What do you think?
Rate this book
Absolute Disaster: Fiction from Los Angeles
A collection of short stories examines life in Los Angeles through a myriad of disasters by such authors as Harlan Ellison, Rachel M. Resnick, Charlie Hauck, and Michelle Latiolais
- GenresShort Stories
383 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
6 people want to read
About the author
Lee Montgomery
62 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Lee Montgomery is the author of The Things Between Us, A Memoir (Free Press, August 2006), Whose World Is This? Stories (University of Iowa Press, September 2007), and Searching for Emily: Illustrated (Nothing Moments Press, October 2007). The Things Between Us received the 2007 Oregon Book Award in creative nonfiction and Whose World Is This? the 2007 John Simmons Iowa Short Fiction Award.
She has an undergraduate degree in Biology from Antioch College and an MFA in creative writing from the Iowa Writer's Workshop. She was the fiction editor at the Iowa Review, the editor of the Santa Monica Review, and editor of Transgressions: The Iowa Anthology of Innovative Fiction (University of Iowa Press), Absolute Disaster: Fiction from Los Angeles (Dove Books), and the upcoming Woof! Writers on Dogs (Viking Penguin, September 2008).
Montgomery's fiction has appeared in Black Clock, Iowa Review, Denver Quarterly, Story Magazine, Black River Review, the Santa Monica Review and the Antioch Review. Nonfiction has been published in Alaska Quarterly, the American Book Review, Boston Magazine, Travel Holiday, 'Scape, The Hollywood Reporter, Tin House, Paris Passion, Boston Phoenix, the Oregonian, Willamette Week New England Monthly, the Antioch Review and the anthology The Honeymoon is Over (January 2007, Warner Books). Whose World is This? was also nominated for the 2008 Ken Kesey Award in Fiction.
She is the editorial director of Tin House Books and the executive editor for Tin House magazine. She lives with her husband and their two bizarre dogs in Portland, Oregon.
Lee Montgomery is the author of The Things Between Us, A Memoir (Free Press, August 2006), Whose World Is This? Stories (University of Iowa Press, September 2007), and Searching for Emily: Illustrated (Nothing Moments Press, October 2007). The Things Between Us received the 2007 Oregon Book Award in creative nonfiction and Whose World Is This? the 2007 John Simmons Iowa Short Fiction Award.
She has an undergraduate degree in Biology from Antioch College and an MFA in creative writing from the Iowa Writer's Workshop. She was the fiction editor at the Iowa Review, the editor of the Santa Monica Review, and editor of Transgressions: The Iowa Anthology of Innovative Fiction (University of Iowa Press), Absolute Disaster: Fiction from Los Angeles (Dove Books), and the upcoming Woof! Writers on Dogs (Viking Penguin, September 2008).
Montgomery's fiction has appeared in Black Clock, Iowa Review, Denver Quarterly, Story Magazine, Black River Review, the Santa Monica Review and the Antioch Review. Nonfiction has been published in Alaska Quarterly, the American Book Review, Boston Magazine, Travel Holiday, 'Scape, The Hollywood Reporter, Tin House, Paris Passion, Boston Phoenix, the Oregonian, Willamette Week New England Monthly, the Antioch Review and the anthology The Honeymoon is Over (January 2007, Warner Books). Whose World is This? was also nominated for the 2008 Ken Kesey Award in Fiction.
She is the editorial director of Tin House Books and the executive editor for Tin House magazine. She lives with her husband and their two bizarre dogs in Portland, Oregon.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 8, 2025
Not an absolute disaster but more of a mixed bag.
Highlights include the ever reliable t.c. boyle;
a classic by Harlan Ellison, (although it didn't have the same impact as when I first read it back in 1969)
an interesting memoir by Jervey Tervalon about growing up black in LA just as turf (and turf battles) began to predominate;
C.P. Rosenthal's story about being trapped in (an inevitable) wildfire;
and Caroline See's apocalyptic tale (mostly).
Highlights include the ever reliable t.c. boyle;
a classic by Harlan Ellison, (although it didn't have the same impact as when I first read it back in 1969)
an interesting memoir by Jervey Tervalon about growing up black in LA just as turf (and turf battles) began to predominate;
C.P. Rosenthal's story about being trapped in (an inevitable) wildfire;
and Caroline See's apocalyptic tale (mostly).
November 28, 2011
As with any short story collection, it's hit and miss. It wasn't until I got to the end, however, that I found stories that I just straight skipped.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews