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I’m glad I gave this book a chance. The pretentious prologue annoyed the shit out of me, but after that it does get very good.

This might be my first DNF of the year.

So far this is one of the most excruciatingly boring books I’ve ever attempted to read in my life.

I’ve been wondering if this was worth the hype, and so far? Yes. This is brilliant writing.

To be honest, the satirical “My Pafology” kinda reminds me of Junot Diaz’s terrible writing that is somehow critically acclaimed, which makes it even funnier.

This is starting off very strong. I don’t want to put it down, and since I don’t celebrate Christmas I don’t have to.

I’ve read this so many times I’ve lost count, but the first time I was 9 years old, and the last time was back when I was still married… maybe a decade ago? It’s always interesting to return to it.

I just finished the first story in this book, the title story, and I think this might be my favorite short story I have ever read.

Reading this again nearly 12 years later. It’s interesting how much my perception has changed.

Reading this classic again for the first time in twenty or so years.

This is HILARIOUS. June is that insufferable bitch protagonist that you just love to hate. What a fun read.

This started out very strong, but after the first few chapters it started to seem very juvenile and rushed. There’s also little contradictions. For example, the protagonist wonders to herself when she’s on the phone with her father what his girlfriend looks like… but later it’s revealed that she saw pictures of the woman and read their love letters before her father even left her mother.

So far this year is REALLY good. Props to Amy Tan.

This is a huge disappointment so far.
“Who ever thought a mother would need to sanitize a counter of the milk meant for her baby? The milk should be sopped up using a ceremonial rag that’s then set at the foot of a towering, infinitely beautiful sculpture carved to honor the Eternal Mother, Giver of Life and Maker of All Things.”
Is this meant to be satire of insufferable white feminists?

Damn it.. I really thought I would love this. I bought the hardcover. Maybe I’m just too hungry to concentrate (it’s Yom Kippur), but if all books were this laborious to read I would never read again.

Holy shit. My first time reading Sherwood Anderson. No wonder Hemingway was envious of him, haha.

I think what makes this more enjoyable for me than his other short story collection is that the stories do not feel repetitive… the characters are very different. Yet, thematically, there’s some cohesion.

Woah! So far this is really fucking good, the kind of book I’m always hoping to discover. Which surprises me, because I thought The Disappeared was “mid” as the kids would say. And I think he made this much earlier in his career? That’s kind of scary that his raw talent was worked over into something unoriginal, like women who get too many cosmetic procedures and all look the same, their unique beauty gone.

“This may also be because when I was young, if things rhymed I just assumed they were related somehow. Although my obsession with rhymes, alliteration, and double entendres came to a screeching halt when I realized my last name was Cummings. I always knew it was Cummings. But it was in high school that I found out my last name was an epic bummer.” – Whitney Cummings

“Fig Newtons: Fruit. And. Cake. Excuse me? It just sounded so fancy. Like, I feel like if Marie Antoinette were reincarnated into RuPaul today, that’s what she would have eaten. I mean, the words alone—Newton was a revered mathematician, and fig just felt very fashionable to me, like very cool and Italian… kind of a close relative to twiggy… twig… fig.” [continued…]

I’m obsessed with this book.

“The funny thing about rock bottom is that it’s never the true bottom. There are always little trapdoors with subbasements and cellars you didn’t know existed. I had just fallen into one.” – Andrew Bevan

330 pages in, and so far I’ve found all but 3 stories to be terrible.

So far I’ve skipped a few of these but “Sweethearts of the Rodeo” by Lydia Peelle is a breathtaking story.

“Soldier of Fortune” by Bret Anthony Johnston is maybe the best short story I’ve ever read and definitely the level of art I aspire to create someday.

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” is a brilliant story.

Um… I have no idea what the hell is going on in this book, or who these people are in relation to one another. Why would an author be so vague?

I am finding this hard to get through. Not sure I will finish.

Skipping the story “Diablo” because it makes me uncomfortable to see someone writing about the experience of an illegal immigrant who hasn’t lived it. Some stories are for certain people to tell.

Just finished the Leta story—incredible!