What do you think?
Rate this book
This Is Not Your City
Eleven women confront dramas both everyday and outlandish in Caitlin Horrocks' This Is Not Your City. In stories as darkly comic as they are unflinching, people isolated by geography, emotion, or circumstance cut imperfect paths to peace—they have no other choice. A Russian mail-order bride in Finland is rendered silent by her dislocation and loss of language, the mother of a severely disabled boy writes him postcards he'll never read on a cruise ship held hostage by pirates, and an Iowa actuary wanders among the reincarnations of those she's known in her 127 lives. Horrocks' women find no simple escapes, and their acts of faith and acts of imagination in making do are as shrewd as they are surprising.
169 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 2011
About the author
Caitlin Horrocks
13 books138 followersCaitlin Horrocks is author of the novel The Vexations, named one of the top ten books of 2019 by the Wall Street Journal. Her story collection Life Among the Terranauts is coming out January 2021 from Little, Brown. Her debut story collection This Is Not Your City was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Her stories and essays appear in The New Yorker, The Best American Short Stories, The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, The Pushcart Prize, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, Tin House, One Story, and other journals and anthologies. She is an Editor-at-Large for the Kenyon Review and teaches at Grand Valley State University, and in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. She lives with her family in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
March 2, 2019
Caitlin Horrocks is an imaginative and talented writer. She writes about women, mostly unhappy, who face a variety of fascinating predicaments. All the elements are here to create an amazing collection - but something is missing. There is a static feeling to these stories. I'm not quite sure what they need, but I'm sure Horrocks will figure it out in the future.
February 6, 2012
4**** and some more. Can I get a ½ star over here, please.
A big thank you to my friend Laura, whose rating led me to this.
This Is Not Your City is a collection of eleven stories about girls and women in very different geographies, age ranges and situations. The main link between most of the characters seems to be their common talent at managing their own expectations, which are all, sadly, pretty low. These tales contain some very strange characters, not all of them terribly likable. After the first story, “Zolaria,” I wasn’t sure I cared for the style and the story was odd. Each subsequent entry, however, left me a little more impressed. The cumulative effect is a very strong 4 stars +. These are beautifully crafted stories, complex and unusual.
“It Looks Like This,” consists of a make-up homework assignment from a teenage girl who’s missed some school because of her mother’s terminal illness. To help her graduate, a teacher has told to write, for credit, a paper about her life. The result shows her as a caregiver to her mother and friend to a local Amish girl who has a very different life and attitudes.
“Zero Conditional” is told from the POV of a brand new elementary school teacher and relays her interactions with her students. I do hope real Montessori schools screen their teachers better than this.
Favorites include
“World Champion Cow of the Insane,” a young woman who teaches internet usage to senior citizens (laugh out loud funny) and her husband, whose faithfulness she is led to doubt, spend their spare time exploring local attractions such as the Museum of Maritime Rescue, the International Nun Museum, the Historic Adventist Village, and decommissioned insane asylums.
In “Embodied,” the narrator is a Wells Fargo internal auditor, but only in this, her 127th, life. She tells us about the others and how her knowledge of them affects her present.
“At the Zoo” follows a 40-year-old patent lawyer through a day with her aging widowed father as she worries about her son’s interactions with grandpa. There is no mention of the lawyer’s being in therapy, but anyone raised by this man really ought to be.
“In the Gulf of Aden, Outside the Cape of Guardafui” is definitely the most suspenseful and probably the most heart-breaking tale, impossible to describe without risking spoilers.
These women of widely divergent ages and socio-economic classes all butt up against the limitations of their lives. Their reactions to this phenomenon are surprisingly similar, despite the differences in their circumstances. I was constantly impressed by how much back story and character Horrocks could weave, subtly, unobtrusively, into every paragraph, creating these dense gems that evoked people, places and situations that really resonated.
Some of these stories appeared previously in Best American Short Stories 2011, Tin House, Pushcart and The Paris Review (winning the $10,000 Plimpton Prize from the latter). Top shelf stuff.
A big thank you to my friend Laura, whose rating led me to this.
This Is Not Your City is a collection of eleven stories about girls and women in very different geographies, age ranges and situations. The main link between most of the characters seems to be their common talent at managing their own expectations, which are all, sadly, pretty low. These tales contain some very strange characters, not all of them terribly likable. After the first story, “Zolaria,” I wasn’t sure I cared for the style and the story was odd. Each subsequent entry, however, left me a little more impressed. The cumulative effect is a very strong 4 stars +. These are beautifully crafted stories, complex and unusual.
“It Looks Like This,” consists of a make-up homework assignment from a teenage girl who’s missed some school because of her mother’s terminal illness. To help her graduate, a teacher has told to write, for credit, a paper about her life. The result shows her as a caregiver to her mother and friend to a local Amish girl who has a very different life and attitudes.
“Zero Conditional” is told from the POV of a brand new elementary school teacher and relays her interactions with her students. I do hope real Montessori schools screen their teachers better than this.
Favorites include
“World Champion Cow of the Insane,” a young woman who teaches internet usage to senior citizens (laugh out loud funny) and her husband, whose faithfulness she is led to doubt, spend their spare time exploring local attractions such as the Museum of Maritime Rescue, the International Nun Museum, the Historic Adventist Village, and decommissioned insane asylums.
In “Embodied,” the narrator is a Wells Fargo internal auditor, but only in this, her 127th, life. She tells us about the others and how her knowledge of them affects her present.
“At the Zoo” follows a 40-year-old patent lawyer through a day with her aging widowed father as she worries about her son’s interactions with grandpa. There is no mention of the lawyer’s being in therapy, but anyone raised by this man really ought to be.
“In the Gulf of Aden, Outside the Cape of Guardafui” is definitely the most suspenseful and probably the most heart-breaking tale, impossible to describe without risking spoilers.
These women of widely divergent ages and socio-economic classes all butt up against the limitations of their lives. Their reactions to this phenomenon are surprisingly similar, despite the differences in their circumstances. I was constantly impressed by how much back story and character Horrocks could weave, subtly, unobtrusively, into every paragraph, creating these dense gems that evoked people, places and situations that really resonated.
Some of these stories appeared previously in Best American Short Stories 2011, Tin House, Pushcart and The Paris Review (winning the $10,000 Plimpton Prize from the latter). Top shelf stuff.
October 5, 2011
loved Caitlin Horrock’s debut story collection, This is Not Your City. It’s an outstanding story collection written with great beauty, skill and compassion that I’ll return to again and again in my lifetime to reread, study, savor, and celebrate.
The collection is so consistent it’s hard to say I’ve a favorite story, but “Steal Small” especially makes my heart wish it could sometimes wear armor.
From “Steal Small”:
“I brushed the backs of his knuckles. ‘The gangrene’s back,’ he said, which it was, but he doesn’t need to warn me like he thinks he does. He doesn’t really have gangrene, just some weird skin thing that makes him itch so bad he scratches even in his sleep, until the skin breaks open and starts oozing, sometimes blood and sometimes something clear and sometimes both together, so his skin shines in the light like a pink glaze, like glass or pastry.”
And then later, close to the story’s heartbreaking end:
“[Leo's] skin thing is getting worse. He’s got patches so bad they’re swampy with fluid, where his shirts stick and scabs won’t form. He’s always been hourly at National Beef so there’s no insurance. It’s like he’s molting into something new and horrible, and all I want to do is hold his skin closed, press the seams of him together, so he won’t fall apart and nothing in our lives with change, because I figure I’m about as happy as I’m going to get the way things are.”
The collection is so consistent it’s hard to say I’ve a favorite story, but “Steal Small” especially makes my heart wish it could sometimes wear armor.
From “Steal Small”:
“I brushed the backs of his knuckles. ‘The gangrene’s back,’ he said, which it was, but he doesn’t need to warn me like he thinks he does. He doesn’t really have gangrene, just some weird skin thing that makes him itch so bad he scratches even in his sleep, until the skin breaks open and starts oozing, sometimes blood and sometimes something clear and sometimes both together, so his skin shines in the light like a pink glaze, like glass or pastry.”
And then later, close to the story’s heartbreaking end:
“[Leo's] skin thing is getting worse. He’s got patches so bad they’re swampy with fluid, where his shirts stick and scabs won’t form. He’s always been hourly at National Beef so there’s no insurance. It’s like he’s molting into something new and horrible, and all I want to do is hold his skin closed, press the seams of him together, so he won’t fall apart and nothing in our lives with change, because I figure I’m about as happy as I’m going to get the way things are.”
October 16, 2017
I love that feeling when you start a book and get a few sentences in and then the thought hits you: "Oh, this one's for real!" Caitlin Horrocks is for real. The flow of these sentences is wonderful, and the worlds are not just fully envisioned but feel completely inhabited. It's a treat to read. If the story "Zolaria," which was by far my favorite, had come last instead of first, this would probably have felt like a 5-star book. Instead, I had the feeling throughout of constantly hoping to recapture that initial peak and not quite making it. Coming close! But not quite making it. But whatever, who cares... I will read every book Caitlin Horrocks writes from here on out. Hope she's writing a bunch of them.
July 9, 2011
This is a pretty remarkable collection of stories, and one that I think will have some pretty wide appeal.
The stories themselves are of a traditional sort, and here that mostly means that they are geared towards liming and articulating a particular consciousness-- the goal of the stories, in fact, seems to be to record these. It's not like this is an insignificant or underrepresented stream in short fiction-- it's essentially what Alice Munro does, for example, or, to a lesser extent, a writer like AL Kennedy. And Horrock does her job very well here-- the minds explored are nearly all women's minds, not like that's a bad thing, and mostly from the broader Midwest-- but there's nothing wrong with that, and within that broad descriptor, there is real variety, of ages, occupations, lifestyles and social classes. Really, for what it is, there is very little overlap here in the experiences captured, which is pretty striking, really, and throughout, Horrock deploys specific and real detail in ways that are, frankly, impressive, even in this age of google-- so there's some really specific insight about animals at the zoo, or maybe what dog breeders in my state are up to, or what happens when you're on a Mediterranean cruise, or in Estonia-- all delivered in ways that are decidedly not showy. It makes for an almost unbelievably assured collection.
Within this broader pattern of confidence and skill, a couple stories stood out, maybe not as the best stories (though they might be that, too) but as more interesting than the others, formally, and those were the ones where Horrocks shuttled between different consciousnesses. The story about the trip to the zoo goes into three minds, and orchestrates them successfully, and the cruise story is told from both sides of the couple's experience. It's appealing, as a reader, to see Horrocks push her obvious skills to do some more technically challenging things.
So what's missing? Well, little things-- some of the stories didn't, I felt, do a whole lot more than let me see a person's experience. The stories sometimes are circular and static, or else the revelation offered to end the tale doesn't seem motivated by or intended to illuminate the plot it occurs alongside. The stories are all very well written, and I mean that, but don't seem to have as much interest for language as you'd think-- there are at least two stories here that incorporate languages other than English, but don't seem to really do much with that except name drop foreign sounding words, and the first story in the collection, which includes a made-up language of sorts, also doesn't tie that fully to where the story is going. And the first two stories are a little too samey to me, at least in the context of where the collection eventually goes-- I think both stories are good, but maybe shouldn't be put next to each other (even in a collection where, I think, the ordering is mostly based on the age of the female protagonists-- I think you can break that if it means you're not repeating yourself).
Still, those are really minor quibbles, and this is a very very good book of stories.
The stories themselves are of a traditional sort, and here that mostly means that they are geared towards liming and articulating a particular consciousness-- the goal of the stories, in fact, seems to be to record these. It's not like this is an insignificant or underrepresented stream in short fiction-- it's essentially what Alice Munro does, for example, or, to a lesser extent, a writer like AL Kennedy. And Horrock does her job very well here-- the minds explored are nearly all women's minds, not like that's a bad thing, and mostly from the broader Midwest-- but there's nothing wrong with that, and within that broad descriptor, there is real variety, of ages, occupations, lifestyles and social classes. Really, for what it is, there is very little overlap here in the experiences captured, which is pretty striking, really, and throughout, Horrock deploys specific and real detail in ways that are, frankly, impressive, even in this age of google-- so there's some really specific insight about animals at the zoo, or maybe what dog breeders in my state are up to, or what happens when you're on a Mediterranean cruise, or in Estonia-- all delivered in ways that are decidedly not showy. It makes for an almost unbelievably assured collection.
Within this broader pattern of confidence and skill, a couple stories stood out, maybe not as the best stories (though they might be that, too) but as more interesting than the others, formally, and those were the ones where Horrocks shuttled between different consciousnesses. The story about the trip to the zoo goes into three minds, and orchestrates them successfully, and the cruise story is told from both sides of the couple's experience. It's appealing, as a reader, to see Horrocks push her obvious skills to do some more technically challenging things.
So what's missing? Well, little things-- some of the stories didn't, I felt, do a whole lot more than let me see a person's experience. The stories sometimes are circular and static, or else the revelation offered to end the tale doesn't seem motivated by or intended to illuminate the plot it occurs alongside. The stories are all very well written, and I mean that, but don't seem to have as much interest for language as you'd think-- there are at least two stories here that incorporate languages other than English, but don't seem to really do much with that except name drop foreign sounding words, and the first story in the collection, which includes a made-up language of sorts, also doesn't tie that fully to where the story is going. And the first two stories are a little too samey to me, at least in the context of where the collection eventually goes-- I think both stories are good, but maybe shouldn't be put next to each other (even in a collection where, I think, the ordering is mostly based on the age of the female protagonists-- I think you can break that if it means you're not repeating yourself).
Still, those are really minor quibbles, and this is a very very good book of stories.
August 8, 2012
What a breathtaking short story collection Caitlin Horrocks has created. The 11 stories in This is Not Your City all have female protagonists, and each is facing some type of struggle, whether it's dealing with an unhappy relationship (romantic or familial), confronting your fears, hating your job (and those you deal with), or even having your cruise ship hijacked by pirates. But these stories aren't all heavy, depressing ones—Horrocks brings the right balance of emotion, humor, and seriousness (when appropriate) to each.
I really enjoyed every story in this collection, although one was marred by missing pages in the Kindle version. But several stood out above the others—Zolaria, a woman's reflections on a childhood friend and confronting the fears that have plagued her since then; Zero Conditional, which followed a young woman who finds herself teaching but literally loathes her job and her students; World Champion Cow of the Insane, a tale of young marriage and questioning whether to trust your heart or someone else's assertions about your mate; Embodied, which follows a woman who believes she is on her 127th life, and is confronting a soul that did her wrong in a previous life—but in an unusual way; and In the Gulf of Aden, Past the Cape of Guardafui, about a couple escaping the sadness of their daily lives on a cruise, only to have the ship hijacked by pirates.
What I love about good short stories is that you come to care deeply about the characters and are sad when the stories end. I felt that way with almost every story in this collection, and honestly believe Horrocks could take nearly every one and turn it into a book of its own. If you enjoy short stories, definitely pick up This is Not Your City, and you'll marvel at both the author's writing ability and her skill at creating so many different characters and situations, nearly all of which feel authentic in their own way.
I really enjoyed every story in this collection, although one was marred by missing pages in the Kindle version. But several stood out above the others—Zolaria, a woman's reflections on a childhood friend and confronting the fears that have plagued her since then; Zero Conditional, which followed a young woman who finds herself teaching but literally loathes her job and her students; World Champion Cow of the Insane, a tale of young marriage and questioning whether to trust your heart or someone else's assertions about your mate; Embodied, which follows a woman who believes she is on her 127th life, and is confronting a soul that did her wrong in a previous life—but in an unusual way; and In the Gulf of Aden, Past the Cape of Guardafui, about a couple escaping the sadness of their daily lives on a cruise, only to have the ship hijacked by pirates.
What I love about good short stories is that you come to care deeply about the characters and are sad when the stories end. I felt that way with almost every story in this collection, and honestly believe Horrocks could take nearly every one and turn it into a book of its own. If you enjoy short stories, definitely pick up This is Not Your City, and you'll marvel at both the author's writing ability and her skill at creating so many different characters and situations, nearly all of which feel authentic in their own way.
January 2, 2012
I’m not sure how to bring this whole collection together in a review except to say the stories are all superbly written and enormously entertaining. Horrocks’ humor comes through in just the right amount and at just the right times. I am so thankful to the person who recommended this book to me, and I agree with her that the first story, “Zolaria,” is the best of the bunch. In fact, I wouldn’t mind spending a whole novel with the characters. It reminded me a lot of Lorrie Moore’s Who Will Run the Frog Hospital, which I love. While I found myself laughing out loud at times, I was also haunted by some of the characters such as the narrator of “Embodied” and the lost young man in “The Lion Gate.” Horrocks often juxtaposes the past and the present and abruptly switches between the two. Normally, I would find this jarring, but she makes it work. I’m already looking forward to more from this author.
October 23, 2016
I'm not a big fan of short stories, but these are all really good. They are the perfect length, for one thing. For another, they manage to draw the reader in immediately and unfold delectably from there. It's like getting on a crowded train and, for a stop or two, overhearing a startlingly quirky and gripping conversation. Then the doors open and, though you must get off, you can't stop thinking about those people as the train pulls away.
The characters are complex, understated, and utterly human, which isn't an easy thing to pull off in a handful of pages. And each story contains an attention-grabbing premise (or two) woven subtly into the narrative (e.g., "mail-order" marriage; animal testing; reincarnation; birth defects; Pirate hijaking, to name a few).
A good read if you're looking for something fanciful and different.
The characters are complex, understated, and utterly human, which isn't an easy thing to pull off in a handful of pages. And each story contains an attention-grabbing premise (or two) woven subtly into the narrative (e.g., "mail-order" marriage; animal testing; reincarnation; birth defects; Pirate hijaking, to name a few).
A good read if you're looking for something fanciful and different.
August 18, 2011
Review at The Lit Pub: http://thelitpub.com/horrocks-shows-t...
October 25, 2012
From the woman who is able to recall her past lives to the couple on a cruise that is overtaken by pirates, Caitlin Horrocks’ debut collection of short stories takes the reader around the world and into the lives of eleven unique women. In This is Not Your City, Horrocks is able to present people and situations that are extremely different while still creating an engaging and cohesive collection.
Although Horrocks deals with difficult topics such as death, a ticking biological clock, and a severe disability, the stories do not feel forced. Instead, the emotion is powerful and realistic. Most of Horrocks’ stories do not have a happy, satisfying conclusion. But like life, they are left open ended. She explores both the lives of people who have been victimized and those who have been the victimizers. Because of this, it is difficult to read at times; several of the stories, such as “Steal Small,” will make you feel uncomfortable, but in the best way possible.
The last two stories, “This is Not Your City” and “In the Gulf of Aden, Past the Cape of Guardafui,” particularly stood out. However, the two stories are vastly different. The first of these, about a Russian mail-order bride, explores what it means to find identity in an environment you are not used to. The story is engaging but still manages to convey complex emotions. The second of these stories, “In the Gulf of Aden, Past the Cape of Guardafui," is the story of a couple who go on a cruise as a vacation away from their severely disabled son. However, the cruise ship is overtaken by pirates. During the wait for a settlement with the pirates, the reader learns about the intricacy of the couple’s life. Despite their differences, both stories use plot to reveal deeper complexities.
Overall, Horrocks has crafted a beautiful collection that accurately reflects life and the emotions that stem from it. The powerful and descriptive writing highlights her abilities as a writer. She is able to draw you into the stories and make you care about the characters in them. This is Not Your City is not collection you will soon forget.
by April Hanks
Although Horrocks deals with difficult topics such as death, a ticking biological clock, and a severe disability, the stories do not feel forced. Instead, the emotion is powerful and realistic. Most of Horrocks’ stories do not have a happy, satisfying conclusion. But like life, they are left open ended. She explores both the lives of people who have been victimized and those who have been the victimizers. Because of this, it is difficult to read at times; several of the stories, such as “Steal Small,” will make you feel uncomfortable, but in the best way possible.
The last two stories, “This is Not Your City” and “In the Gulf of Aden, Past the Cape of Guardafui,” particularly stood out. However, the two stories are vastly different. The first of these, about a Russian mail-order bride, explores what it means to find identity in an environment you are not used to. The story is engaging but still manages to convey complex emotions. The second of these stories, “In the Gulf of Aden, Past the Cape of Guardafui," is the story of a couple who go on a cruise as a vacation away from their severely disabled son. However, the cruise ship is overtaken by pirates. During the wait for a settlement with the pirates, the reader learns about the intricacy of the couple’s life. Despite their differences, both stories use plot to reveal deeper complexities.
Overall, Horrocks has crafted a beautiful collection that accurately reflects life and the emotions that stem from it. The powerful and descriptive writing highlights her abilities as a writer. She is able to draw you into the stories and make you care about the characters in them. This is Not Your City is not collection you will soon forget.
by April Hanks
November 28, 2017
Caitlin Horrocks is a talented writer. Reading these stories, she does a great job of creating backstory and building out a set-up that feels real. The stories were rooted in a variety of different settings and ideas that all felt original. As an aspiring short story writer, I felt like there was a lot I could learn and take away from Caitlin's writing.
So why 3 stars instead of 4 or 5? I felt like all of Caitlin's stories were missing something... a real story. Each piece felt like it was done as prep work for writing a novel. Like a character piece to try and capture the personality and backstory of the character in the piece, but little else. The stories have very little forward movement and often seem to end in any particular place with no real conclusion or evolution in the character.
The stories all started to have the same general play to me. Female lead who appears lonely/disengaged with the world around her. They are all passive characters that largely seem to be riding along with the events around them. Many have a comedic male character that is causing the action around them which the character is observing. The detachment stems from a troubling/formative experience in her past which will be revealed in alternating segments within the short story alongside a rather static current sequence of events that highlight the way the main character has never recovered from these events.
I did enjoy several of the stories though and wished to see more of them. Zero Conditional was hilarious (a teacher struggling with classroom management finds success by threatening/punishing her students), Steal Small had a dark backstory that was effectively told about a sister being sexually abused though the story at present time didn't offer much.
The stories are very skillfully written, but I would like to see Caitlin Horrocks writing evolve a bit more before I would pick up another story of hers.
So why 3 stars instead of 4 or 5? I felt like all of Caitlin's stories were missing something... a real story. Each piece felt like it was done as prep work for writing a novel. Like a character piece to try and capture the personality and backstory of the character in the piece, but little else. The stories have very little forward movement and often seem to end in any particular place with no real conclusion or evolution in the character.
The stories all started to have the same general play to me. Female lead who appears lonely/disengaged with the world around her. They are all passive characters that largely seem to be riding along with the events around them. Many have a comedic male character that is causing the action around them which the character is observing. The detachment stems from a troubling/formative experience in her past which will be revealed in alternating segments within the short story alongside a rather static current sequence of events that highlight the way the main character has never recovered from these events.
I did enjoy several of the stories though and wished to see more of them. Zero Conditional was hilarious (a teacher struggling with classroom management finds success by threatening/punishing her students), Steal Small had a dark backstory that was effectively told about a sister being sexually abused though the story at present time didn't offer much.
The stories are very skillfully written, but I would like to see Caitlin Horrocks writing evolve a bit more before I would pick up another story of hers.
December 22, 2011
I discovered this young (28 years old) author while reading the 2011 edition of Best American Short Stories. Her story, The Sleep, was the best of the best. The stories in this collection are mostly written from the point of view of a woman in her 20's. Sometimes the woman is American, other times the woman is foreign. A typical story line is a girl meets a guy and move to a new town, where they are poor but happy. She takes a library job teaching computers and meets an old man who casts suspicion on her boyfriend but her friends help her see the old guy as the malcontent that he is. The interplay of male-female relationships is the main topics of most stories and is probably the reason I enjoyed them so much. Another reason is that the author says a lot without saying too much. The stories have satisfactory endings but leave a lot of interesting questions for the reader to answer as he likes.
July 27, 2011
I'm not normally one for short-story anthologies: in the past, each time I sampled one, I felt no connection to the characters: they were just there & gone, and I didn't really care what had happened to them. I was continually left wanting more and believed there was no way to create compelling tales within the span of several pages.
This book has relegated that belief to the dustbin...the stories are quite compact, but are also so well-written that they contain entire worlds and characters you want to know more about. You feel their joys & pain...the emotional impact of the first several stories felt like one of those blows to the stomach that leave you winded.
I like books that prove me wrong -- although I've yet to read a romance that I like -- and this one does it stellar-ly (is that word?).
Highly recommended.
This book has relegated that belief to the dustbin...the stories are quite compact, but are also so well-written that they contain entire worlds and characters you want to know more about. You feel their joys & pain...the emotional impact of the first several stories felt like one of those blows to the stomach that leave you winded.
I like books that prove me wrong -- although I've yet to read a romance that I like -- and this one does it stellar-ly (is that word?).
Highly recommended.
September 27, 2011
I'm hard to please with short story collections, but very much enjoyed This Is Not Your City. Several of the stories were perfectly rendered for my taste, especially It Looks Like This (second story in the collection). I read it three times before I considered myself done with this book.
Only four stars because I thought one or two of the stories were opaque, at least to my brain. However the story I felt embodied this problem most was used for the title of the book and was and O. Henry prize winner, so what do I know?
Enjoy!
Only four stars because I thought one or two of the stories were opaque, at least to my brain. However the story I felt embodied this problem most was used for the title of the book and was and O. Henry prize winner, so what do I know?
Enjoy!
Read
November 15, 2012Horrocks's story-telling powers make me blather on like a blurb. This debut author has a remarkable ability to make each story a world complete, only a world without oxygen or nitrogen. Her coup de grace is her humanity and sense of humor. And her lyric poetry, when she wishes to turn it on. I read the first page of her first story five times before I got it. Who is this stringer together of words who writes a novel in a sentence and then writes the first page of a story comprised of twenty-five novels, I asked?
None other than Caitlin Horrocks.
None other than Caitlin Horrocks.
May 27, 2011
Absolutely stunning writer. Lots of stories about all manner of women - smart, unambitious, dumb, practical - who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. Throw in a reference to "The Hobbit" on the first page and - well - just wade into Horrocks' prose and enjoy whiling away the hours in her dark and witty fantasy worlds.
January 27, 2013
This is a book that speaks true of women. I encountered that there was no price for a mother's protection, recognized the yearnings of a lonely soul and a familiar regret for an abandoned friendship. I saw how love and doubt are not necessarily in negative correlation. Women do and undo, create and crush,and most of the times it is just so we can keep on living.
June 24, 2018
I sought out this book after reading another of Caitlin Horrocks' stories in an anthology (There). I was not disappointed. Each story shines with originality. The only thing I didn't care for were the unnamed protagonists in a few stories -- a name is a primary way I relate to a character. I will look for more of her work.
June 16, 2012
Excellent collection of short stories.
"Embodied" is one of the best stories I've ever read.
from page 91:
"In this, my 127th life,"....
"Embodied" is one of the best stories I've ever read.
from page 91:
"In this, my 127th life,"....
May 6, 2024
A remarkable and beautifully written set of short stories about all the most painful parts of life. With unusual candor Horrocks writes into life characters that are both deeply flawed and yet completely relatable.
May 28, 2021
These stories are excellent.
May 27, 2023
Really, really, really good. Displaced characters with real struggles in othering scenarios--vacationers, foreigners, kids and the reincarnated and thieves and mothers. Loved it.
June 2, 2012
Short story collections are perfect for a B&B because guests can complete a whole story and then savor the nuances while falling asleep … I discovered This is Not Your City at the Hyannis Barnes & Noble, while waiting for Sven to have a tooth extracted. Caitlin Horrocks is probably not a familiar name, but it will become one. Her first collection of short stories reminds me of a meticulously loomed scarf, with bits of shiny thread woven through the mohair, and nubby wool sticking out here and there, soft and irresistible. This young writer has not only a knack for dialogue, but also the ability to create unforgettable characters. They remind me of folks you might stand behind at Cumberland Farms and not really notice. Caitlin zeroes in on the lives of these people with astounding precision and empathy. Lyssa, for instance, in Steal Small. In 16 pages the reader gets right into her head. Boyfriend Leo “bunches unwanted dogs” for sale to laboratories on weekends and shoots cows dead at the slaughterhouse during the week. Lyssa works at Goodwill. She isn’t wild about bunching dogs but realizes it helps pay the rent. And then there’s younger sister Mouse, whom Lyssa could not protect from years of what was surely sexual abuse by a neighbor. I read in the New York Times yesterday about an alarming new stimulant: bath salts. I could imagine Leo suggesting bath salts to Lyssa, and her going along with the idea. Sven tells me 40% of the youth in Spain find no jobs and must live at home. I don’t know what the percentage is here in the USA, but no doubt it’s high. After reading Steal Small, I was left thinking that at least Lyssa and Leo have a roof over their heads, even if dogs pay for it with their lives. Conclusion: these characters seemed so real that they remained with me, long after I had turned off the light. Do get this book and discover Caitlin Horrocks. Her short story collection is great.
August 2, 2011
"She taught me to quilt years ago. I've always done it by myself. Quilting circles seem like a dumb idea. I don't want to sit around and listen to people bellyache. My problems are mine. No one else's. I've never really liked quilting that much" (22).
“In Beulah, Robin would watch people watch her, not hostile, just curious, wondering, What are you? Are you—something? Something different than what we are?
“What are you? Robin was always tempted to ask them. What somethings are all of you?” (62).
“I just won’t wish them, and then when they all don’t happen it won’t mean a thing to me” (89).
“He weighs the cup in his palm and knows wistfully that the drink remains the best, most pleasure-giving thing he will experience that day, or the day after, or the day after that. He will see giraffes and he will hug his grandson and his daughter will smile at him and he will seize his mind on that orangutan cup and he will go to bed and he will wake up so he can have another. This is better than having no reason to wake up at all” (118).
“…patches of snow stayed slumped in the shade of the pine trees until May” (144).
“…and practices speeches to her daughter in her head so often they are threadbare before she has the courage to say them aloud” (145).
“…except for the word problems lurking at the end of every exam” (146).
“…printed with roses and stained brown from the seep of old teabags” (152).
“They pondered the appropriate footwear for a hostage situation” (161).
“…the outlines of 316 people living safely in the side of a leviathan” (169). *describing a cruise ship at night
“In Beulah, Robin would watch people watch her, not hostile, just curious, wondering, What are you? Are you—something? Something different than what we are?
“What are you? Robin was always tempted to ask them. What somethings are all of you?” (62).
“I just won’t wish them, and then when they all don’t happen it won’t mean a thing to me” (89).
“He weighs the cup in his palm and knows wistfully that the drink remains the best, most pleasure-giving thing he will experience that day, or the day after, or the day after that. He will see giraffes and he will hug his grandson and his daughter will smile at him and he will seize his mind on that orangutan cup and he will go to bed and he will wake up so he can have another. This is better than having no reason to wake up at all” (118).
“…patches of snow stayed slumped in the shade of the pine trees until May” (144).
“…and practices speeches to her daughter in her head so often they are threadbare before she has the courage to say them aloud” (145).
“…except for the word problems lurking at the end of every exam” (146).
“…printed with roses and stained brown from the seep of old teabags” (152).
“They pondered the appropriate footwear for a hostage situation” (161).
“…the outlines of 316 people living safely in the side of a leviathan” (169). *describing a cruise ship at night
January 16, 2012
This is an amazing group of stories by an imaginative and funny writer. Her scenarios -- from the woman who's lived 127 lives and feels like the baby growing in her was someone with whom she had nasty dealings in the past to the couple who send postcards from their cruise to their severely disabled son -- are just offbeat enough to catch your interest but real enough not to seem like short-story workshop exercises. You get the feeling that Horrocks has truly absorbed the many places that she has lived (unlike most people who can barely navigate their hometowns) and carefully observed people, tucking all she has learned on little shelves in her mind and selecting her memories as she constructs her tales.
July 22, 2014
Wow!! In the last several years I have become a big fan of short stories. Unlike novels, which are often just average, I find that with short fiction it's either love or hate. Perhaps because the author has such a limited time with the reader in each story. I am impatient with short stories where the author repeats themes over and over. This collection is the BEST thing I have read in a long time. Each story is very different yet each is superb. Language, plot, style, honesty (particular about our less lovable traits) is all there and at the top of its game. I have never read a short story collection where there was not a single story that I didn't love. I so wish this author had more out there. I am sure she will in the future. Just fantastic!!!
July 7, 2018
In this collection of short stories, Horrocks writes one story in an odd mix of present and future tense, another in the form of an essay/letter with pictures, and somehow these stories don’t come off as kitschy or cute, or as trying to be different for its own sake, but rather as the best possible way they could have been told. In other stories, she writes about a couple whose cruise ship gets held up by pirates; about a woman who has lived 126 different lives; about a woman who does not speak the same language as her husband; about a school teacher who tortures her students. Told in riveting prose, the stories in This Is Not Your City are breathtaking in their variety, complexity, and dark, inescapable truth.
June 26, 2011
If you're at all a fan of short stories or quirky fiction, you should find a lot to like here. Horrocks frequently plays with the concept of time and there are many (light) science-fiction or magical realism touches. Recommended for fans of Karen Russell, Gina Ochsner, Rebecca Makkai, and, to a lesser extent, Alice Munro.
June 13, 2011
Loved it. I felt safe in these stories--not because the situations were safe, but because I had faith that Horrocks was taking me somewhere meaningful and with the best possible sentences. Even more lovely was that the "somewhere" she took me was always unexpected.
These stories are packed with detail, all of it handled so deftly I wonder how many lives it took to gather them all.
Some of my favorite lines: "Hating children left her breathless." "It's an unfair thing, kindness making people out to be dumber than they are."
These stories are packed with detail, all of it handled so deftly I wonder how many lives it took to gather them all.
Some of my favorite lines: "Hating children left her breathless." "It's an unfair thing, kindness making people out to be dumber than they are."
December 6, 2011
I loved this book. Loved every story. I actually would give it a 4.5. I picked it up because a friend suggested I read it. She said Ms. Horrocks writing reminded her of mine. I should be so lucky! She develops such a strong voice in her characters. I love that many of the characters are not terribly like-able, or rather the ugly side of their nature is not hidden at all. Many of the stories drop you into a moment in time in the characters lives and then you learn about them through their actions surrounding one isolated moment. Genius!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews