What do you think?
Rate this book
Stranger Companies
"The fictions of Linda Angel are less stories, more night sweats turned fables--transgressive glimpses at the incendiary lurking in the banal. The pieces in this collection read something like Richard Matheson and Duncan McLean freewheelingly telling each other the same story, threatening to come to blows over whose curtain line will be the definitive. There is a new beauty here, unexpected--this book is the F-word making the C-word blush from a well worded Valentine." --Pablo D'Stair, author of "'...they say the owl was a baker's daughter': four existential noirs," and "Trevor English"
148 pages, Paperback
Published September 26, 2016
6 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 6, 2016
Stranger Companies by Linda Angel
Linda Angel brings us 20 short tales that are both lyrical and fascinating, tumbling prose that doesn’t come across as flowery, but rattles many cages, ranging from debates on suicide hotlines to the maternal horror of motherhood, time travel and many a social awkwardness. Each tale is equally disturbing as Angel continues to ply the reader with wonderful verse leading to (often) horrible Dahlian twists that hit you like a hoof to the face. Angel disturbed me far too easy, as she cuts close to the knuckle, paring back uncomfortable layers to reveal human truths we wouldn’t like to admit, because the truth is cold and hard and something we don’t digest well. But she doesn’t care what you think. This is her truth, the stories come from the heart, and you can tell.
When you pick this up, don’t expect blood and guts and brains on the wall. It’s not that kind of horror. It’s every day horror that most of will experience at some point in our lives. Death is involved, as is the dissolution of love and relationships, themes that we can all relate to when they get deep and dirty beneath our skin and we try our darndest to scratch them out, to no avail.
If you want something new, something fresh and original that’ll poke you in the feels when you least expect it, I suggest you take in “Stranger Companies”. It feels personal, but aloof, serious but laughing at the foibles and contradictions of humanity; the words hit hard, but in the next sentence you’ll find yourself laughing at a humorous turn of phrase, a black comedy blade dripping with acid that cuts us deep.
Highlights for me included the opener “Venus on the side”, which takes you by the hand, leading you down a familiar stalker tale before knocking you over with a far more disturbing reality. “We Take Things” explores one man’s sense of loss when he loses his mobile, showing us the truth about how obsessed and dependent we all are on our slave bracelets. It’s uncomfortable but true, revealing what we’re missing when we’ve got our head stuck in a screen. “Deathsmell”, the final tale takes us close to death as a suicidee take the debate of whether or not to end it all to the suicide hotline, and ends up finding the heart he needs in his life.
Some might feel that these tales/stories/experiences might leave them feeling awkward, others will lap them up. Happiness is a truth, but so is sadness these are things that every day you and me’s have to deal with. Love ends. Love starts, love leaves us and we leave it. These are stories for after the rain has stopped pouring and the coffee has gone cold and our lovers have left for the very last time. They’ll make you think, which is what stories should do, they shouldn’t just entertain, a good story changes you. These stories will take a knife and empty you in parts, leaving you wanting to be filled with a hope you’ll need to find yourself.
Original, but horribly familiar, these stories will amuse and haunt, disturb and raise both an eyebrow and a smile.
5/5
Linda Angel brings us 20 short tales that are both lyrical and fascinating, tumbling prose that doesn’t come across as flowery, but rattles many cages, ranging from debates on suicide hotlines to the maternal horror of motherhood, time travel and many a social awkwardness. Each tale is equally disturbing as Angel continues to ply the reader with wonderful verse leading to (often) horrible Dahlian twists that hit you like a hoof to the face. Angel disturbed me far too easy, as she cuts close to the knuckle, paring back uncomfortable layers to reveal human truths we wouldn’t like to admit, because the truth is cold and hard and something we don’t digest well. But she doesn’t care what you think. This is her truth, the stories come from the heart, and you can tell.
When you pick this up, don’t expect blood and guts and brains on the wall. It’s not that kind of horror. It’s every day horror that most of will experience at some point in our lives. Death is involved, as is the dissolution of love and relationships, themes that we can all relate to when they get deep and dirty beneath our skin and we try our darndest to scratch them out, to no avail.
If you want something new, something fresh and original that’ll poke you in the feels when you least expect it, I suggest you take in “Stranger Companies”. It feels personal, but aloof, serious but laughing at the foibles and contradictions of humanity; the words hit hard, but in the next sentence you’ll find yourself laughing at a humorous turn of phrase, a black comedy blade dripping with acid that cuts us deep.
Highlights for me included the opener “Venus on the side”, which takes you by the hand, leading you down a familiar stalker tale before knocking you over with a far more disturbing reality. “We Take Things” explores one man’s sense of loss when he loses his mobile, showing us the truth about how obsessed and dependent we all are on our slave bracelets. It’s uncomfortable but true, revealing what we’re missing when we’ve got our head stuck in a screen. “Deathsmell”, the final tale takes us close to death as a suicidee take the debate of whether or not to end it all to the suicide hotline, and ends up finding the heart he needs in his life.
Some might feel that these tales/stories/experiences might leave them feeling awkward, others will lap them up. Happiness is a truth, but so is sadness these are things that every day you and me’s have to deal with. Love ends. Love starts, love leaves us and we leave it. These are stories for after the rain has stopped pouring and the coffee has gone cold and our lovers have left for the very last time. They’ll make you think, which is what stories should do, they shouldn’t just entertain, a good story changes you. These stories will take a knife and empty you in parts, leaving you wanting to be filled with a hope you’ll need to find yourself.
Original, but horribly familiar, these stories will amuse and haunt, disturb and raise both an eyebrow and a smile.
5/5
November 21, 2016
I'm always happy and admittedly a little bit envious when I read a writer who offers a new voice, and Linda Angel does exactly that. Stranger Companies, at 148 pages, is short, but stuffed full of sweet, acidic, beautiful, bawdy, twisty, shocking - and best of all - thought provoking prose. Click on the "Look Inside" link, read the first story (it's all there), and see if you don't agree with me. I'm betting you'll want more.
March 18, 2017
145 pages of words that drip with honey, yet are laced with powdered glass and a tasteless corrosive that will shred your insides, Stranger Companies is a small volume of 20 stories that, according to Linda, were an exercise in freewriting. All I can say is that if she is capable of producing work of a standard to which most writers can only aspire when simply freewriting, what is the woman capable of when she sits down and actually plans what she writes?
I experienced a gamut of emotions from purest joy to absolute despair as I slowly digested each story, and was left open-mouthed after the final tale and had finished the book. I still feel drained, yet strangely euphoric.
Linda's prose is simply beautiful; she has a unique way with words, and her words will have their way with you, the reader! You'll love how she combines words to create new words, words that you will want to use yourself, yet know that you never will, because Linspeak is unique to this particular writer, and her "voice" is one you will never forget!
Highly reccomended reading.
I experienced a gamut of emotions from purest joy to absolute despair as I slowly digested each story, and was left open-mouthed after the final tale and had finished the book. I still feel drained, yet strangely euphoric.
Linda's prose is simply beautiful; she has a unique way with words, and her words will have their way with you, the reader! You'll love how she combines words to create new words, words that you will want to use yourself, yet know that you never will, because Linspeak is unique to this particular writer, and her "voice" is one you will never forget!
Highly reccomended reading.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews