Moses Supposes

by Ellen Currie

The accidental humor and the sometimes intentional malignance of American home life receive insightful treatment in a collection of superb short stories, throwing a revealing light on the hidden mysteries of life. By the author of Available Light.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories

224 pages, Hardcover

First published May 31, 1994

Reviews

[Bonnie G. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointing. The reviews are great and it is a National Book Award Finalist so I had high hopes. The stories are well written, but the actions of the characters are completely unimaginable. Melodrama turned up a notch is parody, and this really isn't good parody. People don't talk like this or act like this. So many better short stories out there, this can easily go on the "pass" pile.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 1955, when Ellen Currie was in her early 20s, she had a brief correspondence with J.D. Salinger in which she sent two of her stories to him. Salinger replied, chastising an expatriate writer in Paris who he felt had unfairly characterized her style and then going on to say, “I’ll tell you what I think, though. Both stories reek of talent. I promise that I wouldn’t say that to you if I didn’t mean it.” High praise from the elusive master.

Many years later, after total immersion in the Madison Avenue rat race and commuting four hours a day to care for her ailing mother, Ellen’s long overdue collection of short stories “Moses Supposes” was published. It is a rich, bittersweet offering of delicious, multi-layered pastries filled with memorable characters and skillful tale telling worthy of her Irish heritage.

As the New York Times said when the collection was released in 1994, “She has an off-center perspective on the mainstream and a shrewd attentiveness to its foibles; she also has a great gift of gab and a willingness to laugh at both horror and sorrow.”

These are the kinds of stories you enjoy savoring, most often more than once.

[George Newham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Exit Interview and Solution to Canned Peas were the best.

This book made me realize how hard it is to read short story works. The weiting was very technically good but there was so many times I couldnt have cared less about the characters I was reading about. All the dialogue gave way to interesting circumstances for the characters but not in a way that made it fun to actually read. She did have great figurative language and that saved her 1 star fate.

[Thomas McDade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best of the lot:
Tib's Eve

[Ronn]

It is my practice to give a book at least 100 pages to engage me at some level, ANY level, before giving up. I gave it 100 pages. This was enough to cover the first five short stories in the collection. Any short story collection, whether they be all from the same author or an anthology of different writers, tends to be a mixed bag. By the third story, I'm thinking that maybe the good ones are bunched up in the back. By the end of the fifth, I was sorry I'd wasted my time reading the first 100 pages.

These are the most unpleasant characters I have ever voluntarily read about. There is no one at all to like, less identify with [if you do identify with anyone in here, I dont know if I should feel sorry for you or profoundly dislike you without even knowing you!]. There are all in unpleasant circumstances, primarily of their own creation.

I suppose some people LIKE reading really depressing stuff. I am not one of them. No stars.

[Anne Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has to be one of the worst books I've ever read. There was no plot or reason for any of these stories! I tried to have an open mind and be optimistic that the next story might be better and I would 'get' it. Just the opposite - the stories got progressively worse and more and more confusing. If I could give negative stars as a review I would.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of short stories.

[Brenda · Rating 1 out of 5]

too bleak