Like one reviewer stated with a one star rating, Le Clezio's writing is not for everyone. Since Le Clezio won the Nobel Prize in Literature, I thought his writing would be unique. It turned out to be far better than I imagined. He won the Nobel Prize for being an "author of new departures, poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy, explorer of a humanity beyond and below the reigning civilization". And, if you haven't read his books, this collection of short stories is a good start. It's a good pre-requisite to his most famous novel, Desert, and his second-best, The Prospector. Both are written in a similar poetic style, but delves deeper into certain cultures.
Le Clezio likes to write in present tense, which I believe is somewhat popular in France, where Le Clezio was born. It's not written in a style that is similar to most books. He talks of the sea, the sky, the wind, the trees in a romantic way, changing the way the novel/short story is written.
"The Boy Who Had Never Seen the Sea," is by Le Clezio and is in The New Yorker. That's also a good starting point before buying any of his books. Of course, the style is not for anyone, but it seems people who enjoy poetry may like the way Le Clezio writes.
Each story follows a child who sees the world in a different way. Each child, or young adult sometimes, is somewhat a wanderer, leaving their home and discovering something or, in "The Shepherd," joins a group of children who are shepherds. There is not much dialogue except for "Mondo." But the main thing that separates him from other writers is his imagery of the sea, desert, clouds, and houses. Especially the sea, which is something Le Clezio obviously loves.
This is Nobel Prize quality writing. Before 1978, his writing was experimental. To be honest, I couldn't complete his first novel, The Interrogation, which he now calls "close to a joke" (The Guardian interview). Funnily, his first novel, which was experimental, won a prestigious award, the Prix Renaudot.
This short story collection marks his departure from his past books. Starting with Mondo and Other Stories, his writing branched off from experimental and went on towards showing the mature, poetic adventure that explores civilization across the world, including Mexico, Morocco, South Korea, and France. It is unlike anything I have read.