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You Won’t Remember This
The twelve stories in Kate Blackwell's debut collection illuminate the lives of men and women who appear as unremarkable as your next-door-neighbor until their lives explode quietly on the page. Her wry, often darkly funny voice describes the repressed underside of a range of middle-class characters living in the South.
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 7, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
January 8, 2021
Really great collection of short stories.
June 9, 2015
I just reread Kate Blackwell’s “you won’t remember this,” a treasure of a short story collection. If you are from the South, it will instantly take you home and if you’re not, you will be at home, eavesdropping on characters in their intimate dramas. You will be on the screened porch on a summer evening gossiping about small and giant issues of family and friends with characters who are often pining for
something beyond the life they are living but uncertain what that is. Kate’s prose is invariably graceful, and her insights poignant and surprising as when the overweight Queen of May dances naked on her big suburban back lawn on a spring night. In “My First Wedding” the narrator observes, “Time had swept us so far beyond those moments,” as she tries to weave the past into a coherent version of herself and her family. “I, however, have learned to appreciate the beauty of still lives,” she says, “and it saddens me to think they will be lost. For who will remember women like my mother, my aunt, and Augusta. Who will remember any of us who live so hidden, so far from nearly everything?” she asks. We will, readers of Kate Blackwell’s collection. We will remember.
something beyond the life they are living but uncertain what that is. Kate’s prose is invariably graceful, and her insights poignant and surprising as when the overweight Queen of May dances naked on her big suburban back lawn on a spring night. In “My First Wedding” the narrator observes, “Time had swept us so far beyond those moments,” as she tries to weave the past into a coherent version of herself and her family. “I, however, have learned to appreciate the beauty of still lives,” she says, “and it saddens me to think they will be lost. For who will remember women like my mother, my aunt, and Augusta. Who will remember any of us who live so hidden, so far from nearly everything?” she asks. We will, readers of Kate Blackwell’s collection. We will remember.
June 21, 2010
A collection of well-crafted, satisfying stories. The dialogue rings true, the characters are authentic--I'm sure I've met some of them before. I rotated these alongside stories by Cheever, Toibin, Ben Fountain, and whatever I was putting my hands on at the time, and these stood their ground. Ms. Blackwell is a real short story writer.
September 9, 2016
I feel like I just learned some deep truths that I am now unable to articulate. This must be what it's like to get high and discover the meaning of life, write it down, and the next day find a piece of paper that just says "Oranges are green." Anyway, these stories were just like, whoa, and yeah, so much.
May 10, 2017
One of those few short story collections you can open and immediately fall into, forgetting everything else. Black's characters are curious, rich and rounded, and the stories are complex but believable, centering around the subtleties of southern life and culture.
October 5, 2008
Beautifully crafted stories, intimate and searching. Contemporary Americans striving for coherent, sustaining narratives within a fickle mainstream world.
September 7, 2025
Most lovely read in the past month. Beautiful stories.
May 18, 2017
I loved this lovely book of short stories. It's almost a complete mystery to me - I'm sure I bought the eBook ages ago because I can't remember where I read the description. I can't remember purchasing it. I was walking on my lunch break at work one day and saw it just sitting there in my queue. I started reading it, believing the first story was just another sweet, endearing love story (as it started off talking about family memories of a past a wedding). I thought I'd put it down as soon as my break ended and never pick it up again. But then the story progressed and it wasn't just another story with a happily ever after. It was the aftermath of a major event that gradually changed a life. And every story was similar. I kept reading because each story felt like an honest portrayal of a life. Was it all good? No. Was it all bad? No. Life doesn't work out the way we planned it to. Life doesn't care how we wanted things to be. But it goes on all the same. This book was raw, honest, insightful, and perhaps most of all, engaging and well-written.
September 23, 2019
I spent a long time thinking about what to write about this book. Let me start by describing it. This book is full of very short stories. Stories with no ending. As if they are a collection of chapters from different stories. Each story was a snippet of the intricacies of relationships, marriages (or break down of marriages) for the most part. I wasn't sure if I liked it. They seemed to have no end. It felt incomplete. But then one evening I found myself lying in bed, having just finished one of these snippets, wondering what would happen next with these characters that I found myself relating to and interacting with so quickly. Before I knew it I was creating their ending, be it happy and idealistic or completely magical and unrealistic. I think I may just go back and reread to make up some endings for the first few.
March 10, 2020
Intriguing Stories
I am not usually a reader of short stories, but this collection was intriguing. Kate Blackwell is quite a wordsmith, and her understanding of various types of relationships is apparent. If, however, you like stories with no questions left unanswered, you will find many of these frustrating!
I am not usually a reader of short stories, but this collection was intriguing. Kate Blackwell is quite a wordsmith, and her understanding of various types of relationships is apparent. If, however, you like stories with no questions left unanswered, you will find many of these frustrating!
July 28, 2017
I found all of the stories to be interesting with one exception - Pepper Hunt - I had to stop reading this one as it was too upsetting to me. I enjoyed the story lines and the characters in most of the stories. Good short read.
June 28, 2017
Enjoyed the short stories
Very good writer. Will be looking forward what she will come up with in the future. A lot of thought provoking stories for sure
Very good writer. Will be looking forward what she will come up with in the future. A lot of thought provoking stories for sure
April 6, 2021
12 good short stories. Like most short stories, there’s a sense of the incomplete, but these well well- written little slices of life.
July 14, 2022
pointless
A series of pointless stories with little theme and no meaning.
I found them boring and pointless.
Just not my type of stories.
A series of pointless stories with little theme and no meaning.
I found them boring and pointless.
Just not my type of stories.
August 7, 2015
I like collections of short stories that I can carry around and check into during the unplanned downtimes that occur. The more varied the themes, the better. I don’t feel I have to go back to re-establish the threads of several connected themes. “You Won’t Remember This” satisfies this function. When there was a story I just did not get, I just jumped to the next one. Maybe I will go back and try the few I did not get at a later time. Below are my instant first impressions and what I believe to be the best lines from several of the stories.
My First Wedding--- Kate is asked by Augusta if she is doing any writing. Kate later deplores the idea that her daughters might not ever know of lives as banal as Augusta’s. This problem was solved.
The Secret Lives of Peonies--- Who wrote the letter? You get to decide.
What We Do for Love--- Who is Jack in love with? Linda should be careful of Tanner’s Tarot readings.
The Obi Tree---an uplifting story for cancer survivors, a depressing story about the ultimate trip made by those who don’t survive.
Pepper Hunt--- I don’t think I would tell my child this story due to graphic animal murders.
Duckies OK--- A depressing story of a single parent and an unlucky child.
You won’t Remember This— Best line: “It was all so irresistible, yet it had nothing to do with her.”
George, Nadia, Blaise--- When you hate the ones you love.
Heartbeatland--- Best line: “She wasn’t familiar with the shelf life of sympathy.”
Queen of the May---It’s all about the gazebo.
The Minaret--- Best lines: “Yet he’d never prevented her from bringing the children home, Keith and Lisa and all the others over the years, knowing there would be a price to pay. Oh, this wasn’t the first time, though it was the worst— the first theft. Before, there was only ingratitude;”
My First Wedding--- Kate is asked by Augusta if she is doing any writing. Kate later deplores the idea that her daughters might not ever know of lives as banal as Augusta’s. This problem was solved.
The Secret Lives of Peonies--- Who wrote the letter? You get to decide.
What We Do for Love--- Who is Jack in love with? Linda should be careful of Tanner’s Tarot readings.
The Obi Tree---an uplifting story for cancer survivors, a depressing story about the ultimate trip made by those who don’t survive.
Pepper Hunt--- I don’t think I would tell my child this story due to graphic animal murders.
Duckies OK--- A depressing story of a single parent and an unlucky child.
You won’t Remember This— Best line: “It was all so irresistible, yet it had nothing to do with her.”
George, Nadia, Blaise--- When you hate the ones you love.
Heartbeatland--- Best line: “She wasn’t familiar with the shelf life of sympathy.”
Queen of the May---It’s all about the gazebo.
The Minaret--- Best lines: “Yet he’d never prevented her from bringing the children home, Keith and Lisa and all the others over the years, knowing there would be a price to pay. Oh, this wasn’t the first time, though it was the worst— the first theft. Before, there was only ingratitude;”
June 16, 2015
About the Book:
The twelve stories are about characters who are outwardly unremarkable, but whose fraught inner lives are exposed, nerve by nerve, by the situations they must deal with, along with the strange—but entirely believable—actions they must choose. A young husband deals with his charged, erotic feelings toward his dying wife. A bride composes a list of books to get her through her marriage,” saving Proust for her forties. A married couple is reunited with the man who almost tore apart their marriage years ago. A woman leaves her son in the bathtub while she runs errands. Each character is on the edge of a precipice that is both familiar and dangerous. Some spanning decades, others a few hours, the stories play out their tensions and conflicts with surprising consequences.
My Review:
Kate Blackwell has penned 12 stories revolving around some very interesting well defined characters. Each one has their own set of problems and unique circumstances and each one finds a way to solve them on there own. My favorite story was,"My First Wedding". It discusses the ever formidable Aunt Augusta that seems to always rub her family the wrong way. The descriptions of the time period that the story is set in reminded me of my childhood in the early 1980's.
Each one of the stories are uniquely different and can hold your attention separately as a stand alone. The author seems to be able to ebb and flow with each story fairly well. I should note that some of the stories uses bad language. But overall some very interesting works of fiction.
**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from Pump Up My Book.
The twelve stories are about characters who are outwardly unremarkable, but whose fraught inner lives are exposed, nerve by nerve, by the situations they must deal with, along with the strange—but entirely believable—actions they must choose. A young husband deals with his charged, erotic feelings toward his dying wife. A bride composes a list of books to get her through her marriage,” saving Proust for her forties. A married couple is reunited with the man who almost tore apart their marriage years ago. A woman leaves her son in the bathtub while she runs errands. Each character is on the edge of a precipice that is both familiar and dangerous. Some spanning decades, others a few hours, the stories play out their tensions and conflicts with surprising consequences.
My Review:
Kate Blackwell has penned 12 stories revolving around some very interesting well defined characters. Each one has their own set of problems and unique circumstances and each one finds a way to solve them on there own. My favorite story was,"My First Wedding". It discusses the ever formidable Aunt Augusta that seems to always rub her family the wrong way. The descriptions of the time period that the story is set in reminded me of my childhood in the early 1980's.
Each one of the stories are uniquely different and can hold your attention separately as a stand alone. The author seems to be able to ebb and flow with each story fairly well. I should note that some of the stories uses bad language. But overall some very interesting works of fiction.
**Disclosure** This book was sent to me free of charge for my honest review from Pump Up My Book.
June 15, 2015
This is a very intelligent literary collection.
A diverse collection of subjects and situations, many taking place in North Carolina.
She has made me want to visit the area.
Beautiful word pictures that give the reader much to think about, even when I did not particularly care
for one of the stories, I still had to admire the author's descriptive talent.
My first impression was that these short stories reminded me of the stories published in my mother's magazines,
(Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Good Housekeeping) that I read when I was much younger,
stories with substance and deeper meanings.
These are stories to let yourself be drawn into, experience the flavor and atmosphere.
Full of secrets, many about relationships, and how they may not be the same to both people involved in them.
From fresh to new love to well worn relationsips, and relationships being reconfigured.
I did receive a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
A diverse collection of subjects and situations, many taking place in North Carolina.
She has made me want to visit the area.
Beautiful word pictures that give the reader much to think about, even when I did not particularly care
for one of the stories, I still had to admire the author's descriptive talent.
My first impression was that these short stories reminded me of the stories published in my mother's magazines,
(Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, Good Housekeeping) that I read when I was much younger,
stories with substance and deeper meanings.
These are stories to let yourself be drawn into, experience the flavor and atmosphere.
Full of secrets, many about relationships, and how they may not be the same to both people involved in them.
From fresh to new love to well worn relationsips, and relationships being reconfigured.
I did receive a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
July 22, 2015
This book was certainly a lot more literary than I usually read and I think that hurt my enjoyment of the stories. Some of them I did enjoy and even became invested in the characters of some of the longer ones. But I did love any of them and I didn't really understand the point of many of them. Most profiled periods of people's lives without really making any impact of me.
I guess the major theme for me was just the every day struggles of life. But many of these struggles turned out to be fairly depressing. Also, some of the stories were downright strange. Specifically the one about "pepper hunting". Totally missed any point or conclusion in that one and was very graphic and upsetting for me.
Overall, this collection of stories wasn't my favourite. I did enjoy the writing style, but the content threw me off. I think readers who enjoy books focusing on the quiet struggles of daily life would enjoy this one, but it simply wasn't my cup of tea.
I guess the major theme for me was just the every day struggles of life. But many of these struggles turned out to be fairly depressing. Also, some of the stories were downright strange. Specifically the one about "pepper hunting". Totally missed any point or conclusion in that one and was very graphic and upsetting for me.
Overall, this collection of stories wasn't my favourite. I did enjoy the writing style, but the content threw me off. I think readers who enjoy books focusing on the quiet struggles of daily life would enjoy this one, but it simply wasn't my cup of tea.
February 4, 2016
There isn't anything worth remembering in this book. Yes, it is stories about people but they all end abruptly with no real conclusion. If I wanted that I would read blogs. I rarely only give 1 star but this book truly disappointed me. It took me a long time to read. I kept trying one more story hoping it would get better but it didn't. I downloaded this based on many good reviews. It wasn't for me.
February 4, 2016
There isn't anything worth remembering in this book. Yes, it is stories about people but they all end abruptly with no real conclusion. If I wanted that I would read blogs. I rarely only give 1 star but this book truly disappointed me. It took me a long time to read. I kept trying one more story hoping it would get better but it didn't. I downloaded this based on many good reviews. It wasn't for me.
July 26, 2015
A glimpse of people’s lives. These stories are just ordinary life. They celebrate the still life. Where nothing gets resolved and nothing extraordinary ever happens. There are no real twists or surprises. And, yet, the stories are mesmerising. Read more at kryppticbooks.wordpress.com.
August 6, 2015
What an unexpected pleasure!
I enjoyed this book of short stories very much. Rather than stories with a beginning, middle and end, what we get are twelve thin slices of life. In each story, the author puts us inside the mind of=sharply drawn character. get a sharp view from inside someone example, in "The Obi Tree"
The stories don't have a beginning, middle, and end.
I enjoyed this book of short stories very much. Rather than stories with a beginning, middle and end, what we get are twelve thin slices of life. In each story, the author puts us inside the mind of=sharply drawn character. get a sharp view from inside someone example, in "The Obi Tree"
The stories don't have a beginning, middle, and end.
December 29, 2015
I downloaded this book as a freebie on my Kindle and, based on past experience, wasn't expecting much. The first story didn't catch my interest, but after that, I was hooked. Each story is a little window into the lives and relationships of its characters. Some stories are sad and some uplifting, making this a great collection.
July 5, 2015
Excellent collection of contemporary short stories. Very well written, descriptive and full of interesting characters and their thoughts. Sometimes I like short stories as a break from novels but this collection stands very well in its own.
July 18, 2015
I love short stories and this book didn't disappoint...Blackwell made the stories come alive for me. I especially liked the title story and the last story, about tourist in Crete...flawed but real characters.
October 13, 2015
I am not a short story lover. Having said that these were well written and at least led somewhere. I enjoyed some more than others of course and some were truly unmemorable as the title suggests. Overall though the book was an easy and appealing read
August 26, 2015
I usually don't like short story collections, but these are all by the same author and semi-connected thematically albeit not through characters. We start mid-thought and finish semi-resolved. Snapshots of southern life. A good read.
November 6, 2015
I read this book of short stories, not being familiar with the book or the author. What a great surprise! This book was great! Each little short story left me hanging on the edge of my seat, not wanting the story to end. I will search to see if Kate Blackwell has other books!
May 5, 2016
The stories are beautifully written and the characters are very deep and complex. The only drawback I found is that the stories had no real conclusion. It was as if you walked into a movie 30 minutes after it started and left after 20 minutes.
June 18, 2016
Slightly old-fashioned stories but well done. I particularly liked My First Wedding - a blend of hilarity and sadness that struck home. The story was told from the POV of a child, a hard thing to do well.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews