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River Talk
Surefooted and emotionally deft, the stories in River Talk introduce an unforgettable array of characters. A woman reconsiders her decision to join a fundamentalist compound and enter a polygamous marriage; a Somali refugee takes a job at the local mill to support her family; a college student attempts to right her world through the lens of mathematics; an Iraq War vet struggles to regain his compromised relationships. In spare yet vivid prose, Anderson explores loss and desire, regret and hope. Everywhere we are reminded of all that a single life contains.
236 pages, Paperback
First published March 11, 2014
5 people are currently reading
445 people want to read
About the author
C.B. Anderson
1 book4 followers CB Anderson is a cross-genre writer whose work has appeared in The Iowa Review, North American Review, Huffington Post, Flash Fiction Forward (W.W. Norton & Co.), The Christian Science Monitor, Redbook, Boston Magazine, usatoday.com and elsewhere.
A collection of her stories, River Talk, was named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2014. Her forthcoming book, New Moon Over Lisbon Street (Perseus PublicAffairs, Summer 2019), tells a story of transformation in a Maine mill town.
Anderson is a sixth-generation native of Maine and was raised in a village on the Androscoggin River. She lives with her family in Maine and Massachusetts and teaches writing at Boston University. Reach her at cbanderson.net.
A collection of her stories, River Talk, was named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2014. Her forthcoming book, New Moon Over Lisbon Street (Perseus PublicAffairs, Summer 2019), tells a story of transformation in a Maine mill town.
Anderson is a sixth-generation native of Maine and was raised in a village on the Androscoggin River. She lives with her family in Maine and Massachusetts and teaches writing at Boston University. Reach her at cbanderson.net.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews
May 4, 2014
This is a wonderful collection of short stories set in Maine. Anderson's clear, lovely writing voice is the perfect vehicle for these bittersweet observations about Maine life.
Highly recommended.
Grade: A
Highly recommended.
Grade: A
May 24, 2018
A memorable and haunting book of short stories, some of which really come back to you when you don't expect them. One about the woman with the damaged child in a cult...half Stephen King, half Raymond Carver. Another about a bartender with an austic son, another about a woman trying to make a go of it making jewelry, a divorced dad factory worker fighting with his ex.
As a lifelong New Englander, I feel like I really 'get' these stories, which are not always "fun" to read but more meditative, like they leave you with a deep sense of nodding yes, like you know where she's coming from, where her characters are coming from.
Oh, did I mention the two brothers love-triangle one?
As a lifelong New Englander, I feel like I really 'get' these stories, which are not always "fun" to read but more meditative, like they leave you with a deep sense of nodding yes, like you know where she's coming from, where her characters are coming from.
Oh, did I mention the two brothers love-triangle one?
did-not-finish
May 22, 2018I DNF’d this book. Ya’ll know that is not normal for me but I figured life was too short to spend time reading a book that is “little slices of misery” as my librarian friend said.
I tried, I really did. But, ugh! Even if the stories could have held me the pacing was terrible. With almost every line I felt like I was listening to the teacher from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Bland and monotone. No passion (even with all the weird sex) just invariability.
So, anyway, for me the pacing was off and the stories were depressing. But on a brighter note if you want a book to put you to sleep, this is it. Might not have exciting dreams, but you’ll get to sleep in a few pages.
Keep in mind this is just my opinion and you don’t have to agree or disagree. 🤷🏼♀️
I tried, I really did. But, ugh! Even if the stories could have held me the pacing was terrible. With almost every line I felt like I was listening to the teacher from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Bland and monotone. No passion (even with all the weird sex) just invariability.
So, anyway, for me the pacing was off and the stories were depressing. But on a brighter note if you want a book to put you to sleep, this is it. Might not have exciting dreams, but you’ll get to sleep in a few pages.
Keep in mind this is just my opinion and you don’t have to agree or disagree. 🤷🏼♀️
January 9, 2017
I’m going to have to make an apology to the author and publisher of this book for taking so long in getting around to reviewing this. More than two years has passed since River Talk, a short story collection, bowed, and I was supposed to review it for a friend’s blog. However, life issues — namely, my ongoing battle with unemployment — got in the way, and it just slid down the list of priorities of things to do. And, of course, I was doing some music reviewing, which turned into reviewing Christian themed books. So my priorities gradually changed over time, and River Talk got forgotten about. However, I have some time on my hands this Christmas week. I’ve decided to cross off some things that I should have gotten around to some time ago. I might not get around to everything, but I hope to get to enough that I hope warrants some level of forgiveness — starting with this book. Besides, books usually tend to have a longer shelf life than music does, so as long as, I dunno, the book hasn’t magically fallen out of print, I think I should be still good.
I can say that I’m amazed whenever someone publishes a debut work that’s a short story collection. A debut collection of short stories is a rare thing to see these days. The publishing industry would prefer a novel, and then the story collection to follow that once your name has been made. The reason for this is that short story collections don’t sell as well. You’d think that people with less time on their hands than ever before would love to sit down with something shorter, but, sadly, no. Personally, I’ve tried for more than a decade to sell a rather bizarre set of slipstream stories as a collection, and pretty much have given up — publishing those stories here on Medium instead if you want to dig around my profile deeply. (You’ll have to swim through all of that poetry I published here first, as the stories were published a longer time ago.) Anyhow, to put it mildly, publishing a short story collection is a brave thing to do, especially if it’s your first work.
So there’s already a lot to admire about River Talk. The good news is that most of the stories are of an exceptional quality. Sure, there are some duds and stories that don’t go anywhere, but that’s true of just about any story collection you get your hands on. River Talk is also admiring for the fact that most of the stories are set in small town Maine. The names of the towns change from story to story, but the details are the same. There’s a paper mill and a bridge connecting the town with the mill. There’s also gutted downtowns and jobs that have been outsourced overseas. Preferably, I think this book would have been a smidge stronger if the town names were one and the same — it’d bring the vision more in line with another Maine writer, Stephen King, and Castle Rock, a fictional town where much of his early to mid-work was set.
Read more here: https://medium.com/@zachary_houle/a-r...
I can say that I’m amazed whenever someone publishes a debut work that’s a short story collection. A debut collection of short stories is a rare thing to see these days. The publishing industry would prefer a novel, and then the story collection to follow that once your name has been made. The reason for this is that short story collections don’t sell as well. You’d think that people with less time on their hands than ever before would love to sit down with something shorter, but, sadly, no. Personally, I’ve tried for more than a decade to sell a rather bizarre set of slipstream stories as a collection, and pretty much have given up — publishing those stories here on Medium instead if you want to dig around my profile deeply. (You’ll have to swim through all of that poetry I published here first, as the stories were published a longer time ago.) Anyhow, to put it mildly, publishing a short story collection is a brave thing to do, especially if it’s your first work.
So there’s already a lot to admire about River Talk. The good news is that most of the stories are of an exceptional quality. Sure, there are some duds and stories that don’t go anywhere, but that’s true of just about any story collection you get your hands on. River Talk is also admiring for the fact that most of the stories are set in small town Maine. The names of the towns change from story to story, but the details are the same. There’s a paper mill and a bridge connecting the town with the mill. There’s also gutted downtowns and jobs that have been outsourced overseas. Preferably, I think this book would have been a smidge stronger if the town names were one and the same — it’d bring the vision more in line with another Maine writer, Stephen King, and Castle Rock, a fictional town where much of his early to mid-work was set.
Read more here: https://medium.com/@zachary_houle/a-r...
June 5, 2018
Love this anthology. C.B. Anderson is a master of the short story and I read the whole book in one sitting. Can't wait to read her next book!
May 27, 2021
Each of these short stories is immersive. The characters are rich and complex in their intricacies. But each story also simmers with dread. They begin en media res and end en media res, and that's fine. It just feels like another example to me of the pessimistic superiority that so many writers strive for. That's just me.
January 27, 2015
How many times did I cross the walking bridge at the end of a shift? Five thousand at least. Always struck me odd, how we parked on the other side of the river from where we worked, as if to remind us of the connection of the town to the river, the river to the mill, the mill to the town. Tonight the metal feels less solid underfoot, the slats held up by nothing. Halfway across I stop and lean out. Water rushes below, dirty over rocks and the refuse of two hundred years.
I know Maine. I know the "Vacation State" of Maine. I know sunny afternoons at the beach, hunting for sea glass; ice cream shops with flavors like "Lobster Tracks"; trails through the woods; quirky antique shops; farmers selling blueberries in tiny shacks by the side of the road. I know the tourist side of Maine, the one that shuts down once the season is over.
I do not know Maine. I have not experienced the poverty that plagues the sizable state. I have never met a Somalian refugee who has witnessed violence in Mogadishu. I have never conversed with a jewelry maker or a fisherman or a lumber worker. I have walked through art galleries and read books written by authors living in Maine, but never witnessed how a painter or poet draws inspiration from the friendly people they encounter or the landscapes of Maine, from its mountains and forests to its rivers and harbors. I do not know life, everyday life, in Maine.
In most of my reviews for books I enjoyed, especially my favorites, I throw around the words incredible, inspiring, amazing, etc. You get the point. While I try to be truthful and say exactly how I feel after reading a book, and not pretend I felt whichever emotion the author was trying to convey and every other reader and reviewer experienced, I can say with absolute honesty that I loved this book. It is truly incredible, marvelous, all of the above. CB Anderson knows how to craft language so it is fluid and sharp; I clung to every single word. Each character, each scenario, each story was unique but connected with the others, and offered something new in its own way. Obviously, there were some I liked more than others (some of my favorites were Baker's Helper, Tourmaline, Blue Flowers, and Two Falls), but I'm not kidding when I say I loved every single story. After reading this book I feel like I have lived in Maine, yet I know there is still this distance between me and the world of River Talk that can only be experienced by actually living there.
On a side note I wanted to include the fact that this women is incredible. She went from a degree in mathematics from Cornell, to computer programming, to journalism, to fiction writing. Also, the stories in this collection come from the author's experiences living near a paper mill town in Maine. This book is phenomenal. I want more and more and more.
I know Maine. I know the "Vacation State" of Maine. I know sunny afternoons at the beach, hunting for sea glass; ice cream shops with flavors like "Lobster Tracks"; trails through the woods; quirky antique shops; farmers selling blueberries in tiny shacks by the side of the road. I know the tourist side of Maine, the one that shuts down once the season is over.
I do not know Maine. I have not experienced the poverty that plagues the sizable state. I have never met a Somalian refugee who has witnessed violence in Mogadishu. I have never conversed with a jewelry maker or a fisherman or a lumber worker. I have walked through art galleries and read books written by authors living in Maine, but never witnessed how a painter or poet draws inspiration from the friendly people they encounter or the landscapes of Maine, from its mountains and forests to its rivers and harbors. I do not know life, everyday life, in Maine.
In most of my reviews for books I enjoyed, especially my favorites, I throw around the words incredible, inspiring, amazing, etc. You get the point. While I try to be truthful and say exactly how I feel after reading a book, and not pretend I felt whichever emotion the author was trying to convey and every other reader and reviewer experienced, I can say with absolute honesty that I loved this book. It is truly incredible, marvelous, all of the above. CB Anderson knows how to craft language so it is fluid and sharp; I clung to every single word. Each character, each scenario, each story was unique but connected with the others, and offered something new in its own way. Obviously, there were some I liked more than others (some of my favorites were Baker's Helper, Tourmaline, Blue Flowers, and Two Falls), but I'm not kidding when I say I loved every single story. After reading this book I feel like I have lived in Maine, yet I know there is still this distance between me and the world of River Talk that can only be experienced by actually living there.
On a side note I wanted to include the fact that this women is incredible. She went from a degree in mathematics from Cornell, to computer programming, to journalism, to fiction writing. Also, the stories in this collection come from the author's experiences living near a paper mill town in Maine. This book is phenomenal. I want more and more and more.
June 25, 2018
RIVER TALK by CB Anderson is a collection of short stories that are all set in Maine from mill towns in the 1940's, to gem mines in the 1980's and urban centers in recent times. If you know Maine and its geography, from small towns and the mountains to the vast inland areas, (its not just the coast) you will be able to relate. If not, you will learn. The stories are disparate from short fiction, to murder to classic short stories, all well written.
June 29, 2018
This is a gorgeous collection of stories set in Maine, written by someone who knows the territory well. She writes with depth and curiosity about the people, the rivers, the towns, and the hardships. And each story is so beautifully crafted. If you think you know Maine through the vacation spots, I would encourage you to read this book for a sense of the complexity beyond the beauty.
June 22, 2018
Short stories, all set in Maine. This is another of the Read ME books for this summer, chosen by Maine author Paul Doiron. These were stories of the real life Maine that I hear about on the news, the ones the politicians talk about. I only have a glancing knowledge of the rest of Maine, the poverty all over this very large state. These stories of survival and struggle in the failing river towns, the human cost of closing of mills and finding a new way to work and live. It got me out of the little corner I stay in in this state. It was a sobering visit to some very real people.
June 23, 2015
"I write thrillers, which I consider
entertainment. River Talk is closer to literature. I met
C.B. an a book awards dinner, and when she described her
winning book as short stories about Western Maine, I said
that sounded like Annie Proulx's Wyoming Stories. I joked
that the perfect dust-cover blurb would be "Looks like
Tina Fey (she does), writes like Annie Proulx." Now that
I've read her stories, I realize it was no joke."
entertainment. River Talk is closer to literature. I met
C.B. an a book awards dinner, and when she described her
winning book as short stories about Western Maine, I said
that sounded like Annie Proulx's Wyoming Stories. I joked
that the perfect dust-cover blurb would be "Looks like
Tina Fey (she does), writes like Annie Proulx." Now that
I've read her stories, I realize it was no joke."
May 15, 2015
CB Anderson is THE writer to watch. This collection of short stories offers a sensual, real, and intimate look at life in small-town Maine. Eclectic and original, these stories feature complex characters, delicately wrought imagery, and compelling dialogue. Mostly, they will make you think. I highly recommend this book!
August 5, 2014
Really good writing and I liked the characters. Anderson shows us the soft bellies of her very realistic subjects. In between human interactions, the author reminds the reader of the quiet power of the sky, the river, the falling of night.
November 1, 2016
A good book to read while spending a few days in central Maine where giant brick factories still loom over the rivers. A deep, diverse collection of stories about what it means to live here, far from the tourist towns and vacation houses.
May 20, 2018
This book came up in my book club as part of a statewide program and I guess it just wasn't my...type of...thing.
In fairness, I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise.
I'm not sure what it was about this book that didn't appeal to me. Was it the overly florid descriptions? The depressing stories? The weird sex stuff? Yeah, it was like 90% the weird sex stuff. And the AMOUNT of creepy descriptions of children's bodies. STOP doing this writers. No one is asking for this. Stop.
Most of the stories revolved around personal revelations for the characters or were just supposed to be a picture of their life which I'm not really into. I want something to actually happen in a short story, not just be 10-20 pages of a character thinking about their life.
The only other thing I wanna mention was that this book, being set in Maine and being a very Maine-y book, has a lot of references to Maine things that would probably fly over the head of anyone not from here. And that's fine, I just feel like it should be mentioned in my review. I've lived here nearly 15 years and there were references I still didn't get that weren't explained at all.
1 star for....proper use of punctuation?
In fairness, I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise.
I'm not sure what it was about this book that didn't appeal to me. Was it the overly florid descriptions? The depressing stories? The weird sex stuff? Yeah, it was like 90% the weird sex stuff. And the AMOUNT of creepy descriptions of children's bodies. STOP doing this writers. No one is asking for this. Stop.
Most of the stories revolved around personal revelations for the characters or were just supposed to be a picture of their life which I'm not really into. I want something to actually happen in a short story, not just be 10-20 pages of a character thinking about their life.
The only other thing I wanna mention was that this book, being set in Maine and being a very Maine-y book, has a lot of references to Maine things that would probably fly over the head of anyone not from here. And that's fine, I just feel like it should be mentioned in my review. I've lived here nearly 15 years and there were references I still didn't get that weren't explained at all.
1 star for....proper use of punctuation?
November 28, 2018
River Talk is a wonderfully eclectic mix of stories which I added to the reading list for my Fiction Writing class a few years ago, since I felt that her stories are particularly useful for helping students understand how to give their stories a sense of place. Many of these stories were prizewinners and published before they were collected here, and it's great to see the stories together. I'm particularly a fan of "Two Falls" and "In the Ice," which starts off with some amazing description that makes you feel as though you're in the middle of winter. My students love a short short story called "Baker's Helper," though its subject matter, revolving around eating disorders, leaves them troubled.
August 12, 2018
Looking at other reviews I saw one that described the stories in this book as “windows of misery” into people’s lives - I couldn’t explain it better myself. Reading this book was more depressing than watching the news, because the stories it told were every day sort of sad, telling about failures, mistakes and generally unhappy people. I am sure there are lots of people out there living lives like this, but I actively choose to be happier than that. I will say that these stories were quite realistic and very well written. The one story I actually enjoyed was the last one about a Somali refugee and her family, I would like to read an entire book about her and her family.
February 19, 2022
River Talk was a solid collection of pretty good stories. I can't really fault this book, its stories, or the way it was written in any specific way. This being said, throughout the entire collection I was never moved beyond a mild reaction while reading it, be it my emotional response, my intrigue, or even simpler, my level of entertainment.
I would describe this book as good, fairly solid. But it lacked something that could have made it great, or standout.
I lie... there was one story that moved me greatly, and for this story, "Everything," I give a five-star review. It is a shame, then, that this single story is only one page in length, even if it is perfect the way it is.
I would describe this book as good, fairly solid. But it lacked something that could have made it great, or standout.
I lie... there was one story that moved me greatly, and for this story, "Everything," I give a five-star review. It is a shame, then, that this single story is only one page in length, even if it is perfect the way it is.
August 12, 2018
River Talk was written about the lives of the men and women living along a river in a small western Maine town remarkably similar to where I grew up. In so many of the 17 stories in this collection, I felt like I was reliving my childhood, growing up in the 1970’s along that river. I was riveted from start to finish. C.B. Anderson captured life along the river valley to perfection. I highly recommend this book.
July 6, 2018
Each of these wonderful stories creates a deeply felt world -- the outer world of Maine and places farther afield -- and the illuminated inner world of its characters. River Talk reminds me of how much great writers can accomplish in a few pages. I love books like this -- that bring me places I've never been, that remind me of how rich and strange and tough our lives can be.
July 10, 2018
4 stars
I’m not usually a fan of short story collections, but I loved this. Seventeen stories about the grittier side of Maine, pulled together by the river connection in the mill towns. Different points of view and different lengths but all with memorable detail and an emotional punch. My favorites were In the Ice and Two Falls.
I’m not usually a fan of short story collections, but I loved this. Seventeen stories about the grittier side of Maine, pulled together by the river connection in the mill towns. Different points of view and different lengths but all with memorable detail and an emotional punch. My favorites were In the Ice and Two Falls.
July 25, 2018
River Talk is the best book of short stories I have read in years. It made me love the form all over again. Each story creates an intense world, and the stories add up as you go through, until by the end you feel like you have traveled somewhere profound. This is a collection brimming with grace and fierce intelligence.
January 24, 2020
I will start by saying that I am not a big fan of the short story however I keep searching for the one collection that will grab me and have me hold on to the carousel ring.
I purchased this book on the recommendation of someone whose work I enjoy but will hesitate to do so again without a lot of research. The one star was a gift.
I purchased this book on the recommendation of someone whose work I enjoy but will hesitate to do so again without a lot of research. The one star was a gift.
June 8, 2022
A rewarding collection of stories. The reward is being made to feel. And to spend time with people a little outside my world but who are, rewardingly, my twins when it comes to understanding the system wins. I first read one of Anderson's stories in a lit. review and then bought the paperback. Glad I did.
September 14, 2022
I have never smoothly read through a book of short stories like this one. All the stories are set in Maine and even though I have never been to many of the places, I know the people the author describes. I also love that the ending to the stories are treated morel like a pause than a finite ending. Excellent read!
June 26, 2018
19 vignettes, depicting the diverse lives of Mainahs, mostly is sad situations. Well crafted, deeply understanding of human plights and emotions, small slices of life, mostly from the depths of need, lack of hope, the struggle to survive, and a few with a glimmer of hope.
July 13, 2018
very atmospheric short stories, mainly about people living in Western Maine, in the mill towns where there is little money or much hope. While that is the background for many of the stories (a few take place in coastal towns), the characters all have unique issues and struggles.
July 28, 2018
I am not normally fond of books of short stories. But this book is lovely. Each story is like a sketch of a life. The situations feel realistic and the people are distinct and recognizable. Very well done.
July 5, 2018
Excellent writing; depressing stories.
July 12, 2018
River Talk's collection of short stories set in rural Maine is filled with insightful glimpses into lives and characters past and present. Fascinating, yet true to life stories well told.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 50 reviews