and have stories from this book awaiting you!!
Here's the blurb I wrote:
Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day is a book that comes alive when you read it. It will stand on its own, pet your hair while you sleep, and hold the umbrella over your head in the rain.
Here's the blurb I wrote:
Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day is a book that comes alive when you read it. It will stand on its own, pet your hair while you sleep, and hold the umbrella over your head in the rain.
May 5, 2022
Two words – Mind Blowing!!!
Very unique and fun collection of short stories. I needed a break from regular books right now due to decreased brain power and concentration lately but still desperately wanted to keep reading books, so I welcomed this short story collection most happily.
Far beyond the depths of the simplicity of the stories you will indeed lose yourself, wondering for long moments about what you just read and what it just really meant. Though the stories are bite size in length and very simple, they are only mere
disguises for the true amount of depth that they hold. Some are downright torturous. They consume your mind as you find yourself thinking again about what it meant while others are more easily deciphered yet also leave you with lingering haunting memories of these otherworldly yet familiar stories. It isn’t what I would define as a satisfying read yet an experience that is well worth it! Some may give up. I almost did myself once or twice. But there is something quite addicting about that cover and the quick feelings of accomplishment you get reading the short stories that keeps you coming back for more. I actually can say I just had fun anyway.
All I would have to say that’s missing from this surrealist story book is surreal artwork that accompanies each story. That would be just amazing!! Each story itself is a surreal piece of art for the mind’s eye; however, I uncontrollably craved it for my physical eyes as well! Oh, how I wish I was blessed with the talent of drawing as this would inspire artwork beyond imaginable!
Anyway, I would love to swap thoughts with anyone that has read these stories or is reading these stories to see if we share any of the same thoughts. I’ve attempted below to say something quick about each story or what I felt I got out of it.
The Book: Emotional and interesting concept that I think most of us have probably imagined at one time or another in our daily lives.
The Swimming Pool: Spine-chilling creepy – another reason for me to hate public pools! My fear is justified!!
The Tunnel: One word – CLAUSTROPHOBIA!!! And the ending was jaw dropping!
The Crown: Reminds me of the good old saying, “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”
The Man Who Went to China: This is so fucking weird! Easily one of the most creepy and confusing stories of the collection so far.
The Octopus: A favorite. “When an octopus comes to land, he lives forever.” This is one such example of the mind-bending concepts this book likes to display. Anyway, the story touches your soul making you think about moving on and making decisions and missing family or the way things used to be. Nostalgia at its greatest.
The Path: Well that was a gut punch. Just a reminder that life doesn’t always go the way you want it to. There are unexpected twists and hardships and sometimes no matter how hard you try, it still finds a way to put you down even further. You can lose everything in a blink of an eye. So deeply darkly terrifying. Everyone appreciate what you have every single day, every single moment. You never know when it will all get wiped away or change forever.
The Hunter’s Head: What??? Maybe this goes back to the saying - two wrongs don’t make a right. Or touches on one turning into something they didn’t want to because they felt pressured or malevolently influenced perhaps.
The Duck: Ah, I believe this to be about unrequited love in a way. What a lovely ending though.
The Well: This one was also a mind blower. Yet they do say some people display adrenaline-induced heroic type reactions in emergencies! Maybe this is what this meant?!
The Shadow: Face your fears!
The TV and Winston Churchill: This one was sad….how so many beautiful things can be ignored….
Death and the Fruits of the Tree: Well, you can’t escape death….
UFO: A Love Story: Wow, what a twist!! This is definitely a favorite!! I’m a believer!
The Hat: I’m going to go out on a limb here and say maybe this one was really about temptation and giving into it???
The Magic Pig: I suppose it’s possible to go your whole life not believing in something and be completely alone with that never quite knowing what the truth really is.
Bigfoot: This one was a bit difficult for me to decide on, but I’m going with maybe this is related to fame and media portrayal – how one minute you are on top of the world famous and loved and the next being torn apart by the vultures who run our society.
The Shield: Perhaps this one is about remembering a past life??
The Martian: I get the feeling this might be secretly depicting the roles of women vs men and how so many women are underappreciated and discriminated against for being too emotional or overly sensitive.
The Little Girl and the Balloon: So maybe this one is referring to parenting fears – the fear of something bad happening to your child or them growing up and forgetting about you?
The Poet: About a writer’s painful journey…?
The Rope and the Sea: Two words—SURREAL PAINTING!!
The Knife Act: Luck? Guardian angel?
The Fish in the Teapot: This was truly about loneliness!
The Girl in the Storm: Rain or shine, I’ll be there pretty much sums this one up.
The Afterlife is What You Leave Behind: I suppose I agree. This one oddly makes sense!! Wow!!
The Tree: By far my absolute favorite of them all. Absolutely heartbreakingly sad yet inspiring. Beautiful! Sometimes you don’t have to go far or leave at all to see the beauty around you.
The Sea Monster: Lovely little tale where the hunters become the hunted! Eerie!
The Man and the Moose: This one was quite adorable. Quite sad about the stuffed animal heads though…I’ve always hated that kind of stuff! Poor Mr. Moose!!
The End of it All: Perhaps this one is really about the loss of a partner….too much to bare to even think about…Poor man
On the Way Down: A Story for Ray Bradbury: Hahahaha this one was funny! Loved it!
The House on the Cliff and the Sea: This was very beautiful! Never give up….keep trying was the message I got from it.
The Snake in the Throat: Wow! This was a story of evil. But very unique!
The Graveyard: This was so cool! Another favorite!
The Ferris Wheel: Wow! This one shook me up quite a bit…old age and forgetfulness. How sad.
Photographs: This one is very true! Photographs can truly cause a lot of pain especially when comparing to your current self years later. Not to mention all the nostalgia.
The Walk that Replaced Understanding: This one to me just felt like the twists and turns of life. Just when you think you are comfortable, something else comes along or happens. Then you start over again. Ups and downs.
The Woman and the Basement: Well, if this one is really what I think it meant then this is the saddest story of them all. Just reminded me of routine, predictability, repetition such as that of most of our lives. Most of us don’t get to live extravagant or exciting lives and see new places. We get up, go to work, carry out life responsibilities and chores, and repeat. Pretty depressing actually. Whew, this one is truly painful if I’m right. Anyway that’s the feeling it gave me.
Hadley: This one was weird!!!!
The TV: Great story to end this unique experience of tales!! It’s terrifying that so much imagination goes into watching TV that sometimes you get so absorbed or attached to what you see that it can make you feel like it is your life!!
Very unique and fun collection of short stories. I needed a break from regular books right now due to decreased brain power and concentration lately but still desperately wanted to keep reading books, so I welcomed this short story collection most happily.
Far beyond the depths of the simplicity of the stories you will indeed lose yourself, wondering for long moments about what you just read and what it just really meant. Though the stories are bite size in length and very simple, they are only mere
disguises for the true amount of depth that they hold. Some are downright torturous. They consume your mind as you find yourself thinking again about what it meant while others are more easily deciphered yet also leave you with lingering haunting memories of these otherworldly yet familiar stories. It isn’t what I would define as a satisfying read yet an experience that is well worth it! Some may give up. I almost did myself once or twice. But there is something quite addicting about that cover and the quick feelings of accomplishment you get reading the short stories that keeps you coming back for more. I actually can say I just had fun anyway.
All I would have to say that’s missing from this surrealist story book is surreal artwork that accompanies each story. That would be just amazing!! Each story itself is a surreal piece of art for the mind’s eye; however, I uncontrollably craved it for my physical eyes as well! Oh, how I wish I was blessed with the talent of drawing as this would inspire artwork beyond imaginable!
Anyway, I would love to swap thoughts with anyone that has read these stories or is reading these stories to see if we share any of the same thoughts. I’ve attempted below to say something quick about each story or what I felt I got out of it.
The Book: Emotional and interesting concept that I think most of us have probably imagined at one time or another in our daily lives.
The Swimming Pool: Spine-chilling creepy – another reason for me to hate public pools! My fear is justified!!
The Tunnel: One word – CLAUSTROPHOBIA!!! And the ending was jaw dropping!
The Crown: Reminds me of the good old saying, “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”
The Man Who Went to China: This is so fucking weird! Easily one of the most creepy and confusing stories of the collection so far.
The Octopus: A favorite. “When an octopus comes to land, he lives forever.” This is one such example of the mind-bending concepts this book likes to display. Anyway, the story touches your soul making you think about moving on and making decisions and missing family or the way things used to be. Nostalgia at its greatest.
The Path: Well that was a gut punch. Just a reminder that life doesn’t always go the way you want it to. There are unexpected twists and hardships and sometimes no matter how hard you try, it still finds a way to put you down even further. You can lose everything in a blink of an eye. So deeply darkly terrifying. Everyone appreciate what you have every single day, every single moment. You never know when it will all get wiped away or change forever.
The Hunter’s Head: What??? Maybe this goes back to the saying - two wrongs don’t make a right. Or touches on one turning into something they didn’t want to because they felt pressured or malevolently influenced perhaps.
The Duck: Ah, I believe this to be about unrequited love in a way. What a lovely ending though.
The Well: This one was also a mind blower. Yet they do say some people display adrenaline-induced heroic type reactions in emergencies! Maybe this is what this meant?!
The Shadow: Face your fears!
The TV and Winston Churchill: This one was sad….how so many beautiful things can be ignored….
Death and the Fruits of the Tree: Well, you can’t escape death….
UFO: A Love Story: Wow, what a twist!! This is definitely a favorite!! I’m a believer!
The Hat: I’m going to go out on a limb here and say maybe this one was really about temptation and giving into it???
The Magic Pig: I suppose it’s possible to go your whole life not believing in something and be completely alone with that never quite knowing what the truth really is.
Bigfoot: This one was a bit difficult for me to decide on, but I’m going with maybe this is related to fame and media portrayal – how one minute you are on top of the world famous and loved and the next being torn apart by the vultures who run our society.
The Shield: Perhaps this one is about remembering a past life??
The Martian: I get the feeling this might be secretly depicting the roles of women vs men and how so many women are underappreciated and discriminated against for being too emotional or overly sensitive.
The Little Girl and the Balloon: So maybe this one is referring to parenting fears – the fear of something bad happening to your child or them growing up and forgetting about you?
The Poet: About a writer’s painful journey…?
The Rope and the Sea: Two words—SURREAL PAINTING!!
The Knife Act: Luck? Guardian angel?
The Fish in the Teapot: This was truly about loneliness!
The Girl in the Storm: Rain or shine, I’ll be there pretty much sums this one up.
The Afterlife is What You Leave Behind: I suppose I agree. This one oddly makes sense!! Wow!!
The Tree: By far my absolute favorite of them all. Absolutely heartbreakingly sad yet inspiring. Beautiful! Sometimes you don’t have to go far or leave at all to see the beauty around you.
The Sea Monster: Lovely little tale where the hunters become the hunted! Eerie!
The Man and the Moose: This one was quite adorable. Quite sad about the stuffed animal heads though…I’ve always hated that kind of stuff! Poor Mr. Moose!!
The End of it All: Perhaps this one is really about the loss of a partner….too much to bare to even think about…Poor man
On the Way Down: A Story for Ray Bradbury: Hahahaha this one was funny! Loved it!
The House on the Cliff and the Sea: This was very beautiful! Never give up….keep trying was the message I got from it.
The Snake in the Throat: Wow! This was a story of evil. But very unique!
The Graveyard: This was so cool! Another favorite!
The Ferris Wheel: Wow! This one shook me up quite a bit…old age and forgetfulness. How sad.
Photographs: This one is very true! Photographs can truly cause a lot of pain especially when comparing to your current self years later. Not to mention all the nostalgia.
The Walk that Replaced Understanding: This one to me just felt like the twists and turns of life. Just when you think you are comfortable, something else comes along or happens. Then you start over again. Ups and downs.
The Woman and the Basement: Well, if this one is really what I think it meant then this is the saddest story of them all. Just reminded me of routine, predictability, repetition such as that of most of our lives. Most of us don’t get to live extravagant or exciting lives and see new places. We get up, go to work, carry out life responsibilities and chores, and repeat. Pretty depressing actually. Whew, this one is truly painful if I’m right. Anyway that’s the feeling it gave me.
Hadley: This one was weird!!!!
The TV: Great story to end this unique experience of tales!! It’s terrifying that so much imagination goes into watching TV that sometimes you get so absorbed or attached to what you see that it can make you feel like it is your life!!
August 16, 2011
Read at the sacred Drunken Bingo gathering of the Dorks at Dorka 2011. Given to me by Slowrabbit.
Thank You, Patrick.
A woman has a child.
She loves him, dearly. Yet she knows not what to do with him.
Can I raise him on ovaltine and Sesame Street alone? She wonders and wonders and wonders some more.
She wakes up the next morning and finds she is dead.
This is all very well and fine, but what will happen to my boy?
She worries for days and starts to smell as the presence and action of death overtake her. Finally, she realizes she can stay with the boy no longer. Her lack of presence and the presence of her lack will traumatize the boy. She leaves him.
The boy senses that something has gone amiss. Where is his mother? He thinks about this for years and years and years.
In the meantime, he has immersed himself in the writings of Philip Dick and Arnold Lobel. Especially Lobel--He always loved the story of the mouse who went to visit his mother and wore himself down so much in the process that he even has to buy new feet. He is in luck because there was a person on the side of the road selling feet.--Yes, definitely Lobel.
The boy grew and grew and grew. And then he grew some more. He had conversations with people. He talked and came to strange conclusions. He wondered how he alone had a television that only played the Twilight Zone. This is not true for everyone. He realizes this. He begins to write. He writes about his days reading Lobel, watching his TV, and being visited by aliens. By a Moose. By beautiful and strange women. And Octopi.
He writes and writes and writes. His story. An autobiography that only he could write. He is thankful for his mother. He is proud of his childhood. He does not care that there will be some people who cannot find meaning in his story. It is true. All of it. True. Except where it is not . . . and then what can be done?
The people read and read and read his story. Many are shattered by the beautiful tragedy and unique nature of his story. He is acclaimed for his economy of language. What a gift this is! Some men just throw up their hats (afraid of them, no doubt) and shout in their text language WTF?!
The boy returns to his room. His TV, his PK Dick, his shrine to Lobel still there. He has returned (with new feet).
He thanks the woman who brought him here and walks out. He has his shield. He turns down the path that has always been there for him.
He walks and walks and walks.
Thank You, Patrick.
A woman has a child.
She loves him, dearly. Yet she knows not what to do with him.
Can I raise him on ovaltine and Sesame Street alone? She wonders and wonders and wonders some more.
She wakes up the next morning and finds she is dead.
This is all very well and fine, but what will happen to my boy?
She worries for days and starts to smell as the presence and action of death overtake her. Finally, she realizes she can stay with the boy no longer. Her lack of presence and the presence of her lack will traumatize the boy. She leaves him.
The boy senses that something has gone amiss. Where is his mother? He thinks about this for years and years and years.
In the meantime, he has immersed himself in the writings of Philip Dick and Arnold Lobel. Especially Lobel--He always loved the story of the mouse who went to visit his mother and wore himself down so much in the process that he even has to buy new feet. He is in luck because there was a person on the side of the road selling feet.--Yes, definitely Lobel.
The boy grew and grew and grew. And then he grew some more. He had conversations with people. He talked and came to strange conclusions. He wondered how he alone had a television that only played the Twilight Zone. This is not true for everyone. He realizes this. He begins to write. He writes about his days reading Lobel, watching his TV, and being visited by aliens. By a Moose. By beautiful and strange women. And Octopi.
He writes and writes and writes. His story. An autobiography that only he could write. He is thankful for his mother. He is proud of his childhood. He does not care that there will be some people who cannot find meaning in his story. It is true. All of it. True. Except where it is not . . . and then what can be done?
The people read and read and read his story. Many are shattered by the beautiful tragedy and unique nature of his story. He is acclaimed for his economy of language. What a gift this is! Some men just throw up their hats (afraid of them, no doubt) and shout in their text language WTF?!
The boy returns to his room. His TV, his PK Dick, his shrine to Lobel still there. He has returned (with new feet).
He thanks the woman who brought him here and walks out. He has his shield. He turns down the path that has always been there for him.
He walks and walks and walks.
June 26, 2012
I really enjoy a good short story, unfortunately Ben Loory’s “Stories for the Nighttime and Some for the Day” doesn’t contain one. Okay maybe that is a bit harsh. There were 5 or 6 stories that I found interesting and some even slightly amusing. Most of the 40 stories in this collection, however, were lost on me.
Ben Loory’s aim in these stories seems merely to be to write an odd story. Now I’m all for odd stories, they are actually my favorite kind. This is the reason I initially picked up the book. So, let me begin by saying what I liked about his stories. I liked the way he broadened the definition of a character and the anthropomorphizing of many common objects and various animals. This is something odd that I really enjoyed. For me though, there are a few problems with Ben’s stories that are just hard to overcome.
One problem is that he rarely gives his characters names. His characters are usually just referred to as “the man”, “the woman”, “the boy”, “the girl”, “the duck”, “the moose”, “the house”, and so on and so on. (See the character comment above.) This makes the characters rather nondescript for me. I guess one might choose to forego names if it wasn’t pertinent to the story, and I guess you could argue that it isn’t important in his stories, but it can be hard to truly get invested in a character that doesn’t have a name.
Another problem is that most of his stories don’t seem to have a logical plot, climax, or resolution. There is no point to 75% of the stories. There were many stories that I began to like and I’m looking forward to some kind of legitimate conclusion or closure and it just never comes. I would often back track to find something I missed, maybe there was some kind of moral lesson that I was missing, but in most cases it wasn’t there.
Maybe I’m a simpleton but often I just didn’t get it. I’d be following the story just fine and then I’d get to the end only to be confused or let down. Maybe I’d get more out of each story if I took some time to really mull over and dissect them, but who wants to do that.
Ben Loory’s aim in these stories seems merely to be to write an odd story. Now I’m all for odd stories, they are actually my favorite kind. This is the reason I initially picked up the book. So, let me begin by saying what I liked about his stories. I liked the way he broadened the definition of a character and the anthropomorphizing of many common objects and various animals. This is something odd that I really enjoyed. For me though, there are a few problems with Ben’s stories that are just hard to overcome.
One problem is that he rarely gives his characters names. His characters are usually just referred to as “the man”, “the woman”, “the boy”, “the girl”, “the duck”, “the moose”, “the house”, and so on and so on. (See the character comment above.) This makes the characters rather nondescript for me. I guess one might choose to forego names if it wasn’t pertinent to the story, and I guess you could argue that it isn’t important in his stories, but it can be hard to truly get invested in a character that doesn’t have a name.
Another problem is that most of his stories don’t seem to have a logical plot, climax, or resolution. There is no point to 75% of the stories. There were many stories that I began to like and I’m looking forward to some kind of legitimate conclusion or closure and it just never comes. I would often back track to find something I missed, maybe there was some kind of moral lesson that I was missing, but in most cases it wasn’t there.
Maybe I’m a simpleton but often I just didn’t get it. I’d be following the story just fine and then I’d get to the end only to be confused or let down. Maybe I’d get more out of each story if I took some time to really mull over and dissect them, but who wants to do that.
August 21, 2011
Okay I bought this book in dc too, but unlike the other one I've reviewed this one I paid full price for. I bought it at Kramerbooks and afterwards where I spent $70 then bought an expensive dinner at their advertised as "vegan friendly" cafe which had a menu in which I was having trouble finding vegetarian options.
but regardless of all of that this book is clearly amazing, just fantastic, it keeps up thematically which is super important in a collection of short stories, so instead of feeling disconnected they feel like one piece.
he says he wrote them in a horror writing class but it's less about horror than it is about living. and a lot of it is about going and stopping. will we strike out or will we stay. it's mostly about all the bad choices we make, and we make so many.
but regardless of all of that this book is clearly amazing, just fantastic, it keeps up thematically which is super important in a collection of short stories, so instead of feeling disconnected they feel like one piece.
he says he wrote them in a horror writing class but it's less about horror than it is about living. and a lot of it is about going and stopping. will we strike out or will we stay. it's mostly about all the bad choices we make, and we make so many.
August 8, 2011
This book is made from the same stuff we thought cupcakes were made of when we were seven -- Magic.
Each of the short stories in this novel filled me up until I overflowed. Some of these stories filled me with terror or anguish and some with five kinds of joy - there was infinite joy and calm joy; quiet joy (the kind that comes with feeling peaceful with a cup of tea or sinking into a warm quilt at night), bustling-with-excitement joy and lastly there was the joy of the unknown and the unfamiliar: the joy of child-like discovery.
If you haven't read it yet, I would highly recommend these wonderful tales. Enjoy them in a quilt with tea or at the park.
Each of the short stories in this novel filled me up until I overflowed. Some of these stories filled me with terror or anguish and some with five kinds of joy - there was infinite joy and calm joy; quiet joy (the kind that comes with feeling peaceful with a cup of tea or sinking into a warm quilt at night), bustling-with-excitement joy and lastly there was the joy of the unknown and the unfamiliar: the joy of child-like discovery.
If you haven't read it yet, I would highly recommend these wonderful tales. Enjoy them in a quilt with tea or at the park.
August 18, 2013
Its impossible not to love the stories contained in this book. They are short, comes off the page with a clarity unparalleled, and leaves you either smiling, calmly joyful, or plain disturbed. But each leaves an impact. They seem to linger in your mind. And many will touch your heart, where matters of the human condition must be interrogated. However,
The are so readable that you will probably be too greedy and read through the whole book in a day. As I did. You love one so much you just want to see what the next is about. And before you know it you cant put the book down. But not probably very wise, as you will need time to make sense of the stories, to allow the impact to rest in your mind, in your soul.
But then, you can always return to a certain story, devour it in a few minutes, and smile your way. Or frown, if you like.
So, what are they about? Many things, of course. And the many things they are about will all make you think, including the martian, octopuses, monsters, some mysterious Chinaman and etc etc. For me, I was amazed by how simplicity can move, challenge, and transform thought.
But some are weird, man. I need to go back to them, see what sense I cam make of them.
The are so readable that you will probably be too greedy and read through the whole book in a day. As I did. You love one so much you just want to see what the next is about. And before you know it you cant put the book down. But not probably very wise, as you will need time to make sense of the stories, to allow the impact to rest in your mind, in your soul.
But then, you can always return to a certain story, devour it in a few minutes, and smile your way. Or frown, if you like.
So, what are they about? Many things, of course. And the many things they are about will all make you think, including the martian, octopuses, monsters, some mysterious Chinaman and etc etc. For me, I was amazed by how simplicity can move, challenge, and transform thought.
But some are weird, man. I need to go back to them, see what sense I cam make of them.
August 12, 2011
Not only am I going to reread this book immediately, I'm going to select stories for my students to read this year. While there are a handful of stories that are a bit uneven, they are still astonishing. "Post-modern fairy tales" is as good a tag for this book as I've seen, and yet that doesn't quite do this collection justice. I'm puzzled, surprised, delighted and annoyed by these stories, sometimes all at once. (The "annoyed" part comes from having to work out what some stories mean, which is another way of saying that perhaps I've gotten lazy when it comes to short stories, or I've gotten too used to hyper-realism in short fiction.) As a reader who enjoys fables and various modern attempts to write them (Isak Dinesen, for one), I thoroughly enjoy Ben Loory's book.
March 31, 2011
Late one night I made the mistake of walking through a narrow, dark alley to get to my car. A man stepped in front of me and began asking me questions that in any other situation would seem benign but in this case seemed menacing. Before letting me pass he said, “After today, always remember how lucky you are.” The feelings that overcame me as I practically ran to my car—fear, confusion, relief, panic, joy--- are some of the same feelings I encountered while reading, “Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day.” Unsettling and mesmerizing, these tiny tales will leave you wondering, like I did as I locked myself inside the safety of my car, “What the hell just happened back there?”
May 7, 2011
fan·tas·tic /fænˈtæstɪk/ Show Spelled
[fan-tas-tik] Show IPA
–adjective
1. conceived or appearing as if conceived by an unrestrained imagination; odd and remarkable; bizarre; grotesque: fantastic rock formations; fantastic designs.
2. fanciful or capricious, as persons or their ideas or actions: We never know what that fantastic creature will say next.
3. fantastic : excellent, superlative
[fan-tas-tik] Show IPA
–adjective
1. conceived or appearing as if conceived by an unrestrained imagination; odd and remarkable; bizarre; grotesque: fantastic rock formations; fantastic designs.
2. fanciful or capricious, as persons or their ideas or actions: We never know what that fantastic creature will say next.
3. fantastic : excellent, superlative
July 27, 2011
I'm not sure how to start this review. Ben's stories are a lot of things, they are imaginative, magical, heartwarming and original. They're stories of love, of exploration, and of moving on and staying put. They are also brief as each one contains only what is necessary to propel the story and enchant the reader.
Most importantly these stories beg to be read over and over again.
Most importantly these stories beg to be read over and over again.
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