Whores Children
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Whores Children
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^ Jump up to: a b Understanding Richard Russo by Kathleen Drowne, publ. University of South Carolina Press, ISBN 1611174023
^ Monhegan Light at IMDb
^ The Farther You Go at IMDb
^ Joy Ride at IMDb
^ Bitter Harvests, by Rand Richards Cooper, NYTimes, Published: July 14, 2002 . Retrieved 2015-09-06.
^ THE WHORES CHILD by Richard Russo . Kirkus . Retrieved 2015-09-06.
^ "Melodious fanfare for the common man" . Retrieved 2015-09-06.
The Whore's Child and Other Stories is a collection of seven short stories by American author Richard Russo , published in 2002 by Alfred A. Knopf . It was published after Russo received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls hence gained considerable attention and many, mostly favorable reviews. [1]
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Preview — The Whore's Child and Other Stories
by Richard Russo
With a fluency of tone that will surprise even his devoted readers these short stories capture both bewildering horror and heartrending tenderness with an absorbing, compassionate authority. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his best-selling Empire Falls—also named the year's best novel by Time—Richard Russo now focuses, in his first book of short fiction, on a fresh and fasci
With a fluency of tone that will surprise even his devoted readers these short stories capture both bewildering horror and heartrending tenderness with an absorbing, compassionate authority. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his best-selling Empire Falls—also named the year's best novel by Time—Richard Russo now focuses, in his first book of short fiction, on a fresh and fascinating range of human behavior. With a fluency of tone that will surprise even his devoted readers, he captures both bewildering horror and heartrending tenderness with an absorbing, compassionate authority. We warm to these newcomers—as to all Russo's characters—almost despite ourselves. A jaded Hollywood moviemaker uncovers a decades-old flame he never knew he'd harbored. A precocious fifth grader puzzles over life, love and baseball as he watches his parents' marriage dissolve. Another child is forced into a harrowing cross-country escape whose actual purpose he learns only after the fact. An elderly couple rediscovers the power, and the misery, of their relationship during a long-awaited retreat to a resort island. And in the title story, a septuagenarian nun invades the narrator's college writing workshop with an incredible saga.
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Published
November 1st 2003
by Vintage Books USA
(first published July 9th 2002)
009943752X
(ISBN13: 9780099437529 )
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3,586
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Jan 30, 2021
JimZ
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review of another edition
Short story collection consisted of 7 stories. Some of the stories were good, some were meh, and one was very good. Fortunately, that very good story was the last one I read, so that l closed off the book on a high note. I want to read his ‘Empire Falls’ which garnered Russo a Pulitzer Prize in 2002. Sometimes it takes me a while to get to a book…like 19 years. 🙃 As for this collection the one I liked to the most was ‘The Mysteries of Linwood Hart’ [5 stars]. About a 10-year-old boy being aware o
Short story collection consisted of 7 stories. Some of the stories were good, some were meh, and one was very good. Fortunately, that very good story was the last one I read, so that l closed off the book on a high note. I want to read his ‘Empire Falls’ which garnered Russo a Pulitzer Prize in 2002. Sometimes it takes me a while to get to a book…like 19 years. 🙃 As for this collection the one I liked to the most was ‘The Mysteries of Linwood Hart’ [5 stars]. About a 10-year-old boy being aware of the world around him and at the beginning of the story he was very egocentric as if the world revolved around him, and at the end of the story he was aware that the world got along fine with or without him. Throughout it all he seemed like a good kid. There were some stories where I felt the writing was contrived…anyhoo here are the stories and where they were originally published. The story above appears to have been first published in this collection, while the others had been published previously, mostly in periodicals. • The Whore’s Child—Harpers, February 1998 [3.5 stars] • Monhegan Light—Esquire, August 2001 [2.5 stars] • The Farther You Go—Shenandoah [3 stars], Russo later developed the characters into the 1997 novel Straight Man. • Joy Ride—Meridian, Fall 1998 [3 stars] • Buoyancy, High infidelity 24 Great Short Stories About Adultery by Some of Our Best Contemporary Authors. Publisher: William Morrow & Company, 1998) [2.5 stars] • Poison, Kiosk, xx [1 star] • The Mysteries of Linwood Hart [5 stars] Reviews: • Good review to read! https://www.irishtimes.com/news/from-... • https://story366blog.wordpress.com/20... • https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/14/bo...
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Jul 01, 2007
Brendan
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really liked it
Richard Russo, once a teacher of writing himself, opens his debut collection of short stories, The Whore’s Child, in familiar territory: the classroom. Sister Ursula, who is “nearly as big as a linebacker,” deposits herself in the narrator’s advanced writing workshop, uninvited and unregistered. Despite the professor’s insistence that she write fiction -- “In this class we actually prefer a well-told lie,” he tells her -- she submits for the class’s consideration several hefty installments of ro
Richard Russo, once a teacher of writing himself, opens his debut collection of short stories, The Whore’s Child, in familiar territory: the classroom. Sister Ursula, who is “nearly as big as a linebacker,” deposits herself in the narrator’s advanced writing workshop, uninvited and unregistered. Despite the professor’s insistence that she write fiction -- “In this class we actually prefer a well-told lie,” he tells her -- she submits for the class’s consideration several hefty installments of rock-pure memoir. She patted my hand, as you might the hand of a child. “Never you mind,” she then assured me, adjusting her wimple for the journey home. “My whole life has been a lie.” “I’m sure you don’t mean that,” I told her. But of course she did. Sister Ursula is constitutionally incapable of writing what is not true. On the other hand, she is equally incapable of seeing clearly what she writes—and this is what provides Russo’s story, if not the nun’s, the thrum of good fiction. In a post-modern and un-Russo-like twist, “The Whore’s Child” is both the perfect short story and the blueprint for such a story. As the professor summarizes Sister Ursula’s bitter and lonely take (he provides only her knife-edged first lines, like “It was my hatred that drew me deeper into the Church”), we also hear the class’s response. It is in this unlikely arena, marked by PC angst and academic jargon, that Sister Ursula discovers a secret she has been hiding from herself her entire life. Sister Ursula, we come to understand, is the ideal practitioner of the “well-told lie.” Russo’s regular beat, it should be said, is men, not nuns, sons, not sisters. Through five fat, summer-perfect novels, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Empire Falls, the author has explored, with wonderful humor and pathos, that great American, impotent male. From the down-and-out Sully in Nobody’s Fool to the hapless but good-hearted Miles in Empire Falls, Russo’s protagonists are mere skeletons of the 1950s ideal they were weaned on. Where their fathers lived in an age of straightforward, powerful men, they have reached middle age in a time of ironic self-contempt. Read my full review here: http://bit.ly/2ekvxeA
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Jul 17, 2016
Leslie
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it was amazing
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Jan 12, 2018
Andy Jacobs
rated it
really liked it
Entertaining short stories in Russo's dependable prose. The first two stories are the best of the set. While the writing lacks the continuous stylistic punch of, say, Foer, Russo has his good moments
Entertaining short stories in Russo's dependable prose. The first two stories are the best of the set. While the writing lacks the continuous stylistic punch of, say, Foer, Russo has his good moments
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This book of short stories did not live up to my expectations. Although I did find some of the events in some of the stories amusing they were all a little depressing. All of the characters in the stories were either dissatisfied with their lives, had big regrets, were trying to escape their boredom or were just plain bitter. With every story I was hoping for a twist in the tail, a resolution of the problem or even a happy ending. I waded through it but found myself looking forward to the end whi
This book of short stories did not live up to my expectations. Although I did find some of the events in some of the stories amusing they were all a little depressing. All of the characters in the stories were either dissatisfied with their lives, had big regrets, were trying to escape their boredom or were just plain bitter. With every story I was hoping for a twist in the tail, a resolution of the problem or even a happy ending. I waded through it but found myself looking forward to the end which is never a good thing with a book! The stories may even be true to life I suppose, we cannot all be happy or have what we want in life but happy things happen and there is always hope, I think that is what was missing from these stories.
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A great collection of short stories. As always there are some that are better than others but looking at the collection as a whole I think it's great. Russo is great at writing small town America and he writes his characters like actual humans. I could imagine every character very easily and I loved how flawed some of the characters were. I need to read more of his novels now as I've only read Empire Fall's.
A great collection of short stories. As always there are some that are better than others but looking at the collection as a whole I think it's great. Russo is great at writing small town America and he writes his characters like actual humans. I could imagine every character very easily and I loved how flawed some of the characters were. I need to read more of his novels now as I've only read Empire Fall's.
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This is an enjoyable collection of stories. I admit I didn't especially care for the title story, which comes first, and made me wonder how the rest of it would go. It involves a bitter, mean-spirited old nun who made me happy I'd never been Catholic. In Monhegan Light is a California couple who visits an island in Maine, where the man's now-deceased wife has summered for years. The Farther You go seems to have been taken from (or was the inspiration for?) his novel Straight Man , and perhaps my
This is an enjoyable collection of stories. I admit I didn't especially care for the title story, which comes first, and made me wonder how the rest of it would go. It involves a bitter, mean-spirited old nun who made me happy I'd never been Catholic. In Monhegan Light is a California couple who visits an island in Maine, where the man's now-deceased wife has summered for years. The Farther You go seems to have been taken from (or was the inspiration for?) his novel Straight Man , and perhaps my favorite of the seven stories. Joy Ride was told from the viewpoint of a boy (12-year old?) whose mother is leaving his father. They leave early one morning from the east coast and take the small highways west - for her, a "joy" ride. Buoyancy is a retired professor this time and his wife who are now able to visit Martha's Vineyard. I was struck by this one because part of the action takes place near Gay's Head and the Lighthouse. We had just watched a Nova episode about their moving that lighthouse, and I could picture the setting in the story - something I'm often unable to do having lived west of the Mississippi all my life. The final two stories were about as different from each other as could be. Poison is about two men, now in their 50s, who grew up in a mill town. It's not clear to me where in Russo's background he draws his knowledge/experience of mill towns, but I noted that similarity to his Pulitzer winner, Empire Falls . This story and the novel are alike only in reference to the mill town, but I couldn't help but notice it. The final story is another one of boyhood: the Mysteries of Linwood Hart. Lin Hart is a 10-year old, trying to figure out adults, and life in general, while playing American Legion baseball. All of these stories have at least some of Russo's particular brand of wit and humor. I don't know if Russo has other short stories tucked away in his files somewhere, but if he does, I wish he'd haul them out.
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I started to read this book and thought, why does anyone write short stories? why not write a whole novel? Isn't this copping out? And then, in the penultimate story of the book, a character chastises another - isn't writing short stories just cowardice? Isn't it copping out? I laughed, and enjoyed the dialogue, and realized how utterly playful these short stories were, not only because they played with me . Russo's a wonderful wordsmith, and he captures characters and places with what appears to b
I started to read this book and thought, why does anyone write short stories? why not write a whole novel? Isn't this copping out? And then, in the penultimate story of the book, a character chastises another - isn't writing short stories just cowardice? Isn't it copping out? I laughed, and enjoyed the dialogue, and realized how utterly playful these short stories were, not only because they played with me . Russo's a wonderful wordsmith, and he captures characters and places with what appears to be incredible ease. (I'm sure it's actually a long and diffcult process.) The stories share an interest in writing - someone's always writing something, or a writer, or an ex-writer, or a critic of writers - but the stories had great enough variation within them that they didn't feel overly autobiographical. Each story has a different take on love, also - marriages gone sour, marriages made in haste, marriages that are whole and solid and warm, marriages made to God - and since many of the couples in the book are of an age, it makes for a set of fascinating comparisons as a whole. My favorite story was, I think, the last one, told from the perspective of a ten-year-old boy. Russo gets inside his head so thoroughly, describes a ten-year-old's philosophy of life so well , that I was absolutely enchanted. I could read that story over and over and over again, and still love as well as I did the first time, I think.
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Mixed bag, a couple of excellent stories between the average ones. The whore’s child, 4.5 stars Monhegan Light 3 stars The Farther You Go 2 stars Joy Ride 4.5 stars Buoyancy 1.5 stars Poison 2 stars The Mysteries of Linwood Hart 2.5 stars
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Aug 16, 2009
Chip
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
I don't find books - books find me. This book, in fact, is a prime example of the process. I was in BooksAMillion looking through the used library books ($3 each) and saw the name Richard Russo, who I thought (accurately) had won a Pulitzer, so I purchased the book, even though the title had stickers covering it. It was only later, halfway into the book, that I glanced at the spine and realized the title "The Whore's Child" seems designed to titillate... a kind of marketing oversell which, had I
I don't find books - books find me. This book, in fact, is a prime example of the process. I was in BooksAMillion looking through the used library books ($3 each) and saw the name Richard Russo, who I thought (accurately) had won a Pulitzer, so I purchased the book, even though the title had stickers covering it. It was only later, halfway into the book, that I glanced at the spine and realized the title "The Whore's Child" seems designed to titillate... a kind of marketing oversell which, had I known the title, would have put me off from reading the book - the theory being that books (like movies) which depend on special effects or rave reviews (or trick titles) aren't blessed with much substance. I'm glad I hadn't seen the title because I enjoyed this book more than many I've read recently. A short story, for many writers, is to novels like sketching is to painting for artists. It is a rare master of the craft that can draw a sketch that is a work of art (Picasso and da Vinci come to mind), and it is a very rare writer that can elevate the short story to an art form. I think of Tolstoy, and Raymond Carver, Andre Dubus (the elder) and Faulkner as maestros of the short story. It is sad to realize that these men all share an obvious common property: they're all dead, thus the odds of them producing a new short story are very slim. It is with much delight that I introduce Richard Russo to the ranks of the Short Story Masters. His published collection of short stories, The Whore's Child, is as excellent as those works produced by the writers previously mentioned, and the fact that he's still writing offers great hope for more great short fiction. I despise reviews that reveal plot twists and endings, so I'll skip the "wow" moments and assure you that each of the seven short stories has a "swish-conk" moment where the flash of insight strikes you in the forehead like the proverbial can of V8 juice. These moments are so well done that you can't anticipate them; they occur naturally, embedded as they are in the lines of the story. Each story is so well-crafted that I wondered if the "moment" was the inspiration for the story, as a grain of sand lies at the heart of a pearl, or if the "moment" arose organically during the writing of the story, the subconscious revelation of an artist whose hand seemingly has a mind of its own. "The Whore's Child" is a rare book for me, in that as soon as I finished it I wanted to immediately go back and re-read it. It reminded me of what short fiction is supposed to be, and for that I owe Mr. Russo a great debt of gratitude.
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middle age male professors
Wham Bam, another book read in two days. I must say this reading pace is quite satisfying. The book, eh. The first (title story) and last story were both unique and engaging. In between those the stories all seemed to be about middle aged professors and islands. Most of these men don't relate to the women they are with and almost all of them have some scene that involves the male lead character being shocked or worried about their female companion taking off their clothes in public. This was an
Wham Bam, another book read in two days. I must say this reading pace is quite satisfying. The book, eh. The first (title story) and last story were both unique and engaging. In between those the stories all seemed to be about middle aged professors and islands. Most of these men don't relate to the women they are with and almost all of them have some scene that involves the male lead character being shocked or worried about their female companion taking off their clothes in public. This was an odd mantra to have repeated over and over and in the end it's quite irritating. She can take her clothes off if she wants to is all I kept thinking.
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Recommended to B the BookAddict by:
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Although I generally do not like short stories (simply for their brevity), being a Russo book I had to buy it. And I was not disappointed. Russo writes with his wonderful insight into both men and women, fashioning stories set in provincial towns. A nun in a writer's workshop, a retired professor and his wife on holiday, a boy of recently separated parents, a small town pianist with a mother who is a prostitute, two men whose boyhood friendship is really the only thing connecting them in the pre
Although I generally do not like short stories (simply for their brevity), being a Russo book I had to buy it. And I was not disappointed. Russo writes with his wonderful insight into both men and women, fashioning stories set in provincial towns. A nun in a writer's workshop, a retired professor and his wife on holiday, a boy of recently separated parents, a small town pianist with a mother who is a prostitute, two men whose boyhood friendship is really the only thing connecting them in the present, a joyride by a mother and son across country; each told with Russo's thoughtfulness, perception and charm. A resounding 4★
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Nov 05, 2014
Karen
rated it
it was amazing
Love it! Except for the last story. Not sure why!
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Jan 23, 2009
Julie Suzanne
rated it
really liked it
4.5 These short stories will stand out in my experiences equally and caused me to contemplate the complex motivations, reactions, consequences, and feelings behind and within the simplest of human experiences. Russo excels at creating characters who are so real that later you find yourself saying, "I know this guy once who....." and you realize, "No I didn't--that was a character in a book!" This reading experience even had a perfect ending. I intended to finish it on the airplane so that I coul
4.5 These short stories will stand out in my experiences equally and caused me to contemplate the complex motivations, reactions, consequences, and feelings behind and within the simplest of human experiences. Russo excels at creating characters who are so real that later you find yourself saying, "I know this guy once who....." and you realize, "No I didn't--that was a character in a book!" This reading experience even had a perfect ending. I intended to finish it on the airplane so that I could leave it in the seat-back pocket for another traveler's serendipitous find. Better yet, a passenger next to me peeked at the cover of my engaging read and said, "Russo? Is this a new one? I've read everything he's written and I've never even heard of this one. I love Russo.... I saw him speak in Syracuse...." I finished this collection within 4 minutes of landing and handed it to her. So satisfying.
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Oct 02, 2020
Andrew Pratley
rated it
it was amazing
If your a fan of Richard Russo, as I am, then you thoroughly enjoy this selection of short stories. Russo's stories are full of characters you can believe in. He is equally adept at portraying men, women & even little boys. The stories also evoke a sense of place. If reading fiction is a way of understanding how other people tick then you can't go far wrong than by reading any of the works by this wonderful author of the goings on in small town America.
If your a fan of Richard Russo, as I am, then you thoroughly enjoy this selection of short stories. Russo's stories are full of characters you can believe in. He is equally adept at portraying men, women & even little boys. The stories also evoke a sense of place. If reading fiction is a way of understanding how other people tick then you can't go far wrong than by reading any of the works by this wonderful author of the goings on in small town America.
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May 25, 2019
Ruby
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review of another edition
Very enjoyable collection of short stories, especially if you like stories set in Maine and its environs. I loved Empire Falls , so I looked forward to reading his stories. "The Whore's Child" is the best of the lot in my opinion and certainly stands out as unique in this collection.
Very enjoyable collection of short stories, especially if you like stories set in Maine and its environs. I loved Empire Falls , so I looked forward to reading his stories. "The Whore's Child" is the best of the lot in my opinion and certainly stands out as unique in this collection.
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Sep 23, 2012
Daniel Jr.
rated it
it was amazing
It would be tough to ask much more from a collection of short stories. My only "frustration" was that the better stories weren't actually the beginnings to novels. I just connect with Russo's work so well. Now I'm re-reading THE RISK POOL.
It would be tough to ask much more from a collection of short stories. My only "frustration" was that the better stories weren't actually the beginnings to novels. I just connect with Russo's work so well. Now I'm re-reading THE RISK POOL.
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Dec 14, 2019
Mary
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really liked it
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review of another edition
Good read. Russo is great at writing characters. Nothing much happens in these stories - they are just about regular people living their lives - but I found them compelling because I fell into them so easily.
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Oct 12, 2014
Wendy
rated it
it was amazing
I don't usually read short story collections but I've enjoyed his other books so much, I gave it a go and ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️,
I don't usually read short story collections but I've enjoyed his other books so much, I gave it a go and ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️,
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Feb 23, 2020
Theresa Bearegard
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I am not usually a fan of short stories. I found these quite interesting---if a little dark. Except the last one---very good. Quick read.
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Oct 04, 2020
Susan
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The aching desire for connection depicted with all the ways we get in the way of ourselves. But those few moments when it all works shine like grace through Russo’s writing.
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Jun 08, 2018
Glee
rated it
it was amazing
Russo's writing is meant to be savored. I forget that sometimes, and try to rush things along. And then I remember and go back and take my time with each word and phrase and I am moved. As I was making my way through this collection of stories, some short, some not-so-short, I was becoming overwhelmed with the morose and beleaguered sensibility that Russo's work is often steeped in. And then I remembered.... "slow down, you move too fast." While these stories are not generally imbued with the sl
Russo's writing is meant to be savored. I forget that sometimes, and try to rush things along. And then I remember and go back and take my time with each word and phrase and I am moved. As I was making my way through this collection of stories, some short, some not-so-short, I was becoming overwhelmed with the morose and beleaguered sensibility that Russo's work is often steeped in. And then I remembered.... "slow down, you move too fast." While these stories are not generally imbued with the slapstick observational humor I so adore in his writing (and which serves to leaven the woebegotten nature of some of his observations), they are full of wistfulness. And they are lovely gems. But if you read them, slower is better. Savor. And, of course, the last story made me weep. As your guitar gently does....or young boys and baseball. A few comments on each, with some lengthy quotes: 1. The Whore's Child - an ancient nun joins a creative writing class, and pretends she is writing fiction. Russo's introduction to the story, humor and despair paired together: "Sister Ursula belonged to an all but extinct order of Belgian nuns who conducted what little spiritual business remained to them in a decrepit old house purchased by the diocese seemingly because it was unlikely to outlast them." 2. Monhegan Light - Many years after his wife's death, Martin sees her through the eyes of her former lover, and finally understands how much he squandered. But first, a slice of that wicked observational humor regarding his wife's sister, whom he loathes: "Of all the things that Joyce's sort of woman said about men, Martin disliked the he-just-doesn't-get-it riff most of all. For one thing it presupposed there was something to get, usually something obvious, something you'd have to be blind not to see. And of course the reason you couldn't see it -- as women were happy to explain -- was that you had a dick, as if that poor, maligned appendage were constantly in a man's line of sight, blocking his view of what women, who were not similarly encumbered, wanted him to take notice of, something subtle or delicate or beautiful, at least to their way of thinking. If you didn't agree that it was subtle or delicate or beautiful, it was because you had a dick. You just didn't get it." 3. The Farther You Go - A man finally realizes the true depth of his wife's understanding of him. A strange, but ultimately beautiful, trip. Literally. 4. Joy Ride - The most depressing of the lot. A child's first person experience with his parents' dysfunctional relationship. 5. Buoyancy - A sad, confused tale of a long and passionless marriage that ends with sunshine and unicorns. And you are made happy. But only after a lot of confusion and sadness. 6. Poison - if you have read much of Russo, you probably know about his rage at the poisoning of the rivers and streams in his home town by a chemical company with the usual corporate greed. While all of Russo's writing never seems too far from his own experiences, this one is particularly and sadly close to the bone. The poison of the title is both for the actual poisoning of the town he grew up in, and the poisoning of his relationship with a boyhood friend who is also a writer, whose rage exceeds his own. I suspect Russo is both characters.... 7. The Mysteries of Linwood Hart - Ten-year old Linwood Hart, who has been described by school personnel as "possessing an active interior life", which as all who have been trained in edu-speak, correctly translate as "he doesn't pay attention." His father is a jerk ("Slick" is his nick name), but sadly, his mother can't quit him. A lengthy passage, but one that puts you into Linwood's first person, and one, I have to admit, I greatly identified with... Someone asks him, what do you think you are? Special? "Lin understood that this was a rhetorical question whose answer was supposed to be "No," even though most of the time, he thought it might be "yes." It was hard to imagine that all of his personal thoughts had already been thought. When he lay on his stomach in the grass and watched an ant climb up one side of a blade and then down the other, his truest sense of things was that in the world's long history, no one had ever witnessed this exact event, and he couldn't help feeling special to have done so. Why shouldn't his thoughts be special, too? What if he was right to think them, even if no one else had? For instance, why shouldn't inanimate objects be capable of desire? Take leaves. They wanted to dance, didn't they? He understood that it was caused by wind, of course, but this didn't explain why they didn't all get up and dance with each new gust, instead of just certain ones. Leaf A would rise and do its jig while Leaf B, right next to it, wouldn't even stir. The ones dancing in this gust might rest during the next, and to Lin, this meant they were expressing a desire. And Wiffle balls. Their frantic wiggle after leaping off a plastic bat suggested a similar desire, though his father, who at the moment wasn't living with Lin and his mother, explained that the symmetrical holes cut into the plastic sphere were responsible for the ball's erratic and exciting flight. Okay, but to Lin's way of thinking, the holes merely set free the inner spirit of the ball." Having spent a lot of my elementary school days in such contemplation, I was all in with Linwood.
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Jan 21, 2017
Diane
rated it
really liked it
This collection of Russo's short stories isn't as well know or as well received as his novels. I found them to be entertaining and well-crafted. As always, Russo seems to focus on family relationships and is skilled at understatement when dealing with angst and pathos. The title story is a bit of a departure as he usually focuses on men who are down-on-their-luck. This is a Belgian nun "nearly as big as a linebacker" who joins the narrator's advanced fiction class and tells her story in a series
This collection of Russo's short stories isn't as well know or as well received as his novels. I found them to be entertaining and well-crafted. As always, Russo seems to focus on family relationships and is skilled at understatement when dealing with angst and pathos. The title story is a bit of a departure as he usually focuses on men who are down-on-their-luck. This is a Belgian nun "nearly as big as a linebacker" who joins the narrator's advanced fiction class and tells her story in a series of assignments for the class. The other stories focus more on marriage and family and two are told from the viewpoint of pre-adolescent boys. I never tire of Russo's writing but I admit to a preference for his novels.
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Dec 18, 2019
Stephan Benzkofer
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I can't say I loved this collection, though it ends and finishes strong. The Whore's Child and The Mysteries of Linwood Hart are very good, especially the latter, which is told from a 7th-grade boy's perspective. What I was hoping to meet when I picked up this book were the types of characters who populate his novels, but that's hard to do in just a few pages. The result is that some of the characters here are just unpleasant, not benefitting from the time and explanation you would get in a nove
I can't say I loved this collection, though it ends and finishes strong. The Whore's Child and The Mysteries of Linwood Hart are very good, especially the latter, which is told from a 7th-grade boy's perspective. What I was hoping to meet when I picked up this book were the types of characters who populate his novels, but that's hard to do in just a few pages. The result is that some of the characters here are just unpleasant, not benefitting from the time and explanation you would get in a novel to soften the edges and help the reader better understand them.
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Richard Russo's strength is definitely in his novels, not short stories. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book. He just needs that time and space to develop his rich plots and characters in the way we've come to love. I think the first two stories are the best in this book: "The Whore's Child" and "Monhegan Light." "Monhegan Light" was definitely my favorite. "Joy Ride" is really quite good also.
Richard Russo's strength is definitely in his novels, not short stories. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this book. He just needs that time and space to develop his rich plots and characters in the way we've come to love. I think the first two stories are the best in this book: "The Whore's Child" and "Monhegan Light." "Monhegan Light" was definitely my favorite. "Joy Ride" is really quite good also.
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This is an interesting collection of short stories from Richard Russo. The title story involves an elderly nun in a creative writing class who tells a surprising story about her childhood and entering the convent. "The Whore's Child" has been chosen as the short story to be read by thousands for the 2011 Boston Book Festival in October. The author does a good job in capturing the essence of his characters and exhibits a bit of quiet humor in some of the stories.
This is an interesting collection of short stories from Richard Russo. The title story involves an elderly nun in a creative writing class who tells a surprising story about her childhood and entering the convent. "The Whore's Child" has been chosen as the short story to be read by thousands for the 2011 Boston Book Festival in October. The author does a good job in capturing the essence of his characters and exhibits a bit of quiet humor in some of the stories.
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Nov 24, 2017
Bill Keithler
rated it
it was amazing
The impressive thing to me about this collection of short stories by Richard Russo is the way he is able, within a limited span of pages, to create a set of characters which are fully developed. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that he provides all that is necessary for the reader to fully flesh out the characters. Many of these short stories have close to the impact of a novel, which is a testament to great writing.
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Nov 17, 2018
Pat Camalliere
rated it
really liked it
Because Russo is so frequently recommended in books about the writing craft, I picked up this collection of short stories, something I rarely do. As with his novel, Empire Falls, I found the characters well-developed and real, the stories well-told and charming, the description, dialogue, and writing compelling. I’m still not a big fan of short stories, but if you want to know how to write them, read Russo.
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I always love Russo's novels, so I'm not surprised to find I also enjoy his short stories. Many set in Maine, many featuring middle aged characters or older, but I think Russo thinks those are the people with the best stories. My two favorites were Monhegan Light and Joy Ride.
I always love Russo's novels, so I'm not surprised to find I also enjoy his short stories. Many set in Maine, many featuring middle aged characters or older, but I think Russo thinks those are the people with the best stories. My two favorites were Monhegan Light and Joy Ride.
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Jun 29, 2017
Mary
rated it
it was amazing
I'm a fool for Russo's writing. These short stories are perfect in their examination of people and their machinations. Diverse, from a nun to artists on Monhegan, each story investigates the how and why of the characters lives.
I'm a fool for Russo's writing. These short stories are perfect in their examination of people and their machinations. Diverse, from a nun to artists on Monhegan, each story investigates the how and why of the characters lives.
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RICHARD RUSSO is the author of seven previous novels; two collections of stories; and Elsewhere, a memoir. In 2002 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Empire Falls, which like Nobody’s Fool was adapted to film, in a multiple-award-winning HBO miniseries.
In his first memoir, Elsewhere, the novelist writes about how his vivacious but volatile mother and his small hometown of Gloversville have shaped...
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