A Girl with a Monkey: New and Selected Stories

by Leonard Michaels

Fiction.A Lost Angeles Times Best Fiction Title of 2000. Finalist, 2000 Bay Area Book Reviewers Fiction Award. "Brilliant... Anyone concerned with the American short story should read and know these stories.... Other American writers have tried to write stories like these, but Leonard Michaels got there first and has done it better than almost anyone else."—Charles Baxter, San Francisco Chronicle

"Michaels, one of the most highly regarded contemporary American literary figures and widely read by the discerning public, has long been regarded as a master of the short story. His stature can only be enhanced by this gathering of the best of his previous work as well as new stories, all of them written within the period of the early 1960s through the 1990s. Love and sexuality are the twin themes he continues to mine, and the specific situations he creates to explore these themes pinpoint in the sheerest of prose the absolute truth about relationships. Michaels's trenchant, direct, and lyrical style, with not one word wasted, works as a tight springboard for conveying his vast knowledge about why we love who we love. No library's short story collection is complete without this career-defining compilation."—Brad Hooper, Booklist

Genres: Short Stories

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Leonard Michaels was an American writer of short stories, novels, and essays, and a Professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews

[Mark Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent short story collection. The title story and “Murders” are classics. A lot of the others are more artsy and less narratively accessible, but I really enjoyed them as well. The stories are sexy.

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

*A girl with a monkey --
*Murderers --
Second honeymoon --
In the fifties --
*City boy --
Crossbones --
Eating out --
*Manikin --
Reflections of a wild kid --
Mildred --
Some laughed --
*The deal --
Going places --
*Tell me everything --
Honeymoon --
*Viva la Tropicana --
***
The men's club
Nachman from Los Angeles
Robinson Crusoe Liebowitz
Stick and stones

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a five star collection of stories IF it included the Nachman stories. I will acquire the Collected Stories ASAP in order to get my greedy little fingers on ALL of the Nachman stories in one place!

[Rob Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories was engrossing, particularly the book's finale, Viva la Tropicana. The very similar yet very different stories in Honeymoon and it's revised form, Second Honeymoon were other highlights of mine, along with the powerful story In the Fifties.

[Deepti · Rating 2 out of 5]

I fail to recall what made me select this book in the first place. The stories are not bad per se, just, too abrupt for someone who enjoys a bit of continuity in the plot.