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HomeShop at BookSurgePolitical SciencePolitical IdeologiesConservatism & LiberalismStardust, 7-Eleven, Route 57, A&W, and So Forth: Stories |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 2 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 i love this collection. Jul 26, 2006
By Joe Lindberg
"Joe"
My friend loaned me her copy of this book to read because I love modern short fiction. I am so impressed by this author and found the characters compelling and beautifully written. Even when the pace of her writing is languid, tension, strife and pain lurk barely beneath the surface of her stories. I am only disappointed that she has not written more books. I would hate for anyone to pigeonhole her as simply a 'southern' writer because her characters are truly universal. Lear is a shining talent and I can't recommend her enough.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Lovely writing, inconsistent stories. Jun 06, 2006
By frumiousb
"frumiousb"
Patricia Lear is such a good writer that sometimes I got irritated. In the longer pieces ("After Memphis", "Solace") the verbal pyrotechnics had room to breathe, and it worked. Unfortunately in the shorter stories the elegantly crafted prose felt too much like affectation. "Hot" actually annoyed me-- it was unnecessarily hard to follow and didn't seem worth all the effort once I had figured it out.
I liked the ideas that Lear works with in her stories. There is something really nice about this notion of people who attempt to (or are forced to) reinvent themselves. At the best points of the collection, it was really exhilarating and genuinely moving. At the worst moments, these transformative aspects felt fake-- more informed by style and diction than by well thought-through characters.
As a side note, the story "Powwow" which is included in the collection was the winner of the O. Henry award. The prize was well-deserved and it is one of the strongest pieces in the collection.
Anyhow, if you have an interest in the short story, it may well be an interesting book for you to pick up. Some of the stories are simply wonderful. Others are much less engaging. I hope to read something else by this author at a later time to see how her writing has evolved since this book's 1992 publication date.
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