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A Taste of Life
This is a collection of three short stories.
The title story "A Taste of Life" tells the gruesome tale of a fat young woman whose glamorous mother steals her lover.
The other two stories are "The Man Who Loved Life" and "Dealer's Choice".
The title story "A Taste of Life" tells the gruesome tale of a fat young woman whose glamorous mother steals her lover.
The other two stories are "The Man Who Loved Life" and "Dealer's Choice".
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
55 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
5 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
Sara Paretsky
272 books2,375 followersSara Paretsky is a modern American author of detective fiction. Paretsky was raised in Kansas, and graduated from the state university with a degree in political science. She did community service work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in 1968 to work there. She ultimately completed a Ph.D. in history at the University of Chicago, entitled The Breakdown of Moral Philosophy in New England Before the Civil War, and finally earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Married to a professor of physics at the University of Chicago, she has lived in Chicago since 1968.
The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski's eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into houses looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight, but also she pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.
Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. The Winter 2007 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection is devoted to her work.
Her two books that are non-Warshawski novels are : Ghost Country (1998) and Bleeding Kansas (2008).
The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski's eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into houses looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight, but also she pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.
Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. The Winter 2007 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection is devoted to her work.
Her two books that are non-Warshawski novels are : Ghost Country (1998) and Bleeding Kansas (2008).
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 15, 2023
An enjoyable read of three short stories. Another book from my dad’s stash of Penguin 60’s books. A Taste of Life tells the story of a young woman force fed by her model mother over the years. She falls in love with a young man who her mother steals and retribution in the most gruesome manner is found.
Dealers Choice is written in a Raymond Chandler manner and features his detective Phillip Marlowe. Good story. Wise cracks not quite as good as original.
The Man who loved life focusses on an anti-abortionist that really doesn’t like people.
Overall a good read. Author writes the V I Warshawski novels. Which I have to admit I have not read.
Dealers Choice is written in a Raymond Chandler manner and features his detective Phillip Marlowe. Good story. Wise cracks not quite as good as original.
The Man who loved life focusses on an anti-abortionist that really doesn’t like people.
Overall a good read. Author writes the V I Warshawski novels. Which I have to admit I have not read.
May 17, 2016
Three short stories in this Penguin 60s edition.
The first, and title story A Taste of Life is totally spoiled by the book description posted on Goodreads - which I have now edited! The part I left is descriptive enough - this story tells the gruesome tale of a fat young woman whose glamorous mother steals her lover. 4/5 from me.
The second, Dealer's Choice is an interesting homage to Raymond Chandler, using his character Philip Marlowe, take from the book Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. For me it doesn't measure up to Chandlers writing, none of the great one-liners, not the same descriptive writing, but an interesting story. 3.5/5
The third, The Man Who Loved Life is the story of a crusading anti-abortionist and his moment of glory in front of his peers. 2.5/5
Overall I guess that averages to 3.33, so a good 3 stars from me.
The first, and title story A Taste of Life is totally spoiled by the book description posted on Goodreads - which I have now edited! The part I left is descriptive enough - this story tells the gruesome tale of a fat young woman whose glamorous mother steals her lover. 4/5 from me.
The second, Dealer's Choice is an interesting homage to Raymond Chandler, using his character Philip Marlowe, take from the book Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe. For me it doesn't measure up to Chandlers writing, none of the great one-liners, not the same descriptive writing, but an interesting story. 3.5/5
The third, The Man Who Loved Life is the story of a crusading anti-abortionist and his moment of glory in front of his peers. 2.5/5
Overall I guess that averages to 3.33, so a good 3 stars from me.
April 2, 2025
3.75/5
It was okay.
Taste of life was great, as well as the dealer's choice, but I didn't like the man who loved life, but it was probably because I didn't get it.
Also for Mr. Marlow I imagined Jeremy Irons.
It was okay.
Taste of life was great, as well as the dealer's choice, but I didn't like the man who loved life, but it was probably because I didn't get it.
Also for Mr. Marlow I imagined Jeremy Irons.
September 6, 2025
Three great short stories by Sara Paretsky, none feature V.I. Warshawski, for whom she is most well known. One features Phillip Marlowe and is very much a homage to Chandler.
April 17, 2020
2,5
It's not too surprising that these stories had not been published before. Although they have interesting premises, they read a little bit like literary sketches rather than fully fleshed out stories. Way too short (No 1 and No 3) for those weighty subject matters and for what they supposedly tried to achieve. As soon as you start getting familiar with the settings and characters, the stories are already finished again. The prose is ok, maybe even above average, but nothing special....
As to No 2: Last year I read my first Marlowe-novel, which I really liked, once I got used to this Marlowe-world but Paretsky tries to fit a whole crime fiction into not even 40 pages, which doesn't work at all.
It's not too surprising that these stories had not been published before. Although they have interesting premises, they read a little bit like literary sketches rather than fully fleshed out stories. Way too short (No 1 and No 3) for those weighty subject matters and for what they supposedly tried to achieve. As soon as you start getting familiar with the settings and characters, the stories are already finished again. The prose is ok, maybe even above average, but nothing special....
As to No 2: Last year I read my first Marlowe-novel, which I really liked, once I got used to this Marlowe-world but Paretsky tries to fit a whole crime fiction into not even 40 pages, which doesn't work at all.
April 28, 2025
I have to say that I really enjoyed the 3 short stories in this penguin @60 title - from a macabre tale of parental manipulation to classic Philip Marlow detective story each story is told with concise economic precision - I loved them and I have to say certainly drives me to want to read more of Sara Paretsky's work.
The beauty of these types of books (and I guess part of the aim) is to give a "taste" of what is out there without burdening the reader with a huge book you may not like or connect with or to encourage you to read works from authors you may never have heard of let alone feel motivated to read.
A brilliant series of short books that certainly do not cease to surprise me.
The beauty of these types of books (and I guess part of the aim) is to give a "taste" of what is out there without burdening the reader with a huge book you may not like or connect with or to encourage you to read works from authors you may never have heard of let alone feel motivated to read.
A brilliant series of short books that certainly do not cease to surprise me.
March 12, 2025
It is impossible for authors not to be influenced by their own experiences and upbringing. This collection three short stories, all rather dark and somewhat depressing, reflect Paretsky's own background in some ways. This is the third of the Penguin 60s book that I read during my recent travels, and honestly, I wish I hadn't. Not that there is anything wrong with the book in terms of its literary quality. It is just that it left me somewhat unsettled and disturbed. The rain and the cold in Dharamshala did not help either! Your choice, dear reader!
May 30, 2025
[Penguin Books] (1995). SB. 54 Pages. Purchased from The British Heart Foundation.
Three poor quality short stories:
“A Taste of Life" (1989) [6/20]
"Dealer's Choice" (1988) [5/20]
"The Man Who Loved Life" (1990) [0/20]
Stunning arrogance shown with the Chandler pastiche failure.
Three poor quality short stories:
“A Taste of Life" (1989) [6/20]
"Dealer's Choice" (1988) [5/20]
"The Man Who Loved Life" (1990) [0/20]
Stunning arrogance shown with the Chandler pastiche failure.
April 10, 2019
Thoroughly entertaining.A short good read
May 9, 2021
It's OK. Easy, quick read just to sqay I read something. Nice beach read.
March 19, 2022
Originally bought this in Oxford years and years ago. Turns out I don’t care for the gruesome and hard stories on rereading. They are very effective, but I don’t have the spoons for them right now.
October 17, 2014
A lovely, accessible introduction to Paretsky's writing. The stories often contain unexpected twists, and investigate the relationships between parents and children. In 'A taste of life' Daphne is a young woman who was made obese by her jealous mother. When she finds love, her mother cannot let it be - with bizarre results. 'Dealer's choice' is the longest story and deals with the private detective Marlowe investigating a case for a typically seductive female client during the Second World War, with people from Japanese extraction in a particularly difficult situation, easy prey to typically heartless baddies. In 'The man who loved life' an ambitious politician is being honoured for his anti-abortion stance. He reflects upon how his father disciplined him as a son, but how different things are with daughters.
Paretsky skryf gemaklik en toeganklik, en boei haar lesers met verhale wat familieverhoudings ondersoek en dikwels vernuftige verrassings oplewer.
Paretsky skryf gemaklik en toeganklik, en boei haar lesers met verhale wat familieverhoudings ondersoek en dikwels vernuftige verrassings oplewer.
November 28, 2012
Three short stories:
"A taste of life" - a cruel, short tale about a fat woman, and her loveless mother.
"Dealer's choice" - a humoristic story featuring Marlowe, written in a mocking hard-boiled style. It didn't convince me to the full (but mind, I'm not a fan of the genre).
"The man who loved life" - my favourite of the three. Bitter and clever. The man who loves life, only insofar that it's in his terms; the man who loves life but not people, and can't give love or understanding, is incredibly well-painted, and sadly realistic.
"A taste of life" - a cruel, short tale about a fat woman, and her loveless mother.
"Dealer's choice" - a humoristic story featuring Marlowe, written in a mocking hard-boiled style. It didn't convince me to the full (but mind, I'm not a fan of the genre).
"The man who loved life" - my favourite of the three. Bitter and clever. The man who loves life, only insofar that it's in his terms; the man who loves life but not people, and can't give love or understanding, is incredibly well-painted, and sadly realistic.
December 24, 2009
More like Stephen King (think Thinner) than the VI Warshawski series.
May 5, 2015
"A Taste of Life" is a brilliant short story.
September 9, 2019
These stories gave me the shivers and kind of freaked me out. At the end of every story I had to sit for a minute or two to digest what I had just read. Totally awesome.
June 8, 2022
Re read- for some reason I did not finish this- it felt like it was excerpts from something longer.
December 31, 2016
An adorable little tome, a great introduction to Paretsky's body of work. Unfortunately, just not my preferred genre of literature. Not my cup of tea. That being said, I really enjoyed the first of the three stories, but couldn't get into the other two, despite their admirable execution.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews