Last Day on Earth

by Eric Puchner

From the award-winning author of Music Through the Floor and Model Home, a riveting and profoundly moving story collection by a writer “uncannily in tune with the heartbreak and absurdity of domestic life” (Los Angeles Times).

A boy on the edge of adolescence fears his mother might be a robot; a psychotically depressed woman is entrusted with taking her niece and nephew trick-or-treating; a reluctant dad brings his baby to a coke-fueled party; a teenage boy tries to prevent his mother from putting his estranged father’s dogs to sleep. Ranging from a youth arts camp to an aging punk band’s reunion tour, from a dystopian future where parents no longer exist to a ferociously independent bookstore, Last Day on Earth revolves around the endlessly complex, frequently surreal system that is family.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Contemporary

240 pages, Hardcover

First published February 21, 2017

About the author

Eric Puchner is the author of the novel Model Home (Scribner, 2010), which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and won a California Book Award and a Barnes & Noble Discover Award (2nd place). It was also longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His debut short story collection, Music Through the Floor (Scribner, 2005), was a finalist for the NY Public Library's Young Lions Award.

His fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in GQ, Tin House, Zoetrope: All Story, Chicago Tribune, The Sun, Glimmer Train, Best New American Voices, and many other journals and anthologies. He has work forthcoming in Best American Short Stories 2012 (edited by tom Perrotta) and Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012 (edited by Dave Eggers).

A recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Wallace Stegner Fellowship from Stanford University, and a National Endowment for the Arts grant, he is an assistant professor of literature at Claremont McKenna College. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, novelist Katharine Noel, and their two children.

Reviews

[Joachim Stoop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading and especially rating short story collections often feel like bookkeeping. You add up the + and the- and in the end you get your rating.

So 3X5
3x4
2x3
2X2,5
------
Our profit for this book is 3,8 stars.
Thank you, come again.

[Knitography · Rating 2 out of 5]

Puchner's use of language is lovely, but his characters are one-dimensional and the plots are banal and filled with tropes (and, occasionally, jarring and unnecessary sexual violence).

These stories are told from a very male point of view, which isn't inherently problematic; I just don't think the world needs any more stories about a middle-aged white dude who never wanted kids, and learns to embrace fatherhood (to choose one incredibly 'meh' example).

[Katie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

A solid collection of short stories. While some of the stories veer off into unexpected places they all have heart. In each story, no matter how absurd the situation, there is something very real and relatable. Even if you don't agree with some of the choices the characters made, you still understand their thought process. The author conveying the emotions of the characters in my opinion is the strength of the book.

I was hooked on the first story just based on the first line, "It was the summer of the cicadas.". It brought me back to being 10 years old and being terrified of those suckers. And while it took me awhile to get into Beautiful Monsters, it ended up being my favorite story of the collection.

I received a free copy from Scribner Books and that is my honest review.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never used to like short story collections but it's so nice to be able to slip in a single story now and then. I really liked these short stories. The first two entries stunned me with their power. We each do have our own last day on earth: “And then it’s over. Just like that. Before you even expect it” (171). They are a bit odd and not all of them are gold, but what can you expect when a story starts, “”On the night he discovered his mother might be a robot …” (175). Spoiler alert: the stories aren’t science fiction at all.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me the best short stories are those that feel as complete as a novel but also leave me wanting to learn more about the characters and their worlds. Almost every one of his stories did this. Accessible and challenging at the same time. Loved it!

[Nicole Hughes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved, loved Music Through the Floor and Model Home. Was very surprised how novice this collection read.

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. I wish all of these stories were the weird otherworldly ones. The stories based in traditional settings aren't as strong.

[Kenya Starflight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short story collections can often be a great way to be introduced to an author's work -- you get a feel for their range, and a nice sampling of their ideas. And "Last Day on Earth" has plenty of interesting ideas... but that's all they end up feeling like, is ideas. There's not much done with the concepts of these stories, even the more imaginative ones, and all in all it feels like the entire collection was just "unhappy people doing stupid things."

There are some great ideas in here -- a world where kids don't grow any older and adults are considered dangerous creatures, a teenage boy convinced his mother is a robot, a new kid in the neighborhood who believes in alternate universes, a woman trying to help her sister raise her kids while she herself is struggling with terrible depression, etc. And many of them could have been fleshed out into longer works, or at least made somewhat interesting. But the stories don't really DO anything with their concepts, and each one simply peters out without resolution. I know the short story is a different beast than the novel, but shouldn't a short story have something resembling an arc and/or a proper resolution?

Not helping matters is that every story features the same general main character -- someone unhappy with their lot in life who finds themselves in a strange situation and copes with it by acting stupidly. Was this meant to be a commentary on society? If so, it's not exactly a new one -- the world is full of unhappy people doing stupid things, we don't need reminded of it. Also not helping matters is some of the weird sexual overtones. I'm no prude who thinks sex doesn't belong in fiction, but some of the sexual content, such as a guy trying to grope a woman while holding his baby or a teenager jerking off to his camp bunkmate crying, come off as weird and pointless.

I've gotten a sample of Puchner's writing here, and I have to say that, while he's got some decent ideas, his work comes off as pretentious and pointless in the end. I won't be moving on to his longer works, unfortunately.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tremendously enjoyed Puchner previous novels: Model Home and Music Through The Floor. It was captivating to read the rich characterization,consistency and how the story was told. It has been awhile since I read Puchner novels, but I was thrilled to read more of his work. However, this book aside from the first story was a huge letdown. The writing style was mundane at best,I felt that each page was full of dialogue,but no depth. I kept skimming the majority of passages just to get to the main idea.

I really liked the first story, it was a story of childhood innocence and sexual undertones. Now I know the two terms seems like an oxymoron, but you have to read the story in order to get where I am getting at. Nevertheless, the other stories did not grab me in the beginning, this is a problem especially if it is short stories.

Short stories are always hard to rate but sadly this was below average at best.

[Kate Moore70 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eric Puchner n’est pas à son coup d’essai. Il s’est fait connaître avec « Famille modèle ».
Il revient, avec « Dernière journée sur la terre », à ses premières amours : les nouvelles.

Le livre en comprend neuf. L’auteur s’est concentré sur le thème de la famille ; avec une prédilection pour les familles les plus improbables, par exemple : un adolescent suspecte sa mère d’être un robot, un jeune père séparé de sa compagne emmène son bébé à une fête où l’alcool et la cocaïne coulent à flots……

Les nouvelles d’Eric Puchner sont originales, drôles, l’absurde flirtant avec le surnaturel.
En une dizaine, vingtaine de pages, celui-ci arrive à écrire des petits bijoux d’histoires.

Surtout, ne passez pas à côté de ce recueil dont la dernière histoire donne le titre à tout le livre.


Livre lu en partenariat avec : #picaboriverbookclub #albinmichel #Terres.Amerique

[Eli Sebastian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first few stories would’ve brought this book easily to 4-5 stars on their own. The raw emotions Puchner explored made me uneasy, and I’m glad he didn’t hold back. The collection unfortunately tapers off after Mothership in my opinion, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t look forward to each story when the time came around. Definitely will revisit Beautiful Monsters multiple times until I’ve exhausted everything about it cause I’m that annoying👍

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 1 out of 5]

Puchner wrote one of my very favorite short stories published years ago in a magazine, so I was looking forward to this. Technically proficient short stories these may be, but utter dross that left me feeling, well, gross. I read half and that was punishment enough.

[Annette Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd say I liked half of the short stories in this book.

[isaacq · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is no other writer I'm aware of who is so skilled at capturing a very specific reader feeling: you know when the protagonist is about to do something incredibly ill-advised and foolish, and you wish you could reach through the page to shake some sense into them, but you still keep reading on with a full-body cringe because you have to see the consequences shake out? That moment is a staple in everything I've read by Eric Puchner. Whether it's information the reader has that the protagonist does not, or the protagonist's willful blindness to something glaringly obvious, these characters invariably end up taking their f_cked up lives and f_cking them up even worse.

That's not to say that these moments are the central point of Puchner's stories, nor all he has to offer by any means. But it's definitely something I'd consider a signature of his, and it's undeniably compelling.

Last Day on Earth is another most enjoyable collection of stories from Eric Puchner, which I am rating 4 stars only in contrast to his two other books, which were absolute 5s for me. A few of the stories here reached the same level, but there was maybe a bit too much sameness across the collection and some of the stories didn't connect in the way I know he is capable of.

[Keith Rosson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars? 4? Loved, loved, loved MODEL HOME, one of my favorite books of the past few years. This collection's solid - at times limber as hell, with more than a few flashes of downright brilliance - but I had high expectations given how emotionally deft and hilarious his last novel was. Still, damn solid collection, and Puchner's so good at mining those less-than-stellar moments of his characters and making them so relatable in their frailties and desires, whether that makes us as readers cringe, weep, or laugh out loud.

[Gila Gila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was happy to pick up The Last Day on Earth, with its’ glorious cover, despite a twinge of regret that this wasn’t a second novel from Eric Puchner, rather than another round of stories. I’m a great fan of his previous two books, both of which have scenes that stayed with me (the sudden horror of fire decimating the already collapsing world of the husband and father at the center of Model Home; the naïve white ELS teacher in the wonderful story Mission, from Music Through the Floor, showing up at the home of one of his students and finding it to be a garage, with a tin bath tub in a corner.) But as I dug into this collection, that twinge evolved into full on disappointment. Half way through I wondered if these were perhaps earlier stories, recycled for publication. There are multiple, repetitive first person stories of befriending troubled boys, young men struggling with familiar sorrows: missing fathers, a dying sibling, a suicide attempt. The instant theme and plot recognition would be diminished if the stories came from a fresh perspective, but there’s the sense of re-treading almost every step of the way. A few images take hold (“the weird mayonnaisey light of LA”), but nothing comes together. The two jarringly placed Sci-Fi pieces - one real sci fi horror that is manages to be equally horrifying and sophomoric, and another about a robot parent – only served to increase my suspicion that these were early efforts.
“Some stories take years and you never get them right,” ends one story. I winced a bit at that, wishing Eric Puchner would have let these stories go and hoping he’s since returned to the voice I still I associate with him, insightful and imaginative.

[Linda Hutchinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last Day on Earth by Eric Puchner is a series of short stories that in summation are stories about people “coming to terms with the unnegotiable adjustment of one’s purpose on earth.” Warning…I found it a bit sad and dreary. But really, it IS about life. Desire, loathing, envy, joy, misery, aspirations, hope, indifference, masks, and openness are just some of the themes. The collection of short stories run through a range of emotions. I liked it but it wasn’t going to be of my favorites this year. One character states that he “…wanted life to be precise and uncompromising, like a great novel. But life wasn’t a great novel. It was a vague, incongruous and poorly plotted. You compromised all the time.” 3 stars. Good novel but not great. I like to think life is a little better than the concepts envisioned in this work. #book #books #read #reader #reading #life #purpose

IG:@bookbimbo

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know that feeling you get when you’ve been spending time with friends who make you feel very seen, but before you know it, it’s time to say goodbye to them—yet, you already miss them? That’s how I felt finishing this book. It’s interesting, because this was written by a man with mostly male protagonists, yet I truly connected with it. I usually don’t like stories that aren’t from a female perspective. I think what I loved most was the brutal honesty of this fiction. The characters were flawed, but not in a way meant to sensationalize the stories. Just in the way that humans are.

I felt like I was getting a secret glimpse into real people’s lives reading this collection of short stories. Rarely am I this emotionally invested in what I’m reading. I was nervous about what would happen next. I laughed out loud. I cried. What more can one hope for from a book?

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was a book of short stories when I checked it out from the library. I like short stories but have to be in the mood to read them. Nevertheless, I plunged into it. Each story was completely different from each other. They are all somewhat "family" themed, which I liked since family stories have that great connection. But my favorite one was about a band that got together years after their original run and they're a hit again. But the quirkiness of their original members just gets emphasized in their later years. Loved it, since I used to be in a band and fantasize about getting that band back together. Overall I really enjoyed it and appreciate a good story when it's over and you're wondering how that story might end....

[Carian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I knew nothing of this author, or this book, before I plucked it from a shelf at the library. The title and colorful cover got my attention.
A few stories left me intrigued and wanting more. Beautiful Monsters has a very interesting premise. Expression could make a good YA novel if expanded to that format. Many of these stories have sexual references that seemed unnecessary and out of place. I found it hard to identify with some of the male protagonists in these stories.

[Shay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Puchner does a great job at extracting emotion from readers in this book. I found myself questioning the behaviors and choices of the characters in them, and I especially liked the theme of not all endings need to have a conflict resolution. Sometimes, moments in life just end, and that is all. I had to read this book for my writing class, and I am glad I was able to read it!

[Paul Manytravels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good collection of stories, some of which are unsettling, others of which are a little "strange," and all of which are worth reading. I was surprised by how much better these were than this in Puchner's first collection and delighted that I had chosen to read this new collection.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the 9 stories, I liked all but 1 which I didn't quite get. But the others were all great and had me on edge, especially the one with the worst baby sitter ever. Perfect for bus reading. Profound stories while not hurting your brain to grasp as other collections have been for me.

[Steve Watson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nine well-written, often riveting stories that capture seasons when it seems all of life is an incomplete coming of age - the ongoing loss of innocence, the challenge to find our identity, the not fully sorted out sexual longings. Sort of gripping, sort of sad.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book is plain fucking boring. all the stories are just boring, and im confused. like these are not people that know heyre dying? and sometimes who even knows who dies. its just not it at all.you just cant get into the stories until their ending. im bored im confused i give it a boot.

[howie · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book is plain fucking boring. all the stories are just boring, and im confused. like these are not people that know heyre dying? and sometimes who even knows who dies. its just not it at all.you just cant get into the stories until their ending. im bored im confused i give it a boot.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Little glimpses into a life....reminded me of Raymond Carver. Fabulous little stories.

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite types of stories, but so very well written, I didn't care.

[Heather Colacurcio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly crafted collection of stories featuring characters on the brink of discovery - about the ones they hold dear, the lives they lead, their past and their futures.

[Al Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best collection I have read in a long time