Eating Memories

by Patricia Anthony

Here is the essential Patricia Anthony. Eating Memories spans a decade of stirring short fiction from the award-winning author of God's Fires, Brother Termite, and Flanders - a collection that cements Patricia Anthony's reputation as a writer who takes the term 'speculative fiction' to an entirely different level.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

367 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Ayala_s · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moving, spooky, tender, challenging stories that will linger with me for quite some time.
This is the kind of book that I recommend to people who think they don't like "sci-fi". I think this would be more accurately described as "speculative fiction" and is much more an investigation of the human condition than the frontiers of science.

[NeilW · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent selection of science fiction stories. In addition to Anthony having a wide variety of subjects and styles (the stories that veered into horror elements were particularly effective,) the collection has the benefit of being a mini-time capsule. More than a decade of stories from all parts of the author's career are present, and each comes with a little introduction. Sometimes I would skip reading these till after the story was done, as they can sometimes spoil the twist, but they shed light on when, why, and how the stories were conceived and written. Several stories have since been incorporated or reworked into longer forms, and seeing their embryonic state was fascinating.

Overall a high-caliber collection and great introduction in Patricia Anthony's body of work.

[Michael Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many seriously good stories in this collection; Anthony’s storytelling is wide in scope and very intelligent, and her style is always entertaining (even when tragic and gloomy) and full of unexpected surprises, delivering tense situations and highly believable protagonists.

A strong sense of strangeness and isolation thematically flows through most of these tales, yet there’s also a lot of morbid humour and general oddity that adds uniqueness to each plot. Although her grim and godforsaken characters are often struggling with insurmountable problems, there’s usually a neat twist or an unorthodox closure waiting in their immediate future – Anthony knows how to write with well-structured flair and wit, and typically uses her skills in a very effective manner.

[Sue Chant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contents:
Blood brothers
What Brothers are For
Sweet Tooth at Io
Good neighbor
Anomaly
Eating Memories
Bluebonnets
Belief Systems
The Name of the Demon
Coyote on Mars
The Deer lake Sightings
For No Reason
The Murcheson Boy
The Holes Where Chickens Lie
The Shoot
Blue Woofers
The Secret Language of Old White Ladies
Dear froggy
The Last Flight from Llano
Born to be Wild
Guardian of Fireflies
Alone Again in Dweebland
The Dark at the Corner of the Eye
Lunch with Daddy
White Boy
Young Wives
Scavenger Hunt
Two Bag Goddess

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

After 22 years as the 3/4-finished book-I’m-not-reading on my bedside table, I finally read the last few stories. These are well-written stories, but they just didn’t connect with me. They were just a little darker than I prefer.

[Shari]

Eating Memories by Patricia Anthony (1997)

[Allison Denny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've enjoyed the stories I've read in this a lot, but I'm enjoying novel-length works more these days. I'll come back to it someday.