What do you think?
Rate this book
Conversational Therapy: Stories and Plays
Conversational Therapy is a debut collection of challenging and unusual short stories and one-act plays.
In A KEEPSAKE MEMORY, a wrongfully imprisoned girl tries to escape the confines of an abandoned mental asylum and the treacherous hands of a psychotic doctor placed in charge of keeping her there. In ALLIGATOR RESORT, a SoHo prototype living a Bohemian lifestyle gets more than he bargains for on a family retreat to the great outdoors when a cloaked madman unleashes an army of lab engineered alligators on the slacker’s family cottage. In PSYCHIATRIST’S PSYCHIATRIST, a distressed woman interviews with a new psychiatrist after her old one commits suicide. In THE LAST LAUGH, an excessively overweight comedian looks back on his arduous journey through life while presently navigating his claustrophobic condominium, the building’s smallish elevators, and the lobby’s makeshift comic stage.
These and many more exhilarating pieces full of suspense, biting social commentary and black humor from the darkest depths of human psyche await the reader. Unrelenting, surreal, and even occasionally twisted tales which, more often than not, have a ring of truth and relatability outside the falsity and the make believe.
In A KEEPSAKE MEMORY, a wrongfully imprisoned girl tries to escape the confines of an abandoned mental asylum and the treacherous hands of a psychotic doctor placed in charge of keeping her there. In ALLIGATOR RESORT, a SoHo prototype living a Bohemian lifestyle gets more than he bargains for on a family retreat to the great outdoors when a cloaked madman unleashes an army of lab engineered alligators on the slacker’s family cottage. In PSYCHIATRIST’S PSYCHIATRIST, a distressed woman interviews with a new psychiatrist after her old one commits suicide. In THE LAST LAUGH, an excessively overweight comedian looks back on his arduous journey through life while presently navigating his claustrophobic condominium, the building’s smallish elevators, and the lobby’s makeshift comic stage.
These and many more exhilarating pieces full of suspense, biting social commentary and black humor from the darkest depths of human psyche await the reader. Unrelenting, surreal, and even occasionally twisted tales which, more often than not, have a ring of truth and relatability outside the falsity and the make believe.
226 pages, Paperback
Published June 10, 2021
2 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Nick Voro
12 books269 followersA native of Kyiv, Ukraine, but living in Canada since the age of eleven, Nick Voro discovered literature at an early age, never quite mustering the ability to put an excellent book down. A recent graduate of the Toronto Film School, Nick divides his time between being a full-time parent and a full-time author.
His debut work, Conversational Therapy: Stories and Plays, is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Chapters Indigo. The work has recently sold over 100 copies and is part of the library system (Ontario, British Columbia and South Australia).
The book received positive reviews from the likes of João Reis, a Portuguese writer and a literary translator of Scandinavian languages who has been longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award (2022) and Oceanos-Prêmio de Literatura em Língua Portuguesa Award (2019) as well as shortlisted for the Prémio Fernando Namora Award (2020).
Lee D. Thompson, an editor and writer from Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, edited this book. His books include: a novel in [xxx] dreams from Broken Jaw Press, Mouth Human Must Die from Frog Hollow Press and Apastoral: A Mistopia from Corona/Samizdat. His short fiction has been published in many anthologies, including Random House’s Victory Meat, New Fiction from Atlantic Canada and Vagrant Press’s The Vagrant Revue of New Fiction. He is the winner of the David Adams Richards Prize (2018) and New Brunswick Book Award (2022). He is the publisher of Galleon Books.
Here is Nick Voro’s interview (12-20 Questions) with Rob McLennan, novelist and poet, published in Canada, the United States, England, Ireland, and Japan. And the recipient of the CAA / Air Canada Award, the John Newlove Poetry Award, the Mid-Career Artist Award from the Ottawa Arts Council, and twice longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize.
https://robmclennan.blogspot.com/2023...
SOCIAL MEDIA:
https://www.instagram.com/nick_voro/
https://twitter.com/NickVoroWriter
GET YOUR COPY HERE:
https://www.amazon.com/Conversational...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Read
September 30, 2022Cannot possibly rate my book. Nor do I feel a review from me is necessary.
The book is available on Amazon. Take a chance, grab a copy.
The support has been incredible. Thank You if you have purchased a copy, if you have added this book, if you have expressed any interest at all. It means a lot. I appreciate every single one of you.
Cheers
The book is available on Amazon. Take a chance, grab a copy.
The support has been incredible. Thank You if you have purchased a copy, if you have added this book, if you have expressed any interest at all. It means a lot. I appreciate every single one of you.
Cheers
January 25, 2022
Nick Voro's "Conversational Therapy" is an excellent compilation of seven short stories and three one-act plays whose themes range from action-filled escaping acts to suspenseful enigmas. There's an angst feeling permeating all the stories and plays, whose main characters and narrators (almost all short stories are narrated from a first-person POV) are more often than not failed people. There's also a very North American vibe throughout the whole book, and both short stories and plays are quite sarcastic, socially engaged, and cinematic. Voro plays with the usual clichés, molding them into something else while attaining an overall thrilling or surprising effect.
I would highlight the metafictional story about a hitman titled "Murder on Christmas Eve", and also the stories "The Motel", "The Train Ride" and "The Last Laugh", as well the one-act play - that feels like a short story - "Psychiatrist's Psychiatrist". A very pleasing reading.
I would highlight the metafictional story about a hitman titled "Murder on Christmas Eve", and also the stories "The Motel", "The Train Ride" and "The Last Laugh", as well the one-act play - that feels like a short story - "Psychiatrist's Psychiatrist". A very pleasing reading.
November 6, 2022
Conversational Therapy is a book that contains seven short stories and three plays. I talked with the author a few times. And then months later we reconnected and I started to read his book.
I didn't really know what to expect. The author himself wondered if the book would be for me. And that intrigued me. And I must say this book totally blew me away. I didn't expect these short stories to pack such a powerful punch.
These stories are about the human psyche. About choices and the impact those choices have. It's about the depravity of the human mind. And how far you are willing to go in order to obtain what you desperately seek in life.
I love how most stories were told in first person. It gave them a personal, intimate and a sort of creepy feel to it.
What I loved most about Alligator Resort was how the writer uses each and every person around him to create the best book he can write. He doesn't give a shit about anybody. And I loved his descent into a short of madness.
A Keepsake Memory touched me personally. I loved how Michelle escaped and how stepfather eventually did one good for her.
The Train Ride had a movie vibe to it. And I think the ending of that story is the most powerful of all. I love how it is left up to our interpretation. Though in a way it felt final as well.
The Last Laugh is mostly a very painful and sad story. I truly felt all his emotions throughout his chapter.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Motel. It felt very threatening to read throughout.
And the plays! My lord, the three plays stole my heart. I love the stories. But the plays seem to have a slight edge over the stories.
My Haunted Life is so short, but damn, it ripped me apart. You felt this gluttoral pain and despair in those last few sentences. I completely choked up reading them.
Psychiatrist's Psychiatrist felt very maniacal from both sides. I felt how crazy and sane the woman was. And how much the psychiatrist fought to give into his urges.
Class Distinction is also so incredibly powerful. I think that is the most relevant story in the entire book. I love how it was set up. How strong and confident she was. And they way she proved her point was even more elevating and powerful.
All in all such a gripping and powerful book. If you love short stories then definitely pick this one up. It deserves to be read!
5 big stars from me!
I didn't really know what to expect. The author himself wondered if the book would be for me. And that intrigued me. And I must say this book totally blew me away. I didn't expect these short stories to pack such a powerful punch.
These stories are about the human psyche. About choices and the impact those choices have. It's about the depravity of the human mind. And how far you are willing to go in order to obtain what you desperately seek in life.
I love how most stories were told in first person. It gave them a personal, intimate and a sort of creepy feel to it.
What I loved most about Alligator Resort was how the writer uses each and every person around him to create the best book he can write. He doesn't give a shit about anybody. And I loved his descent into a short of madness.
A Keepsake Memory touched me personally. I loved how Michelle escaped and how stepfather eventually did one good for her.
The Train Ride had a movie vibe to it. And I think the ending of that story is the most powerful of all. I love how it is left up to our interpretation. Though in a way it felt final as well.
The Last Laugh is mostly a very painful and sad story. I truly felt all his emotions throughout his chapter.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Motel. It felt very threatening to read throughout.
And the plays! My lord, the three plays stole my heart. I love the stories. But the plays seem to have a slight edge over the stories.
My Haunted Life is so short, but damn, it ripped me apart. You felt this gluttoral pain and despair in those last few sentences. I completely choked up reading them.
Psychiatrist's Psychiatrist felt very maniacal from both sides. I felt how crazy and sane the woman was. And how much the psychiatrist fought to give into his urges.
Class Distinction is also so incredibly powerful. I think that is the most relevant story in the entire book. I love how it was set up. How strong and confident she was. And they way she proved her point was even more elevating and powerful.
All in all such a gripping and powerful book. If you love short stories then definitely pick this one up. It deserves to be read!
5 big stars from me!
August 15, 2022
Oftentimes when I finish a short fiction collection I classify it as a mixed bag. Some were great, a few good, the rest forgotten after I finished the last sentence of the story. Nick has written a collection that was a blast to read from start to finish. Every single piece was enjoyable.
What Nick does well consistently throughout each of the stories (there’s also plays, but we’ll get there) is pacing. The stories never let up even when the action is understated. Oh, and the dialogue? It felt like at times I was sitting in a bar late at night that I probably shouldn’t be in and I was eavesdropping on two people who were having a conversation I wasn’t supposed to hear. I absolutely love the way Nick writes his dialogue. I don’t love doing these kind of comparisons but as I was reading I had names pop up in my head like Patricia Highsmith, David Lynch, The Coen Brothers, the Paul Auster from The New York Trilogy, even Raymond Chandler. Of course, Nick’s voice is entirely his own but I can’t help but make my own personal connections from other books and/or movies I’ve seen.
Yes. And the plays. Since I’m a big fan of the way Nick writes dialogue I loved all of them. The plays are dark, complex, and a fascinating ride into the minds of characters who, to use a broad vague label that only hints at the mastery and complexity of each play, are psychologically torn.
Favorites? The stories “A Keepsake Memory”, “The Train Ride” (the ending is genius) and “Murder on Christmas Eve” (a metafictional nesting doll noir roller coaster of a story). Which plays were my favorite? All of the plays.
In short - buy it. Then read it. In that order, now, please.
What Nick does well consistently throughout each of the stories (there’s also plays, but we’ll get there) is pacing. The stories never let up even when the action is understated. Oh, and the dialogue? It felt like at times I was sitting in a bar late at night that I probably shouldn’t be in and I was eavesdropping on two people who were having a conversation I wasn’t supposed to hear. I absolutely love the way Nick writes his dialogue. I don’t love doing these kind of comparisons but as I was reading I had names pop up in my head like Patricia Highsmith, David Lynch, The Coen Brothers, the Paul Auster from The New York Trilogy, even Raymond Chandler. Of course, Nick’s voice is entirely his own but I can’t help but make my own personal connections from other books and/or movies I’ve seen.
Yes. And the plays. Since I’m a big fan of the way Nick writes dialogue I loved all of them. The plays are dark, complex, and a fascinating ride into the minds of characters who, to use a broad vague label that only hints at the mastery and complexity of each play, are psychologically torn.
Favorites? The stories “A Keepsake Memory”, “The Train Ride” (the ending is genius) and “Murder on Christmas Eve” (a metafictional nesting doll noir roller coaster of a story). Which plays were my favorite? All of the plays.
In short - buy it. Then read it. In that order, now, please.
December 12, 2021
We pass through the Human Zone crawling with the alligators, then we pick up a copy of A Spy’s Espionage Story, and the review begins.
“In her version: She stood up.”
Conversational Therapy sparkles with a dazzling literary exuberance that meticulously exhibits the grand overarching function of the stories we tell to serve as a refuge from the absurdity and pain of the world while also serving to describe the many ways that we find in these stories, an inescapable glimmering reflection, in all of its beauty and lyricism, a dynamic account of the many drives that make us human, in which often times is captured in the eloquence of the struggles which challenge us the most, which reminds us that in the exploration of great fiction such as this, in Nick Voro’s case, we feel most alive.
Author Nick Voro carries his readers artfully through seven short stories, and three plays with an intelligence and imagination that succeeds in excluding very little from his grandiose survey of the furthest depths of the potential of his fiction, which functions with a delightfully psychoanalytic precision, to unravel, with an unavoidable wit and dark humor, a new set of possible worlds, to offer readers the bliss of fiction as entertainment, but Voro also provides readers with a keen sense of a genuinely realized character driven behavioral analysis that cuts directly into a critical investigation into what makes us human, in this case, for many of the characters, and the worlds that they inhabit, both for better and for worse.
As a reader, I write reviews inside of the books as I read them. I am routinely driven by the pull of annotations, Nick Voro’s work has a bounty of vision and energy to it. The annotation process for me returns a book back into an open textual system that I am welcomed to become a part of, and I deeply enjoyed becoming a participant in the terrifically imagined worlds of Nick Voro.
In Debashish Sen’s exquisite essay, Psychological Realism in 19th Century Fiction: Studies in Turgenev, Tolstoy, Eliot, and Bronte, Sen states that, “Psychologically realistic texts function with the assertion that it is through an in-depth understanding and portrayal of the human mind and personality that the author can hope to make the world depicted in the novel realistic, meaningful and enriching.”
In Voro’s book, which is “realistic, meaningful, and enriching,” there is a deeply engaging “portrayal of the human mind and personality,” under investigation in which Voro uses the structure of the short story, as well as the theatrical play, in form, as a contextual sense of literary verisimilitude which he positions his characters within, as what appear as fascinating set pieces to allow both author and reader opportunity to experiment with a range of possible behavioral positions in which we evaluate the evolution of new novel possible outcomes which in of themselves serve as the foundation for what Voro, in my opinion is experimenting with, and that is a type of moral fiction that places definitive pressures upon the ethical acumen of his characters, routinely explored in a noir-ish, hardboiled world of crime and violence that invites readers to reevaluate their own orientation to the impulses of both good and evil.
Voro’s book explores a great deal of ideas, some of which I will index here, and if these themes interest you, this book is for you, it is most certainly for me and most certainly recommended: “alligators slithering on meticulously manicured lawns, asylum scandals, nefarious, occasionally window leaping psychologists, politicians, murder for hire plots, global cataclysm, hitchhiking through dystopia, capitalist ethics and the dialectics of a beating heart, the romantic metaphysical jurisdiction of the mechanics of memory, and the peculiarities of the mechanics of the paranormal, crestfallen gambling, debt-starved desert travelers precariously existing “in escape status” prowled by a possible bamboozler in a 72’ Corvette, and the obsessively self-reflective, anxious subjective existential ruminations of the impossible to satiate hunger of a calorically obsessed, low aptitude, former funny-man just to name a few.
Voro beautifully writes, “But the architecture of that simulated world collapsed, bringing me back, telling me that even a fabricated reality does not last forever, that just like in real life there is no permanence to anything,” yet the flickering impressions of the stories in Conversational Therapy are in fact something that will long last in the minds of readers long after his book comes to a close.
Phillip Freedenberg
Author of America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: A Diagnostic
Buffalo, NY
December 2021
“In her version: She stood up.”
Conversational Therapy sparkles with a dazzling literary exuberance that meticulously exhibits the grand overarching function of the stories we tell to serve as a refuge from the absurdity and pain of the world while also serving to describe the many ways that we find in these stories, an inescapable glimmering reflection, in all of its beauty and lyricism, a dynamic account of the many drives that make us human, in which often times is captured in the eloquence of the struggles which challenge us the most, which reminds us that in the exploration of great fiction such as this, in Nick Voro’s case, we feel most alive.
Author Nick Voro carries his readers artfully through seven short stories, and three plays with an intelligence and imagination that succeeds in excluding very little from his grandiose survey of the furthest depths of the potential of his fiction, which functions with a delightfully psychoanalytic precision, to unravel, with an unavoidable wit and dark humor, a new set of possible worlds, to offer readers the bliss of fiction as entertainment, but Voro also provides readers with a keen sense of a genuinely realized character driven behavioral analysis that cuts directly into a critical investigation into what makes us human, in this case, for many of the characters, and the worlds that they inhabit, both for better and for worse.
As a reader, I write reviews inside of the books as I read them. I am routinely driven by the pull of annotations, Nick Voro’s work has a bounty of vision and energy to it. The annotation process for me returns a book back into an open textual system that I am welcomed to become a part of, and I deeply enjoyed becoming a participant in the terrifically imagined worlds of Nick Voro.
In Debashish Sen’s exquisite essay, Psychological Realism in 19th Century Fiction: Studies in Turgenev, Tolstoy, Eliot, and Bronte, Sen states that, “Psychologically realistic texts function with the assertion that it is through an in-depth understanding and portrayal of the human mind and personality that the author can hope to make the world depicted in the novel realistic, meaningful and enriching.”
In Voro’s book, which is “realistic, meaningful, and enriching,” there is a deeply engaging “portrayal of the human mind and personality,” under investigation in which Voro uses the structure of the short story, as well as the theatrical play, in form, as a contextual sense of literary verisimilitude which he positions his characters within, as what appear as fascinating set pieces to allow both author and reader opportunity to experiment with a range of possible behavioral positions in which we evaluate the evolution of new novel possible outcomes which in of themselves serve as the foundation for what Voro, in my opinion is experimenting with, and that is a type of moral fiction that places definitive pressures upon the ethical acumen of his characters, routinely explored in a noir-ish, hardboiled world of crime and violence that invites readers to reevaluate their own orientation to the impulses of both good and evil.
Voro’s book explores a great deal of ideas, some of which I will index here, and if these themes interest you, this book is for you, it is most certainly for me and most certainly recommended: “alligators slithering on meticulously manicured lawns, asylum scandals, nefarious, occasionally window leaping psychologists, politicians, murder for hire plots, global cataclysm, hitchhiking through dystopia, capitalist ethics and the dialectics of a beating heart, the romantic metaphysical jurisdiction of the mechanics of memory, and the peculiarities of the mechanics of the paranormal, crestfallen gambling, debt-starved desert travelers precariously existing “in escape status” prowled by a possible bamboozler in a 72’ Corvette, and the obsessively self-reflective, anxious subjective existential ruminations of the impossible to satiate hunger of a calorically obsessed, low aptitude, former funny-man just to name a few.
Voro beautifully writes, “But the architecture of that simulated world collapsed, bringing me back, telling me that even a fabricated reality does not last forever, that just like in real life there is no permanence to anything,” yet the flickering impressions of the stories in Conversational Therapy are in fact something that will long last in the minds of readers long after his book comes to a close.
Phillip Freedenberg
Author of America and the Cult of the Cactus Boots: A Diagnostic
Buffalo, NY
December 2021
Read
July 4, 2022“I am a sarcastic asshole with a mocking sense of humor.”
When a book starts with a sentence like this you bet I’m all in.
This book is comprised of 7 short stories and 3 plays. Nick has a unique voice and his style is fresh leaving you feel like a participant in his stories even if the scenes are outlandish you are somehow transported yourself into the scene. He paints with his words in vast color and leaves you feeling thrilled.
My personal favorite story was “The Last Laugh” in which we get drawn into the life of an overweight comedian just trying to figure out life. The writing in this story resonated deeply and it felt extremely personal which is something I sincerely value in an authors stories. The protagonist observation on humanity at his comedy show was brilliant… “These people felt alone even when they were together. They wanted noise-canceling headphones for their home life, white noise for the stinging and invading pain.”
When a book starts with a sentence like this you bet I’m all in.
This book is comprised of 7 short stories and 3 plays. Nick has a unique voice and his style is fresh leaving you feel like a participant in his stories even if the scenes are outlandish you are somehow transported yourself into the scene. He paints with his words in vast color and leaves you feeling thrilled.
My personal favorite story was “The Last Laugh” in which we get drawn into the life of an overweight comedian just trying to figure out life. The writing in this story resonated deeply and it felt extremely personal which is something I sincerely value in an authors stories. The protagonist observation on humanity at his comedy show was brilliant… “These people felt alone even when they were together. They wanted noise-canceling headphones for their home life, white noise for the stinging and invading pain.”
May 25, 2022
Tense, suspenseful, frequently darkly humorous and wonderfully stylish throughout, the stories and plays in Conversational Therapy really did it for me. Voro has a real gift for vivid description, and the pacing is masterful: nothing drags, nothing ever feels the least bit unnecessary. That’s deeply impressive, especially considering the fact that this is the author’s debut collection.
This one of those rare collections where I didn’t find a single dud; every piece was solid. I do, of course, have my favorites: of the stories, they are “A Keepsake Memory,” “The Last Laugh,” “Murder on Christmas Eve,” and “The Hotel.” Since there are only three plays, I’ll just pick one favorite: “Psychiatrist’s Psychiatrist.”
Needless to say, I’m very excited to see what comes next from Nick Voro. I foreseetremendous things ahead for this writer.
Highly recommended.
P.S. — the night after finishing this collection, I had a terrifying dream inspired by “The Hotel,” and that almost never happens. I seriously can’t recall the last time a book inspired a nightmare I’ve had. If that’s not a testament to the power of Nick’s writing, I really don’t know what is.
This one of those rare collections where I didn’t find a single dud; every piece was solid. I do, of course, have my favorites: of the stories, they are “A Keepsake Memory,” “The Last Laugh,” “Murder on Christmas Eve,” and “The Hotel.” Since there are only three plays, I’ll just pick one favorite: “Psychiatrist’s Psychiatrist.”
Needless to say, I’m very excited to see what comes next from Nick Voro. I foreseetremendous things ahead for this writer.
Highly recommended.
P.S. — the night after finishing this collection, I had a terrifying dream inspired by “The Hotel,” and that almost never happens. I seriously can’t recall the last time a book inspired a nightmare I’ve had. If that’s not a testament to the power of Nick’s writing, I really don’t know what is.
June 12, 2022
You know what I love best in a book? Originality. An author with a voice that is screaming here I am, these stories are going to kick your ass they’re so good. That is Conversational Therapy: stories and plays. This collection is just awesome. The 1-2-3 punch of Alligator Resort, A Keepsake Memory and Hitchhiking with…is as good as a first 3 as Burroughs or Barthelme or Munro have done. Seriously. Good stuff. And Murder on Christmas Eve is one of the best stories I’ve read in years. Years.
If you are looking for something different. Pull you in a direction you ain’t never been then pick this up. Twisted and freakishly funny. Unlike the literature you’ve read before. Or going to. A writer to watch. Loved.
If you are looking for something different. Pull you in a direction you ain’t never been then pick this up. Twisted and freakishly funny. Unlike the literature you’ve read before. Or going to. A writer to watch. Loved.
November 27, 2022
What an entertaining journey. These seven short stories and three plays are unusual tales. I've not read anything quite like this collection by Voro.
A unique, quirky, suspenseful, entertaining, thrilling collection. They are sarcastic, witty and humourous in a dark way. Dealing with real life topics, themes and issue that are definitely conversational. "Deep conversations are the only ones worth having."
You will be drawn into each of the characters. Each story very character driven. The character's points of view are exceptionally written. Each being quite unique. The vivid writing can really allow you to get inside the various character's heads. Each one within this collection there to teach us something about the human psyche. "The truth can be as entrapping as it can be purifying."
There was something unique about each story. Surprisingly, I loved the plays. I especially liked how some of the stories offered alternative endings. That's life isn't it. Our actions. The path we choose can create different outcomes. I also loved that all endings weren't happy and some left you deciding yourself how they really ended.
My favourite was Class Distinctions. Not only did I love the dark and sarcastic humour. I loved how it looked at how humans make assumptions about each other. Sometimes they are right; sometimes they are wrong. Read it!
Quotes ~
"You'd be surprised what people are willing to do for others if they truly believe in their intentions."
"We always tend to remember the negative memories more... they stick out and get stuck in our memory banks."
"Dinner between strangers is the pursuance of romantic possibilities..."
"...something better would always arise as long as I acknowledged the truth. The ability to keep moving forward."
"When hatred replaces love, it can be a stimulant that motivates you to succeed in the eyes of those who want your downfall."
"I've always believed pleasure should belong to all participants."
"...uncertainty feeds paranoia and fear."
"Fate has a dark and twisted sense of humour."
A unique, quirky, suspenseful, entertaining, thrilling collection. They are sarcastic, witty and humourous in a dark way. Dealing with real life topics, themes and issue that are definitely conversational. "Deep conversations are the only ones worth having."
You will be drawn into each of the characters. Each story very character driven. The character's points of view are exceptionally written. Each being quite unique. The vivid writing can really allow you to get inside the various character's heads. Each one within this collection there to teach us something about the human psyche. "The truth can be as entrapping as it can be purifying."
There was something unique about each story. Surprisingly, I loved the plays. I especially liked how some of the stories offered alternative endings. That's life isn't it. Our actions. The path we choose can create different outcomes. I also loved that all endings weren't happy and some left you deciding yourself how they really ended.
My favourite was Class Distinctions. Not only did I love the dark and sarcastic humour. I loved how it looked at how humans make assumptions about each other. Sometimes they are right; sometimes they are wrong. Read it!
Quotes ~
"You'd be surprised what people are willing to do for others if they truly believe in their intentions."
"We always tend to remember the negative memories more... they stick out and get stuck in our memory banks."
"Dinner between strangers is the pursuance of romantic possibilities..."
"...something better would always arise as long as I acknowledged the truth. The ability to keep moving forward."
"When hatred replaces love, it can be a stimulant that motivates you to succeed in the eyes of those who want your downfall."
"I've always believed pleasure should belong to all participants."
"...uncertainty feeds paranoia and fear."
"Fate has a dark and twisted sense of humour."
November 12, 2023
Nick Voro’s stories—tending toward the comic, several of which are noir-inflected with unreliable characters in dangerous situations—have ambiguous endings with something of the metaphysical or karmic about their endings: a retribution occurs for the narrator’s or protagonist’s misdeeds, less divine than a natural outcome of their world views. The endings aren’t revelatory of a new understanding come too late but of the fulfillment of a worldview already possessed and honed like a worry bead over the decades of their lives. The plays, too, are short, comic pieces in the same mode as the stories, although the last play, about a homeless man demanding money from an employed woman, has a serious component to it, with the most reality-based of the collection’s “what goes around” endings and doubtful implications for the beggar, not the woman unimpressed by his sob story. “A Keepsake Memory,” one of the stories, also features a triumphant ending for its kidnapped protagonist, the daughter of a corrupt progressive politician, whose hypocritical career may soon end.
For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...
For more of my reviews, please see https://www.thebookbeat.com/backroom/...
December 30, 2022
Oh my god. One of my top two reads of 2022!
When I heard the title of this book and looked at the cover, I downloaded the kindle sample... I knew from the moment I started reading that I'd love it because I was immediately attracted by the style of the author. So I decided to order it and wow. I went story after story thinking, "this is my favorite" or "this is one of my favorites" because they are all so dark and sarcastic and clever... so original and different from what I usually read but coherent and profound at the same time.
It's hard to decide, but A Keepsake Memory and Murder on Christmas Eve are my two favorite stories. And the three plays... brilliant! Again, thought-provoking and dark, but sort of humorous at the same time.
Looking forward to whatever Nick publishes next!
When I heard the title of this book and looked at the cover, I downloaded the kindle sample... I knew from the moment I started reading that I'd love it because I was immediately attracted by the style of the author. So I decided to order it and wow. I went story after story thinking, "this is my favorite" or "this is one of my favorites" because they are all so dark and sarcastic and clever... so original and different from what I usually read but coherent and profound at the same time.
It's hard to decide, but A Keepsake Memory and Murder on Christmas Eve are my two favorite stories. And the three plays... brilliant! Again, thought-provoking and dark, but sort of humorous at the same time.
Looking forward to whatever Nick publishes next!
November 10, 2023
3.5
Class distinctions was INCREDIBLE and all the others were entertaining and fast paced. It also had generous margins which we gotta love!
Class distinctions was INCREDIBLE and all the others were entertaining and fast paced. It also had generous margins which we gotta love!
June 17, 2022
Up until Nick’s “Conversational Therapy”, I did not really enjoy short stories. I found them to be incomplete and rushed. Mr. Voro’s “Stories And Plays” changed that for me.
My favorite ones found in this collection would have to be “The Train Ride” where the perspectives change and has multiple endings, “Psychiatrist’s Psychiatrist” where a woman seeking a Psychiatrist’s assistance tells a fucked up story in a lighthearted way cornering him in to assisting her, and “Murder On Christmas Eve”, an action packed noir.
There are others as well and each have a what I’m looking for: reasonable character development without shortcutting everything else at its expense.
There is a story for everyone to enjoy in this collection and it has been an absolute pleasure reading a story a week (this book can be read in a few days, but what’s the rush).
Look out for this to be released soon from Corona Samizdat.
My favorite ones found in this collection would have to be “The Train Ride” where the perspectives change and has multiple endings, “Psychiatrist’s Psychiatrist” where a woman seeking a Psychiatrist’s assistance tells a fucked up story in a lighthearted way cornering him in to assisting her, and “Murder On Christmas Eve”, an action packed noir.
There are others as well and each have a what I’m looking for: reasonable character development without shortcutting everything else at its expense.
There is a story for everyone to enjoy in this collection and it has been an absolute pleasure reading a story a week (this book can be read in a few days, but what’s the rush).
Look out for this to be released soon from Corona Samizdat.
July 23, 2021
Review soon!
February 9, 2023
Unusual storylines, gripping suspense, some mature content.
March 31, 2023
some thoughts, as this will probably not qualify as a review:
i measure the value of any text i read these days mostly by its capability to activate me as a reader or captivate me emotionally. well, not of all of the books i read, as i sometimes just want to be lulled or to give in to topophila, because, well, it's pleasant to drift away into a comforting mindspace … but i do like my literature challenging more often than not.
that said, i don't think voro's texts in this collection of short stories & plays are that challenging, at least not to read on the surface level, even though they're not lulling you either. voro's carved out a little niche for himself that makes him absolutely readable without necessarily sacrificing all complexity or stylistic elegance – in fact, all of the stories are written exceptionally well.
i‘m not that big a reader of short stories. honestly, quite often i get the feeling that short story collections are something that is published in between major publications, like lengthier novels, maybe by throwing together chapters & scenes that didn't fit into novels or didn't work out so well, or texts that were left unfinished, etc. but when there's going on something conceptually, like a leitmotif holding the pieces together, that's were things start to get my attention. „conversational therapy“ will not disappoint in that regard.
content: 7 stories, mostly between 20-30 pages, also 3 plays, around 10 pages each, making up for 217 pp. in my edition, the motif holding them together being „conversational therapy“. without giving away too much, it mostly comes down to a) someone having literally a conversational therapy b) someone having had literally a conversational therapy in the past & being influenced by it in some way, or b) someone finding himself at something like a metaphorical „conversation therapy“.
as stated, the stories primarily are of the highly entertaining & thrilling kind, without ever falling completely flat, as the author always seems to have another card up his sleeve, not always necessarily content-wise, mostly just in the way the stories are presented to you, meaning: on the „discours“-level (in opposition to the „histoire“-level; speaking with genette, for all you fancy narratologists). there's definitely an experimental nature to the texts, and in almost any case that worked out pretty well for me as i felt activated & not so much dragged along like an inanimate piece of flesh. also, many of the stories are open-ended enough for the reader to make him something like an ally, or a co-author, which isn't easy to accomplish (as giving away too much can bore him and too less may frustrate him).
my clear favorite's „the last laugh", the story about a comedian giving his long-awaited comeback, mostly told via retrospective, as voro shines in it more than in any other story, even though it's probably the „slowest“ & less violent of all parts. it's constructed in such a clever way, shows remarkable wit & makes use of clever metaphors on more than just a few pages.
right now i feel super happy about the fact that voro is writing up a longer piece (maybe a novella?), as i think that an author who can do so much with short stories by pushing the genre can even do a lot more with longer forms, by taking away some of the quantitative restraints. still, „conversational therapy“ is as excellent a story collection as you can find & even one that'll inspire re-readings.
i measure the value of any text i read these days mostly by its capability to activate me as a reader or captivate me emotionally. well, not of all of the books i read, as i sometimes just want to be lulled or to give in to topophila, because, well, it's pleasant to drift away into a comforting mindspace … but i do like my literature challenging more often than not.
that said, i don't think voro's texts in this collection of short stories & plays are that challenging, at least not to read on the surface level, even though they're not lulling you either. voro's carved out a little niche for himself that makes him absolutely readable without necessarily sacrificing all complexity or stylistic elegance – in fact, all of the stories are written exceptionally well.
i‘m not that big a reader of short stories. honestly, quite often i get the feeling that short story collections are something that is published in between major publications, like lengthier novels, maybe by throwing together chapters & scenes that didn't fit into novels or didn't work out so well, or texts that were left unfinished, etc. but when there's going on something conceptually, like a leitmotif holding the pieces together, that's were things start to get my attention. „conversational therapy“ will not disappoint in that regard.
content: 7 stories, mostly between 20-30 pages, also 3 plays, around 10 pages each, making up for 217 pp. in my edition, the motif holding them together being „conversational therapy“. without giving away too much, it mostly comes down to a) someone having literally a conversational therapy b) someone having had literally a conversational therapy in the past & being influenced by it in some way, or b) someone finding himself at something like a metaphorical „conversation therapy“.
as stated, the stories primarily are of the highly entertaining & thrilling kind, without ever falling completely flat, as the author always seems to have another card up his sleeve, not always necessarily content-wise, mostly just in the way the stories are presented to you, meaning: on the „discours“-level (in opposition to the „histoire“-level; speaking with genette, for all you fancy narratologists). there's definitely an experimental nature to the texts, and in almost any case that worked out pretty well for me as i felt activated & not so much dragged along like an inanimate piece of flesh. also, many of the stories are open-ended enough for the reader to make him something like an ally, or a co-author, which isn't easy to accomplish (as giving away too much can bore him and too less may frustrate him).
my clear favorite's „the last laugh", the story about a comedian giving his long-awaited comeback, mostly told via retrospective, as voro shines in it more than in any other story, even though it's probably the „slowest“ & less violent of all parts. it's constructed in such a clever way, shows remarkable wit & makes use of clever metaphors on more than just a few pages.
right now i feel super happy about the fact that voro is writing up a longer piece (maybe a novella?), as i think that an author who can do so much with short stories by pushing the genre can even do a lot more with longer forms, by taking away some of the quantitative restraints. still, „conversational therapy“ is as excellent a story collection as you can find & even one that'll inspire re-readings.
January 7, 2023
“I fiercely tried to live, no matter how cruel the world seemed just then, no matter how imbecilic and animalistic were the human actions displayed to me just then, and how mistreated I felt. I found life to be something I wanted, something I desired.”
Long time coming but just finished @nick_voro ‘s debut collection of stories and plays! Are you looking for thrilling encounters and a fine tuned sarcasm? How about unique plots, such as genetically altered alligators hunting down a phony, a theological hitchhiking journey after a mysterious cataclysmic world event, and an unreliable narrator who barges into someone else’s story on Christmas Eve?
Nick is a good friend and I am very impressed with this book, it’s dense and sparse exactly where it needs to be and the plays especially were a great ender. Go get Conversational Therapy! 📚 thank you.
Long time coming but just finished @nick_voro ‘s debut collection of stories and plays! Are you looking for thrilling encounters and a fine tuned sarcasm? How about unique plots, such as genetically altered alligators hunting down a phony, a theological hitchhiking journey after a mysterious cataclysmic world event, and an unreliable narrator who barges into someone else’s story on Christmas Eve?
Nick is a good friend and I am very impressed with this book, it’s dense and sparse exactly where it needs to be and the plays especially were a great ender. Go get Conversational Therapy! 📚 thank you.
September 19, 2022
Not a single ugly grape in the bunch. Nick really knocked it out of the park with this debut collection and I can't wait to see what he puts out next.
My favourites were A Keepsake Memory, My Haunted Life, and Psychiatrist's Psychiatrist.
Really well done Nick! Highly recommend this incredible collection.
My favourites were A Keepsake Memory, My Haunted Life, and Psychiatrist's Psychiatrist.
Really well done Nick! Highly recommend this incredible collection.
August 14, 2022
Voro’s storytelling, whether you empathize or not, is incredibly personal. Even when dealing with characters modeled closely along traditional Noir lines, Voro doesn’t serve up plastic dames, dupes, and bosses. Be they washed up comedians, sketchy psychiatrists, or a deeply damaged child of privilege, his characters seek and contemplate and grope for answers. Furthermore, Voro’s characters are free to be whoever they are—even in some cases exerting agency over the ending of the story, or how it is being written. This pulling away of the curtain between storyteller and reader imbues Voro’s work with a unique sincerity. In contrast to many, many novels that discard form as a sleight of hand trick to dazzle and distract, Voro discards form so that his stories can breath and stretch and strike the reader between the eyes. Equal parts terrifying, liberating, and engrossing, Conversational Therapy: Stories and Plays is a promising debut and a clear sign that we can expect to be impressed by this author for years to come.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews