Five Short Stories by Women

by L.A. Theater Works (Editor), Amy Hempel, Rebecca Lee

2 hrs and 54 mins

L.A. Theatre Works presents Five Short Stories by Women, a quintet of tales from some of America's most distinguished female authors.
Joyce Carol Oates' Life after High School takes us to a time in the late 1950s, to South Lebanon High School, and shows us the lives of three people at a time of self-discovery. Read by Sarah Drew.
In The Banks of the Vistula by Rebecca Lee, an ambitious student wants desperately to make her mark in a linguistics class. Read by Emily Bergl. Published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, © 2013.
Never Marry a Mexican by Sandra Cisneros is the story of a woman named Clemencia who remembers her family, her parents' culture, and her affair with a married man. Read by Rita Moreno.
What do you say to someone on their deathbed? In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried by Amy Hempel addresses this question head-on, as a young woman describes her visit to a dying friend. Read by Lynn Collins.
Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer is anything but a fairy tale. It's more of a dystopian fantasy - with overtones of the racial inequality in Gordimer's native South Africa. Read by Alex Kingston.

Genres: Short Stories, Audiobook, Fiction

2 pages, Audible Audio

Published June 15, 2016

Reviews

[Christy Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fairly short, but high quality selection of short stories, all by experienced authors of the genre. I enjoyed the thought provoking themes and questions (of safety vs. isolation, of honesty and morality, of acceptance and evolution of ourselves and one another to name but a few) each explored and the variety of narrators and styles. This was a free audible book that if still available, I highly recommend.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book of 5 short stories was free from Audible.

What a depressing group of stories. All of the narrators were excellent. A couple of the stories were very strange.

Life After High School by Joyce Carol Oates, narrated by Sarah Drew. Interesting sort of twist at the end.
The Banks of the Vistula by Rebecca Lee, narrated by Emily Bergl. This story didn't make a lot of sense to me.
Never Marry a Mexican by Sandra Cisneros, narrated by Rita Moreno. I wasn't crazy about the story, but Rita Moreno did an over-the-top amazing narration.
What to Say to Someone on Their Deathbed by Amy Hempel, narrated by Lynn Collins. Good story, but also depressing.
Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer, narrated by Alex Kingston. I thought this was the best of the 5 stories.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection of short stories. This is an excellent way to sample other types of writing styles and subject matters.

[Annm · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first two stories were each worth a five. One of the other ones was too, but was really disturbing.

[Leah Angstman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an uneven collection of five lengthy short stories by famous women writers. I thought it would be a good sampler of writing by women I should be familiar with, so I gave it a shot. Joyce Carol Oates' story was meh, about self-discovery and homosexuality during and after high school, and it was fairly predictable. Rebecca Lee's story was interesting, about a young woman who plagiarizes a paper with a terrible racist message without really reading what the words meant, which upends her linguistics class. That story ultimately left me uncertain of what I was supposed to get from it, however, which made it a long slog for little message. Sandra Cisneros' story of Mexican women, heritage, marriages, and affairs was a snoozefest. Amy Hempel's "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried" is the standout story, describing what to say to someone on her deathbed. Hempel's mix of poetry and prose gives the tale a unique voice, even if I can't say that I really loved it. And Nadine Gordimer's fairytale of her native South Africa was also interesting, but extremely predictable, so it lost all tension. Overall, not the best collection of short stories, but it gave me a taste of the writing by these lady monsters of the lit world and was a quick read.

[Roxana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this one as a freebie a long time ago - and its time came earlier this year, as late spring blended into early summer. It was what my brain needed at the time - something short and full and final, with my focus in one place. I got to read one story at a time and was able to place myself in a very specific setting for a limited time. The stories were so different from one another, the cultures they brought forward so alien. One out of five felt awkward, even if compared to the rest it may have had the lightest of themes. I loved all of the other wholly, with all of their joy and terror and will to live.

[Saravanan Mani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy Hempel's In the Cemetery where Al Jolson is Buried is a masterpiece in minimalist fiction. Joyce Carol Oates' Life After Highschool moves the reader in many unexpected ways, despite its familiar narrative structure. Worth listening to, especially when audible is giving this away for free!

[Monica Aguilar Alvarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitivamente me quedo con la historia de Sandra Cisneros "Never Marry a Mexican" y la metáfora de Nadine Gordimer "Once upon a time"

[Zada Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great variety of short stories!

[Sarah Castro · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to be depressed and/or confused, this is for you. The narrators were fabulous, which is why it gets 3 stars from me.

[Emily Simula · Rating 2 out of 5]

The narrators for the audiobook made these stories very hard for me to follow/enjoy

[Miranda]

Best story is the last

[Jago · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, The Banks of the Vistula by Rebecca Lee was my favourite story in this collection.