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The Accomplished Guest: Stories
A magnificent collection from award-winning author Ann Beattie—“profoundly intriguing and unsettling stories that abound in delectably witty and furious inner monologues, barbed dialogue, ludicrous predicaments, many faceted heartaches, and abrupt upswellings of affection, even love...always on point, funny, and poignant” (Booklist, starred review).
Ann Beattie’s “seamless combination of biting wit and mordant humor, precise irony, and consummate cool” is on full display in this astutely observed collection set along the East Coast from Maine to Key West, that explores unconventional friendships, frustrated loves, mortality, and aging. In The Accomplished Guest, people pay visits or receive visitors, travel to see old friends, and experience the joys and tolls of hosting company (and of being hosted). In some stories, as in life, what begins as a benign social event becomes a situation played for high stakes.
“Ann Beattie slips into a short story as flawlessly as Audrey Hepburn wore a Givenchy gown” (O, The Oprah Magazine), and the pieces in The Accomplished Guest—featuring recent O. Henry, Pushcart, and Best American Short Story selections—are marked by an undercurrent of loss and an unexpected element of violence, with Beattie’s signature mordant humor woven throughout. Some guests provide welcome diversions, others are uninvited interruptions, all are indelibly drawn.
Beattie “punctures her characters’ pretensions and jadedness with an economy and effortless dialogue that writers have been trying to emulate for three decades” (The New York Times Book Review). The Accomplished Guest is fresh, funny, and overwhelmingly “brilliant at furnishing the precise level of niggling complexity that is tragicomically real” (San Francisco Chronicle).
Ann Beattie’s “seamless combination of biting wit and mordant humor, precise irony, and consummate cool” is on full display in this astutely observed collection set along the East Coast from Maine to Key West, that explores unconventional friendships, frustrated loves, mortality, and aging. In The Accomplished Guest, people pay visits or receive visitors, travel to see old friends, and experience the joys and tolls of hosting company (and of being hosted). In some stories, as in life, what begins as a benign social event becomes a situation played for high stakes.
“Ann Beattie slips into a short story as flawlessly as Audrey Hepburn wore a Givenchy gown” (O, The Oprah Magazine), and the pieces in The Accomplished Guest—featuring recent O. Henry, Pushcart, and Best American Short Story selections—are marked by an undercurrent of loss and an unexpected element of violence, with Beattie’s signature mordant humor woven throughout. Some guests provide welcome diversions, others are uninvited interruptions, all are indelibly drawn.
Beattie “punctures her characters’ pretensions and jadedness with an economy and effortless dialogue that writers have been trying to emulate for three decades” (The New York Times Book Review). The Accomplished Guest is fresh, funny, and overwhelmingly “brilliant at furnishing the precise level of niggling complexity that is tragicomically real” (San Francisco Chronicle).
288 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2010
136 people are currently reading
1483 people want to read
About the author
Ann Beattie
141 books407 followersAnn Beattie (born September 8, 1947) is an American short story writer and novelist. She has received an award for excellence from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and a PEN/Bernard Malamud Award for excellence in the short story form. Her work has been compared to that of Alice Adams, J.D. Salinger, John Cheever, and John Updike. She holds an undergraduate degree from American University and a masters degree from the University of Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 137 reviews
September 18, 2017
I thought I would like this more than I did. In spite of my disappointment, I'll start with some things I did like about this collection - the writing, the smart realistic dialogue, things to think about - aging (usually juxtaposed by connections with younger people), illness, family relationships . These are some of the recurring themes that in some small way connect these stories : visits, going to events - a birthday celebration, a wedding, a Christmas party, meeting with people from the past . While there was certainly food for thought here, I found myself at the end of most of the stories wanting to know more, feeling like it shouldn't have ended, trying to understand what it was about, never feeling like I knew the characters. I haven't always read short stories, but I have developed a greater appreciation of them this year and have read some lovely collections . This feeling at the end of most of these stories is the reason I didn't connect. Beattie is considered a master of the short story and this collection gets many kudos from Goodreads reviewers as well as the press . I'm giving it three stars because of the writing. If you are a Beattie fan or a true fan of short fiction, I recommend that you check out the other reviews. I'm not going to give up though on trying more short stories. I have several collections on my tbr list and given her reputation, I feel as though I should add some of Beattie's earlier work.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Scribner through NetGalley.
July 3, 2017
'The Accomplished Guest' by Ann Beattie
3.5 stars/ 7 out of 10
I have read earlier collections of Ann Beattie's short stories, so was interested to read this latest collection of thirteen short stories.
In these stories, Beattie casts an unsentimental eye over life and relationships of many kinds, especially looking at those of 'the elderly'. The nuances of human interactions are very astutely observed. How much this appeals to the reader, will depend on whether one feels more comfortable with a rosy view of life, or can accommodate a less sentimental view.
My favourite story is 'The Gypsy Chooses the Whatever Card'.
I'm pleased that I read this collection, and will return to read several of them again.
Thank you to Scribner and to NetGalley for an ARC.
June 17, 2017
There is a good reason Ann Beattie’s short stories are included in best short story collections. Along with Alice Munro, she is one of the absolute best living short story authors. She has the unique and remarkable ability to change my perceptions of actual people and situations I encounter in my life. Because of her astute and revealing observations of her fictional characters, I realize there are many different reasons people I know do and say the things they do. I don’t really have individuals “figured out” or know why they think and behave the way they do. And it’s not an easy task for an author to encourage and enable me to look at people differently! Her stories are filled with wit, understanding, originality, and brilliant dialogue, and provide a singular and unforgettable reading experience.
Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.
Thank you to Scribner and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.
December 21, 2017
For me, reading this book was like witnessing a rebirth. When I wrote a short Goodreads review of her previous collection of stories, The State We're In: Maine Stories, I said that it seemed as if she'd lost her mojo. With this collection, she's obviously found it.
Many very good stories here and none that are bad. Four and a half stars.
Many very good stories here and none that are bad. Four and a half stars.
April 28, 2017
This was a disappointment. From such an accomplished and lauded author too. Random find on Netgalley, looked interesting, a collection of stories tangentially connected through a theme of visiting, visitors, visits. I tried and tried, but with possible exception of the story before last, nothing was interesting. Seems like all the stories were about a certain type of individuals (older, often 70s/80, wealthy or well off financially at least, well educated, liberal, upper class elite), which is great (certainly beats the alternative of young, dumb and penniless) and I like the intelligentsia very much in real life, but whatever happened to artistic licenses, imagination. etc.? There is a staggering lack of variety or diversity of any kind. This seemed to be the extreme case of writing what you know and the author might as well be one of her own characters, but it doesn't make for a very exciting, or even engaging, read. So if you like a bunch of stories where nothing happens about the sort of persons populists would basically love to round up and set on fire this might very well be your thing. The writing is quite nice, in a slow, well phrased sort of way and occasionally there's a humorous dash of two, but mainly this is the sort of quiet fiction that highlights its beauty, more like the sort that induces sleep. This literary visit has accomplished nothing and even at the relatively low page count has managed to still overstay its welcome, like so many guests tend to do. Thanks Netgalley.
October 24, 2018
I used to read lots of short stories, but not for many years now - and I think that I’ve lost the knack of it. It takes a certain kind of focus and attention to detail; quick immersion is essential. Beattie doesn’t spare the reader who might be used to a more leisurely reading rhythm. Every single one of these stories flashed by at a breakneck pace. I constantly felt like I was losing the thread and struggling to find the plot. There were always too many characters introduced too casually. Again: perhaps this was my failing more than Beattie’s.
Beattie is a contemporary writer and these stories (published, and presumably written, in the last few years) feel very state-of-the-nation USA. They are mostly set in Maine or Key West, the two places that Beattie lives (as we are told in the About the Author section). Nearly all of the stories deal with the ageing process, which is not surprising come from a 71 year old author.
There is a ‘carnival of the grotesques’ quality to this collection. Even the prosperous characters came across as angry and anxious, and overall there was such a feeling of a civilisation in its last stage of decadent decline. I hesitated about writing that phrase, but cannot think of another that really captures the overall tone of the stories. Beattie is known for her humour, and I guess there is an edge of absurdist humour in many of these stories, but I mostly found them depressing and even upsetting to read. Sadness and dislocation seem to be the top notes. “The Debt” - about a few middle-aged frat brothers who go down to Florida to ‘collect’ a debt from one of their bankrupt brethren - had a particularly ugly edge to it. This is Trump’s America for sure, with shades of Brett Kavanaugh.
Beattie has a solid reputation for being one of the best American short story writers, so perhaps the fault in appreciating this collection is mine. Perhaps she wanted me to feel exactly the way I did feel: sour, depressed and wearied. At any rate, it’s a very weak 3 stars. Probably more of a 2.5.
Beattie is a contemporary writer and these stories (published, and presumably written, in the last few years) feel very state-of-the-nation USA. They are mostly set in Maine or Key West, the two places that Beattie lives (as we are told in the About the Author section). Nearly all of the stories deal with the ageing process, which is not surprising come from a 71 year old author.
There is a ‘carnival of the grotesques’ quality to this collection. Even the prosperous characters came across as angry and anxious, and overall there was such a feeling of a civilisation in its last stage of decadent decline. I hesitated about writing that phrase, but cannot think of another that really captures the overall tone of the stories. Beattie is known for her humour, and I guess there is an edge of absurdist humour in many of these stories, but I mostly found them depressing and even upsetting to read. Sadness and dislocation seem to be the top notes. “The Debt” - about a few middle-aged frat brothers who go down to Florida to ‘collect’ a debt from one of their bankrupt brethren - had a particularly ugly edge to it. This is Trump’s America for sure, with shades of Brett Kavanaugh.
Beattie has a solid reputation for being one of the best American short story writers, so perhaps the fault in appreciating this collection is mine. Perhaps she wanted me to feel exactly the way I did feel: sour, depressed and wearied. At any rate, it’s a very weak 3 stars. Probably more of a 2.5.
June 10, 2017
Ann Beattie is a seasoned writer with a list of accolades as long as your arm, and this is why I requested a DRC of her soon-to-be-published short story collection, whose theme is visitors and travel. I was not disappointed. Thank you Net Galley and Scribner for letting me read it free and early in exchange for this honest review. This book will be available to the public Tuesday, June 13.
The first selection is droll; our protagonist is going to see an older man, and so we wonder…is this a boyfriend? Is it an ex? And as we move down the checklist, I love what she does with it. The next couple of selections are good but not as striking, but then the wind catches in Beattie’s sails and she is unstoppable. Other favorites here are “Other People’s Birthdays”, “The Debt”, and “The Cloud”. I found myself highlighting most of the text, which is wasted effort, since I can’t quote most of the book to you, but it’s something that happens to me when I read top-drawer fiction. The story I loved best is “The Caterer”, which made me laugh out loud and woke Mr. Computer, who was slumbering next to me and had to get up the next day for work.
Short stories are wonderful bedtime material, because there isn’t the wrenching sensation in tearing oneself loose from the book. When the story is over, it’s time to bookmark one’s place and turn out the light. I’ve read over a hundred short story collections, and this one is among the best.
Highly recommended to those that love excellent prose, and in particular to Boomers.
The first selection is droll; our protagonist is going to see an older man, and so we wonder…is this a boyfriend? Is it an ex? And as we move down the checklist, I love what she does with it. The next couple of selections are good but not as striking, but then the wind catches in Beattie’s sails and she is unstoppable. Other favorites here are “Other People’s Birthdays”, “The Debt”, and “The Cloud”. I found myself highlighting most of the text, which is wasted effort, since I can’t quote most of the book to you, but it’s something that happens to me when I read top-drawer fiction. The story I loved best is “The Caterer”, which made me laugh out loud and woke Mr. Computer, who was slumbering next to me and had to get up the next day for work.
Short stories are wonderful bedtime material, because there isn’t the wrenching sensation in tearing oneself loose from the book. When the story is over, it’s time to bookmark one’s place and turn out the light. I’ve read over a hundred short story collections, and this one is among the best.
Highly recommended to those that love excellent prose, and in particular to Boomers.
July 18, 2017
It's rude, I think, to not give a bunch of stars to Ann Beattie. Her past as a star fiction writer who could do no wrong with stories that zinged at just the right moment, were off-kilter and compassionate, and made you shake your head in wonder when you came to end. Happy to say that some of these stories had some of that old magic; sad to say that not enough of them did.
January 21, 2018
These are astounding stories. I’ve been reading Beattie for as long as she has been publishing and that’s a long time for both of us. My favorites in this accomplished collection include The Astonished Woodchopper, The Caterer, The Cloud and Save A Horse Ride a Cowgirl. Beattie has the ability to open a window on human behavior and let in all the elements.
November 6, 2017
I’ve been savouring the sudden prolific collections by Ann Beattie. Hot on the heels of “The State We’re In” about 2 years ago comes “The Accomplished Guest”. Though the stories (or versions of them) in this latest volume were compiled from her regular contributions to various publications, all 13 of them bind well together thematically.
There are weddings, birthdays, parties and gatherings in these stories, but almost none of them are celebratory nor joyous occasions, though neither are they maudlin. A former star student takes her ailing professor out for a desultory birthday dinner in “The Indian Uprising”, while avoiding the fact of his mortality right in front of them, but a coincidental meeting at the restaurant derails her and sharpens her sense of reality. In “Other People’s Birthdays”, a young woman visits her family home where her parents are taking care of her mentally disabled sister. The keening sense of despair that permeates the house is saved by moments of love and grace, that could turn violent in a minute, as each family member struggles to contain their conflicting feelings for one another. This for me is the most poignant piece in the collection and is suitably positioned sequence-wise as a centerpiece.
In the other stories, there are disgruntled siblings and ex-spouses who have just about had it with one another but who travel far and wide to relive the frustration and sorrows of their relationships, sometimes uninvited, widowed characters who are so used to their loneliness that there is a certain beauty and comfort in their silent lives. But what holds it all together is Beattie’s unadorned yet perfectly-tuned prose, with her resonant characterisation and shimmering dialogue, that transforms these sullied lives into works of art. The (oftentimes deadpan) humour that shines through only serves to elicit empathy for her characters and the reader’s appreciation of the sounds of surviving (if not celebrating) lives which are far from perfect.
There are weddings, birthdays, parties and gatherings in these stories, but almost none of them are celebratory nor joyous occasions, though neither are they maudlin. A former star student takes her ailing professor out for a desultory birthday dinner in “The Indian Uprising”, while avoiding the fact of his mortality right in front of them, but a coincidental meeting at the restaurant derails her and sharpens her sense of reality. In “Other People’s Birthdays”, a young woman visits her family home where her parents are taking care of her mentally disabled sister. The keening sense of despair that permeates the house is saved by moments of love and grace, that could turn violent in a minute, as each family member struggles to contain their conflicting feelings for one another. This for me is the most poignant piece in the collection and is suitably positioned sequence-wise as a centerpiece.
In the other stories, there are disgruntled siblings and ex-spouses who have just about had it with one another but who travel far and wide to relive the frustration and sorrows of their relationships, sometimes uninvited, widowed characters who are so used to their loneliness that there is a certain beauty and comfort in their silent lives. But what holds it all together is Beattie’s unadorned yet perfectly-tuned prose, with her resonant characterisation and shimmering dialogue, that transforms these sullied lives into works of art. The (oftentimes deadpan) humour that shines through only serves to elicit empathy for her characters and the reader’s appreciation of the sounds of surviving (if not celebrating) lives which are far from perfect.
September 22, 2019
I listened to the audiobook and found that the writing was very well done but the abundant continuous stream of consciousness of elite privileged people became tedious and uninteresting to me. However the second to the last story “Hoodie in Xanadu” was worth the wait. It was about non wealthy ordinary people ( mostly) and even had an upbeat ending!
July 24, 2024
I tried to like this but after reading the first two stories, they all blended together and I struggled to get through the rest. The characters were so much the same as to be largely undistinguishable - overly erudite, pretentious people, whose relationships seemed surface at best. Others may have felt the same way, whoever previously read my library copy abandoned their bookmark in it halfway through.
August 7, 2017
Short stories are not my thing. Actually good considering that I don't like the genre. Enjoyed much more after seeing the author and hearing her reading.
January 10, 2020
Interesting collection - some were better than others. I am not sure why some short story endings have to be so profound.
February 6, 2021
The mostly well-heeled and well-educated WASPy characters in these stories suffer from bad marriages, family alienation, addictions and other challenges...and react to both mundane and quirky experiences with the same attitude of carelessness and disregard. Despite changes of scenery, there was a sameness to the stories that grew tiresome.
September 5, 2017
Short stories involving guests. Some humorous, some very dense.
June 29, 2024
Nice collection of interesting characters and stories
August 14, 2017
Library Kindle e-book
June 12, 2017
The Accomplished Guest: Stories by Ann Beattie is a highly recommended collection of thirteen previously published short stories. This collection explores aging, mortality, fragile bonds between people, fate, friendships, and family. In several of the stories people are meeting for a social event or going out to dinner. Most of the people are older, in their sixties and up, have been married multiple times and seem discontented, perplexed, and very removed from any true connection with other people, even while they are meeting with them. Beattie gives us glimpses into these lives with her immutable excellent prose and clear, astute voice. Not every story was a complete winner for me, but, nonetheless, this is an excellent collection.
The Indian Uprising: A former student visits her professor.
For the Best: A man heads to a holiday party where he expects to see his ex-wife.
The Astonishing Woodchopper: A couple is going to a wedding where tensions rise.
Anecdotes: An older self-centered mother overshares and hurts feelings.
Other People's Birthdays: A woman returns home to celebrate her sister's birthday.
Company: A professor has former students over for dinner.
The Debt: Middle aged frat brothers get together in Key West.
Lady Neptune: A wheelchair-bound woman attends a holiday party in Key West.
The Caterer: A caterer recruits help for a job and encounters problems.
The Gypsy chooses the Whatever Card: Women visiting in a coffee shop are interrupted by a robber.
The Cloud: A woman goes out to dinner with her uncle.
Hoodie in Xanadu: A woman forms a partnership with her neighbor who has transformed his living room into Xanadu.
Save a Horse Ride a Cowgirl: An older man feels at odds and out of place in the world.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Scribner.
The Indian Uprising: A former student visits her professor.
For the Best: A man heads to a holiday party where he expects to see his ex-wife.
The Astonishing Woodchopper: A couple is going to a wedding where tensions rise.
Anecdotes: An older self-centered mother overshares and hurts feelings.
Other People's Birthdays: A woman returns home to celebrate her sister's birthday.
Company: A professor has former students over for dinner.
The Debt: Middle aged frat brothers get together in Key West.
Lady Neptune: A wheelchair-bound woman attends a holiday party in Key West.
The Caterer: A caterer recruits help for a job and encounters problems.
The Gypsy chooses the Whatever Card: Women visiting in a coffee shop are interrupted by a robber.
The Cloud: A woman goes out to dinner with her uncle.
Hoodie in Xanadu: A woman forms a partnership with her neighbor who has transformed his living room into Xanadu.
Save a Horse Ride a Cowgirl: An older man feels at odds and out of place in the world.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Scribner.
May 5, 2017
An Accomplished Guest is a nice metaphor for a well worn traveler of life. Its characters are mainly seventy somethings (remember when we used to be thirty somethings?) who are thinking about their long lives. Many of the characters have lost a partner and can't see to adjust to life as only a part of the whole. Ann Beattie gives tribute to wonderful places up and down the east coast and even gives one of my other favorite writers, Mavis Gallant, a nod.
On the eve of my seventieth birthday, I have to say this wasn't an easy book to digest in a day. It did however, help me see clearly on a different front. I watched an Isabelle Huppert film last night and as she lost important people in her life, she kept marching forward, at a brisk pace. I will feel empathy for every one of AB's characters and try to march forward like IH's character. Stay well all, baby boomers. It isn't, as you know, an easy march.
ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Scribner (June 13th 2017).
On the eve of my seventieth birthday, I have to say this wasn't an easy book to digest in a day. It did however, help me see clearly on a different front. I watched an Isabelle Huppert film last night and as she lost important people in her life, she kept marching forward, at a brisk pace. I will feel empathy for every one of AB's characters and try to march forward like IH's character. Stay well all, baby boomers. It isn't, as you know, an easy march.
ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Scribner (June 13th 2017).
July 26, 2017
I heard the author on an NPR interview and thought it would be worth a read. I didn't like this book at all, really. The stories were such downers - almost every one of them. As a middle aged person, there is plenty of joy in life but clearly not in Ms. Beattie's stories. She has an irritating habit of introducing a whole slew of characters in the first paragraph - it began to feel like every story started the same way. Accolades for her writing or not, it was not for me
August 8, 2017
I know I'm supposed to wax rhapsodic about Ann Beattie but I can't. Her books and stories l Ave me cold and depress me. However, I keep trying because she is such a favorite of many friends and critics. This collection left me terribly confused about who was speaking when about what to whom. I guess read it if you're a Beattie fan, which unfortunately, I am not.
May 20, 2016
"How far could you get, pushing yourself beyond exhaustion? He knew the answer. He’d learned it. He’d learned, also, that whenever you thought you were having your moment, life tapped you on the shoulder and cut in. "
July 20, 2017
Forty years into her career, Ann Beattie is at the top of her form here.
My notice, for the San Francisco-based literary magazine ZYZZYVA is linked below:
http://www.zyzzyva.org/2017/07/19/doo...
My notice, for the San Francisco-based literary magazine ZYZZYVA is linked below:
http://www.zyzzyva.org/2017/07/19/doo...
July 19, 2017
“But it would be a missed call. He liked that concept. As if by missing a call, you could shape your destiny.”
There are one or two good stories. The writing is beautiful too. It's just that in a book with 13 short stories, you'd expect to find more things to like than "one or two". You'd also expect the stories to be slightly memorable but I didn't care at all for what was being said and I even had to skim through some parts of the book that even when I was trying to read them real hard, all I could see was "Blah blah blah". I went into this book with such high expectations because I have read so many great reviews about this book and other works by Ann Beattie and I think that's what made the book to be so underwhelming. I was going to abandon my reading of it at around the 5th short story but then it happened to be a story that I enjoyed (Other People's Birthdays) and so I decided to continue but it didn't get any better.
Now of course I have a few possible reasons of why this book was not for me:
- no diversity. There is no diversity whatsoever. All the characters sounded the same: people from the upper/middle class that are financially okay whining about a few things. They all sounded unhappy and unsatisfied with how their life has become. They often forget what's important and tend to focus on minor inconveniences which was so annoying and depressing. There are even some characters that sounded to be straight out of Donald Trump's social circle!! So at a certain point, all of the stories started mixing up in my head and all of them were the same.
- how I couldn't relate. Since many of the stories are about characters in their 50s, 60s and sometimes older, I couldn't see myself in them... Aside from the few grand children youngsters that were so rebellious and so stereotypical and so not my thing. Sure, it felt somehow great how they might be thinking but in more than one occasion, I found myself not really caring. Now I think that I probably wouldn't have thought this as a problem if the characters were more diverse, coming from different backgrounds and giving me different experiences to read about but this wasn't the case. Everyone sounded (and was) American, rich, intelligent and not satisfied.
- where is the drama? No, not looking for crazy drama but just an interesting something here and there, no? Well, I admit, it has happened in a few stories and those I mostly enjoyed like "Other People's Birthdays" and "The Debt" but there just wasn't enough for me. It made the whole book so slow! I mean, I spent more than 10 days on about 300 pages and I'm on vacation... It has managed to slow all of my other readings too, how fitting!
Perhaps the only two things this book has going for it is: the writing and the humor found in very few stories. The writing's beautiful and I love Ann Beattie's style to be honest. I just wonder if she'd written better stories with a nicer plot because I'd totally read that and would most probably enjoy it more!
All in all, I'm not saying that I hated this book. It just wasn't for me. When I read short stories, I usually expect fast-paced + action + different settings/characters in each story that will make it memorable but I didn't find this in "The Accomplished Guest". Maybe if you prefer more the slow-paced stories and you wouldn't mind not getting attached to the characters nor the not-so-uplifting story or again, getting loads of action, then maybe you would enjoy this book. I personally wouldn't recommend it as I was very disappointed.
This book was provided to me by Scribner and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
There are one or two good stories. The writing is beautiful too. It's just that in a book with 13 short stories, you'd expect to find more things to like than "one or two". You'd also expect the stories to be slightly memorable but I didn't care at all for what was being said and I even had to skim through some parts of the book that even when I was trying to read them real hard, all I could see was "Blah blah blah". I went into this book with such high expectations because I have read so many great reviews about this book and other works by Ann Beattie and I think that's what made the book to be so underwhelming. I was going to abandon my reading of it at around the 5th short story but then it happened to be a story that I enjoyed (Other People's Birthdays) and so I decided to continue but it didn't get any better.
Now of course I have a few possible reasons of why this book was not for me:
- no diversity. There is no diversity whatsoever. All the characters sounded the same: people from the upper/middle class that are financially okay whining about a few things. They all sounded unhappy and unsatisfied with how their life has become. They often forget what's important and tend to focus on minor inconveniences which was so annoying and depressing. There are even some characters that sounded to be straight out of Donald Trump's social circle!! So at a certain point, all of the stories started mixing up in my head and all of them were the same.
- how I couldn't relate. Since many of the stories are about characters in their 50s, 60s and sometimes older, I couldn't see myself in them... Aside from the few grand children youngsters that were so rebellious and so stereotypical and so not my thing. Sure, it felt somehow great how they might be thinking but in more than one occasion, I found myself not really caring. Now I think that I probably wouldn't have thought this as a problem if the characters were more diverse, coming from different backgrounds and giving me different experiences to read about but this wasn't the case. Everyone sounded (and was) American, rich, intelligent and not satisfied.
- where is the drama? No, not looking for crazy drama but just an interesting something here and there, no? Well, I admit, it has happened in a few stories and those I mostly enjoyed like "Other People's Birthdays" and "The Debt" but there just wasn't enough for me. It made the whole book so slow! I mean, I spent more than 10 days on about 300 pages and I'm on vacation... It has managed to slow all of my other readings too, how fitting!
Perhaps the only two things this book has going for it is: the writing and the humor found in very few stories. The writing's beautiful and I love Ann Beattie's style to be honest. I just wonder if she'd written better stories with a nicer plot because I'd totally read that and would most probably enjoy it more!
All in all, I'm not saying that I hated this book. It just wasn't for me. When I read short stories, I usually expect fast-paced + action + different settings/characters in each story that will make it memorable but I didn't find this in "The Accomplished Guest". Maybe if you prefer more the slow-paced stories and you wouldn't mind not getting attached to the characters nor the not-so-uplifting story or again, getting loads of action, then maybe you would enjoy this book. I personally wouldn't recommend it as I was very disappointed.
This book was provided to me by Scribner and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 28, 2019
This is a very good collection of 13 stories, possibly the best Ann Beattie has written. I came to it shortly after reading The State We're In, which I liked, but this one's easier to like. In that book the stories share a locale (a seaside community in Maine); here the theme is the experience of having or being a guest, or at least temporarily being outside one's usual surroundings. I thought most of it felt less experimental, although in both books the opening paragraph of each story is a strange free-associating meander through an abundance of quirky facts.
This, for example, is the beginning of a story in the other book:
"On their way to their summer house, the Little Hutchinsons stopped in to say hello to us every summer. If you're curious about why they were called the Little Hutchinsons, it's because Al Hutchinson was six foot three—a basketball player, later a coach, from North Carolina—who married a very short woman from Bangor, Maine, and together they produced three sons, the tallest about five foot seven. The other boys, including our friend Gilly (the youngest), were about my height, which is five foot two."
And in the present collection this opening is typical:
"Pru Silowicz has listed me on her CV (not that I would have known what that was, if she hadn't told me in plain English) as the recipient of her "Volunteer activity: Interacting with older community member needing help." This CV situation has them thinking all the time—really thinking hard, like Nixon in his last days at the White House. She showed the piece of paper to me proudly, the way Edith, my next-door neighbor back in the day, used to post her son's crayon drawings of the family, even when her husband was identified as 'Fat Dad Frank.'"
Having followed Ann Beattie's career from way back in 1976 (she was my writing teacher then), I decided to refer back to her early stories, those collected in Distortions, to see if I'd previously missed that aspect of her style. Dialog seems more prominent in those stories—sometimes page after page of it. But conversations can also tack unpredictably from one topic to another. One is left with an impression of life that is somewhat haphazard.
I think what's common to all her writing is that the portrayals simultaneously feel both entirely familiar and somewhat twisted. We can count on insightful portraits that feel unguarded and spontaneous, and therefore credible, even if something is off-kilter. For example:
An elderly woman agrees to let a down-and-out stranger use her house for an Avon demonstration, not that it's likely to alter her circumstances.
Two brothers meet up at a family wedding, and one of them is astonished to discover that the other has been nursing resentment against him for decades.
A young woman meets the mother of her friend at the train station and escorts her to the college to hear the friend give a presentation, and gradually realizes they are both using her on multiple levels.
A reclusive old guy advertises his strangely decorated house on Craigs List and moves across the street with a cooperative neighbor while a celebrity rents it for the evening.
In each story the main character seems not only reasonable but quite accommodating of others, at least up to a point. In Ann Beattie's stories those others may not be equally reasonable, but they're usually entirely credible. I've said it before: She captures something about the way life is lived these days.
This, for example, is the beginning of a story in the other book:
"On their way to their summer house, the Little Hutchinsons stopped in to say hello to us every summer. If you're curious about why they were called the Little Hutchinsons, it's because Al Hutchinson was six foot three—a basketball player, later a coach, from North Carolina—who married a very short woman from Bangor, Maine, and together they produced three sons, the tallest about five foot seven. The other boys, including our friend Gilly (the youngest), were about my height, which is five foot two."
And in the present collection this opening is typical:
"Pru Silowicz has listed me on her CV (not that I would have known what that was, if she hadn't told me in plain English) as the recipient of her "Volunteer activity: Interacting with older community member needing help." This CV situation has them thinking all the time—really thinking hard, like Nixon in his last days at the White House. She showed the piece of paper to me proudly, the way Edith, my next-door neighbor back in the day, used to post her son's crayon drawings of the family, even when her husband was identified as 'Fat Dad Frank.'"
Having followed Ann Beattie's career from way back in 1976 (she was my writing teacher then), I decided to refer back to her early stories, those collected in Distortions, to see if I'd previously missed that aspect of her style. Dialog seems more prominent in those stories—sometimes page after page of it. But conversations can also tack unpredictably from one topic to another. One is left with an impression of life that is somewhat haphazard.
I think what's common to all her writing is that the portrayals simultaneously feel both entirely familiar and somewhat twisted. We can count on insightful portraits that feel unguarded and spontaneous, and therefore credible, even if something is off-kilter. For example:
An elderly woman agrees to let a down-and-out stranger use her house for an Avon demonstration, not that it's likely to alter her circumstances.
Two brothers meet up at a family wedding, and one of them is astonished to discover that the other has been nursing resentment against him for decades.
A young woman meets the mother of her friend at the train station and escorts her to the college to hear the friend give a presentation, and gradually realizes they are both using her on multiple levels.
A reclusive old guy advertises his strangely decorated house on Craigs List and moves across the street with a cooperative neighbor while a celebrity rents it for the evening.
In each story the main character seems not only reasonable but quite accommodating of others, at least up to a point. In Ann Beattie's stories those others may not be equally reasonable, but they're usually entirely credible. I've said it before: She captures something about the way life is lived these days.
June 8, 2017
Although Ann Beattie's characters have aged, their world is still recognizable even if their faces and bodies have changed. Many now can afford luxuries, like a showerhead "which approximated a rainstorm that would fall with enough force to blind frogs." Some live in assisted living facilities, petting dogs brought by well-meaning volunteers. If they still live at home, their garden paths are aglow with "solar spotlights allowing the stamens of flowers to puncture the night like so many silent tongues."
One thing that has not changed: most characters are distinguished by the things they still carry, and the references they learned when they were young. Dr. T. D. Eckleburg makes an appearance at a party celebrating Bernie Madoff's sentencing, and when characters dance, the music is not new.
One other thing these characters have in common: they all want to retain control and to shape the narration of the rest of their lives. The reader sometimes listens in as a character relates his or her own actions, blurring the authorial line between showing and telling. Even a dog, whose ears "looked like someone had given up while folding origami," tells us about his view of the lifelong search for love.
Not all of these character-driven stories hold together in the longer form they are given. Maybe Ms. Beattie means for us to lose patience with some. Some characters, though, open themselves to live in old age with people they might not have noticed before, sometimes literally. Those make the reader cheer, and cheer up.
Ms. Beattie's writing is a bit less sparse than it once was, but no less wry or sharp. The details still matter -- the boots, the music, the wine. One looks at people disappearing up a flight of stairs, perhaps "to the roof, from which they'd take flight and clutter the night sky, for all she knew." The reader doesn't know either, but she has met them, and they are real.
Highly recommended. I received this book as an electronic ARC from Net Galley.
One thing that has not changed: most characters are distinguished by the things they still carry, and the references they learned when they were young. Dr. T. D. Eckleburg makes an appearance at a party celebrating Bernie Madoff's sentencing, and when characters dance, the music is not new.
One other thing these characters have in common: they all want to retain control and to shape the narration of the rest of their lives. The reader sometimes listens in as a character relates his or her own actions, blurring the authorial line between showing and telling. Even a dog, whose ears "looked like someone had given up while folding origami," tells us about his view of the lifelong search for love.
Not all of these character-driven stories hold together in the longer form they are given. Maybe Ms. Beattie means for us to lose patience with some. Some characters, though, open themselves to live in old age with people they might not have noticed before, sometimes literally. Those make the reader cheer, and cheer up.
Ms. Beattie's writing is a bit less sparse than it once was, but no less wry or sharp. The details still matter -- the boots, the music, the wine. One looks at people disappearing up a flight of stairs, perhaps "to the roof, from which they'd take flight and clutter the night sky, for all she knew." The reader doesn't know either, but she has met them, and they are real.
Highly recommended. I received this book as an electronic ARC from Net Galley.
March 26, 2018
Oh, my, did I like this book or was it just ok?! Ugh! I can't say that I didn't like some of the stories in Ann Beattie's 2017 collection of stories because some hit me just right. I could relate and even liked many of the characters. I think that they all had to do with age and aging, Maine, NY, or Key West and all the stereotypes that go with those places. And just life and living.
At our library book discussion, we all agreed that the problem with short stories is that they are really a long story put into a very thin novel...and then it is packed in there with many other stories that probably have many things in common if you analyze them all. Which actually can happen at a book discussion. I liked the book better after our discussion even though some didn't read all the stories.
I think I will only read one story at a time next time or maybe skip over something that I only read because I felt compelled...to be able to say that I finished it. "Gave it my all". I even started keeping notes but reguardless it is still hard to remember each story and character. Short story writers must be sick of hearing this whining.
I will read Ann Beattie again because she does have a nice way to say things. "The Debt" p159 "You pick up emotions, you register the essence of things, even if you don't always understand exactly what's being said. You also absorb the smells of certain places, and sometimes, when you least expect it, you get a whilff of where you used to live, and it takes you back. A little mystical, I realize. But things you can't see, like breeze, music, sensory memories, there are no works for --though I'm trying my best, here......".
Shucks, I guess I must say that I like the book. Three stars....at least.
At our library book discussion, we all agreed that the problem with short stories is that they are really a long story put into a very thin novel...and then it is packed in there with many other stories that probably have many things in common if you analyze them all. Which actually can happen at a book discussion. I liked the book better after our discussion even though some didn't read all the stories.
I think I will only read one story at a time next time or maybe skip over something that I only read because I felt compelled...to be able to say that I finished it. "Gave it my all". I even started keeping notes but reguardless it is still hard to remember each story and character. Short story writers must be sick of hearing this whining.
I will read Ann Beattie again because she does have a nice way to say things. "The Debt" p159 "You pick up emotions, you register the essence of things, even if you don't always understand exactly what's being said. You also absorb the smells of certain places, and sometimes, when you least expect it, you get a whilff of where you used to live, and it takes you back. A little mystical, I realize. But things you can't see, like breeze, music, sensory memories, there are no works for --though I'm trying my best, here......".
Shucks, I guess I must say that I like the book. Three stars....at least.
March 14, 2020
The Accomplished Guest
By Ann Beattie
It was ok. Just ok. There is a three star Goodreads review from Angela M. with which I completely agree, so I will quote from it below to share. I couldn't have summed it up better. In short, excellent writing, the start of some realistic vignettes about life, life's challenges and aging, but I too was left with the feeling at the end of each, especially as I continued on through the recurring themes, of feeling that each ended too abruptly.
Review from Angela M
netgalley-reviews
"I thought I would like this more than I did. In spite of my disappointment, I'll start with some things I did like about this collection - the writing, the smart realistic dialogue, things to think about - aging (usually juxtaposed by connections with younger people), illness, family relationships . These are some of the recurring themes that in some small way connect these stories : visits, going to events - a birthday celebration, a wedding, a Christmas party, meeting with people from the past . While there was certainly food for thought here, I found myself at the end of most of the stories wanting to know more, feeling like it shouldn't have ended, trying to understand what it was about, never feeling like I knew the characters... This feeling at the end of most of these stories is the reason I didn't connect."
This was my #Popsugarchallenge #threewordtitle selection.
By Ann Beattie
It was ok. Just ok. There is a three star Goodreads review from Angela M. with which I completely agree, so I will quote from it below to share. I couldn't have summed it up better. In short, excellent writing, the start of some realistic vignettes about life, life's challenges and aging, but I too was left with the feeling at the end of each, especially as I continued on through the recurring themes, of feeling that each ended too abruptly.
Review from Angela M
netgalley-reviews
"I thought I would like this more than I did. In spite of my disappointment, I'll start with some things I did like about this collection - the writing, the smart realistic dialogue, things to think about - aging (usually juxtaposed by connections with younger people), illness, family relationships . These are some of the recurring themes that in some small way connect these stories : visits, going to events - a birthday celebration, a wedding, a Christmas party, meeting with people from the past . While there was certainly food for thought here, I found myself at the end of most of the stories wanting to know more, feeling like it shouldn't have ended, trying to understand what it was about, never feeling like I knew the characters... This feeling at the end of most of these stories is the reason I didn't connect."
This was my #Popsugarchallenge #threewordtitle selection.
September 17, 2017
The Accomplished Guest was especially interesting to me because it is a direct descendant of Ann Beattie's earlier stories, of which I've always been a fan. The difference now is that the characters in the new book are of the same college-educated-emphasizing-liberal-arts background as her old books but, like her, are now in their senior citizen years. It's interesting to get her take on the interior conversations these people are having with themselves as they observe the world we're living in. It's fiction, but it seems to match conversations I have with people of the age cohorts in this book. They went to Woodstock, and are now in their 70s and 80s in a world that looks nothing like those times. Yet they've accommodated to the fact that many of our lives are more mechanized but overall less troubled. Some things are just better than they used to be, and I'm finding that many older people are good at reminding us of that.
Beyond that, it's good to hear Ann Beattie's voice again. Not the best book, but a continuation of a writing career that I appreciate being an audience for. 4 stars.
Beyond that, it's good to hear Ann Beattie's voice again. Not the best book, but a continuation of a writing career that I appreciate being an audience for. 4 stars.
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