Author: Micah Nathan
Format: Ebook
Publisher: One Peace Books
Publish Date: July 31, 2012
Source: I received a copy from the PR; however, this did not affect my review.
Why You're Reading This Book:
- You're a fiction fan.
- You're a short story fan.
- You like vivid writing.
What's the Story?:
From Goodreads.com: "This eclectic collection of already published stories in respected literary journals (The Bellingham Review, Diagram, The Gettysburg Review, Glimmer Train, Lemon Magazine) and a few never-before-published stories, including the epic title story, Jack the Bastard, this eclectic collection of stories from Micah Nathan, whose short fiction has been a finalist for the Tobias Wolff Award and the Innovative Fiction Award, evokes equal measures of John Cheever and Raymond Chandler."
My Two Cents:
Let me say first off, that this book is full of really good writing. I think that it will appeal to people who like very detailed writing where you can picture perfectly what's going on. A couple of the stories sort of reminded me of a screenplay where there was a strong focus on the various events of the story.
This is a book of short stories of varying lengths. They cover all sorts of different topics, meaning that this book has very broad appeal That being said, there were some stories that I liked better than others. There was one story that I really liked called "Mr. Todd and the Gibson Girl," which had great detail. I also really liked that this story was told in first person, which really helped to pull me into the story a little more than some of the other stories that were not told from first person point of view.
The title story, Jack the Bastard, was really well written. The subject matter was not my favorite by the writing was really stand out for me. Nathan knows how to pull in the reader and doesn't let go once he has you. So why the 3.5 rating, you ask? My issue with the book comes in with some of the grittiness of the book. It's just not my preferred flavor but it may be yours and then you'll enjoy this book a bit more!
Bottom line: vivid writing with a dose of grit.
Um, yes please, ma'm (are you old enough not to be offended by being called ma'm - I love it, presonally) - or maybe miss (cos I don't think you're married). Blah blah blah... I'll be on the lookout for this.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind being called ma'm at all either!!! I like to think it's because I look like I demand respect - hah :)
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