Bark: Stories Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00IAYII6Q | Format: EPUB
Bark: Stories Description
"Fifty years from now, it may well turn out that the work of very few American writers has as much to say about what it means to be alive in our time as that of Lorrie Moore" (Harper's).
A literary event - a new collection of stories by one of America's most beloved and admired short story writers, her first collection in fifteen years.
In these eight masterful stories, Lorrie Moore, in a perfect blend of craft and bewitched spirit, explores the passage of time and summons up its inevitable sorrows and hilarious pitfalls to reveal her own exquisite, singular wisdom.
In "Debarking," a newly divorced man tries to keep his wits about him as the United States prepares to invade Iraq, and against this ominous moment, we see - in all its irresistible hilarity and darkness - the perils of divorce and what can follow in its wake.
In "Foes," a political argument goes grotesquely awry as the events of 9/11 unexpectedly manifest at a fund-raising dinner in Georgetown.
In "The Juniper Tree," a teacher, visited by the ghost of her recently deceased friend, is forced to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a kind of nightmare reunion.
In "Wings," we watch the unraveling of two once-hopeful musicians who neither held fast to their dreams nor struck out along other paths as Moore deftly depicts the intricacies of dead ends and the workings of regret.
Gimlet-eyed social observation, the public and private absurdities of American life, dramatic irony, and enduring half-cracked love wend their way through each of these narratives in a heartrending mash-up of the tragic and the laugh-out-loud - the hallmark of Lorrie Moore - land.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 5 hours and 20 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
- Audible.com Release Date: February 25, 2014
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00IAYII6Q
I love short stories but am never entirely sure how to review books of them. Giving the plot or a brief summary for each story seems kind of pointless and often redundant given that that information is usually available on the site anyway. In this case, I've decided instead to respond to some of the points others have made in their reviews.
Some have noted that some of the stories seem dated. Yes, they do. It's a fair point. Stories of the Democratic convention of 2008 or the war in Iraq may eventually pale, but I think they're still fresh enough not to seem hopelessly antiquated.
It's been noted that the book is short. Yes, and I wish it were longer. But I don't know that it's fair to knock a book for its length if the quality is there. I believe it is here.
The endings have been faulted here. I have to confess that I don't really understand this complaint. One of the many beauties of the short story is the diversity of endings. Sometimes, short stories wrap everything up with a nice bow. Other times, they simply end. And there are a variety of possibilities in between. I did not have a problem with the endings.
Some have said that these stories don't represent Moore at her best. Agreed. But even Moore at less than her best is wonderful to read. Indeed, her stories always (including here) seem welcoming. As someone else put it, and I second the point, Moore is a master at drawing you in, at giving you a full character in a paragraph. A student of the craft of short story writing would do well to study these, and those who simply enjoy reading should be rewarded.
I have read all of Lorrie Moore's short story collections and have enjoyed them greatly, except for this book. I love her novels, especiallyA Gate at the Stairs (Vintage Contemporaries) and Anagrams. This collection, however, seems postured and very self-aware. It feels like the words were chosen so carefully that they lose their organic feeling. At times, I felt impatient to finish the story I was reading.
Many of the stories deal with themes of isolation, loneliness, anger, and bitterness. There are betrayals in relationships and self-soothing with alcohol. So many of the people, especially women, have been burned by their partners that I wonder if Ms. Moore thinks intimacy between the sexes is at all possible. The relationships portrayed in this book are so banal and shallow that I finished it with a feeling of hopelessness.
In 'Debarking', Ira is recently divorced from Marilyn and feels very hateful towards her for breaking up their marriage. He begins dating a woman named Zora who has a bizarre relationship with her son, making intimacy with Ira impossible. The backdrop of the story is the Gulf War. Ira feels that in wartime it is better to be with someone than to try and deal with the world on your own. 'Referential' deals with a woman whose 16 year-old son has manic depressive illness and her lover is pulling away from her and her son. 'Wings' is about KC, a woman whose band has fallen apart. She lives with Dench in a very meaningless relationship. She meets an elderly man named Milt with whom she begins a friendship.
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