Mortals

by Tobias Wolff, Anthony Heald (Narrator)

Mr. Givens' obituary is nothing remarkable, hardly something to remember at all. He led a quiet life, served in the Army, was married to the same woman for 42 years, and worked at the same job practically his whole life. He wasn't a baseball player or a movie star, he was the furthest thing from a celebrity. In fact, the only thing noteworthy about his obituary is what happens after it runs in the newspaper, when he shows up in the office of the Metro editor wondering who decided to pronounce him dead.

Genres: Short Stories

1 pages, Audible Audio

Published December 19, 2013

About the author

Tobias Jonathan Ansell Wolff is a writer of fiction and nonfiction.

He is best known for his short stories and his memoirs, although he has written two novels.

Wolff is the Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, where he has taught classes in English and creative writing since 1997. He also served as the director of the Creative Writing Program at Stanford from 2000 to 2002.

Reviews

[freya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't really hold my attention for very long. Not because what they were doing was mundane, it was just a preference thing. I like stories where nothing really happens, but this one was just slightly less interesting version of that (for me).

I think it was that most of it was dialogue. When I write, I will often write for a while before i notice that i haven't written any dialogue yet. I write like that because that's what I like to read. "Mortals" is mostly dialogue and that's cool, but I prefer stories where nothing happens and weird guys just talk to themselves in their head. I like it, but it didn't scratch that itch.

Good writing just not for me.

*there is no listing for the version i read; i didn't use the audiobook

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever short story about a dude who had his death reported to the newspaper but wasn’t actually dead and the obit writer who solves the puzzle. Good stuff.

[tartyawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing and dialogue, but with a sparse plot and not much of a message.