Jane Smiley Books

I want to re-title this book, Jinxed, as that's how I feel each time I read it. I threw this book across the room after finishing it, but after a few days realize perhaps Jane was trying to tell us how important a mother is in our lives. I grew up on a farm, my mother had a grave illness, but survived and lived as a disabled person all her life. My father brought her home from hospital and he and extended family (but mostly my dad) dedicated theirselves to making a normal successful life for us. I want to write an answer to Jane's novel that tells the story of how adversity can bring out the best --not the worst -- in people.

I teach this novel at a local college, and this book has given me a lot of new angles to take, for which I'm grateful. It's particularly good on the ecological aspects of the novel. The author packs a lot of material into a short space. And I recommend it to my students with the proviso that they don't copy it for their essays.

I thought this book was pretty much on par with others that parody the college experience. Loved the portions of the book told from the perspective of the pig.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are interesting and the setting on an Iowa farm is very intriguing and different. I found that this was very hard to put down - a very fast read, and a very good one at that.

This book takes a while to get to the action, but it was well worth the wait.

The narrative is so compelling that I found myself getting caught up in what was happening to the heroine. I became increasingly upset with each little injustice that she endured. The story takes several dark turns that kept me up past my bedtime.

This book held my interest enough for me to finish it over the course of 3-4 days (I have two toddlers so that's an accompishment!), but by the end of the book I thought there were way too many unanswered questions, particularly due to poor character development and the relationships among the family members. I kept waiting to understand why Caroline was so distant from the family, but there were only mentions here and there but not enough of an explanation. I feel the author could have added so much more to the story regarding the death of their mother when they were young children. There was no depth or dimension to the characters of Ty, Pete, or Rose. Ginny, perhaps because the book was told from her point of view, was the only character I felt like I really knew. The story had the potential to be better but it was difficult for me to invest in any of the characters.

As a work of literary fiction, the prose was not particularly well-written and the characters were at best a collection of stereotypes. Most glaringly, I felt as though this was taking place now and not during the Carter era. Perhaps there was a lot of talk of organic farming, the brain chemistry/causes of psychological illnesses and informing children of the dangers molestation among farmers in the late 70s. I personally do not remember any of those issues being popularly discussed until the late 80s.

This is the sort of marginally entertaining book that will hold your attention for the 3-4 days that it will take to read. However, there are far more interesting and moving books out there.

Way-too-human darker side of the many facets of the Midwest farm life, plus some deeply satisfying glimpses into its regional and natural history. A good read. I guess Smiley did create a very well-developed main character, because I still keep worrying about how she's doing. The others, however, were pretty one-dimensional, and more than a few of the plot turns seemed unrealistic, definitely not fleshed out, but I was completely willing to suspend disbelief in order to continue turning the pages to peer into the mind of that main character.

The faculty, students, and workers at Moo University are a collection of ingredients in a "stone soup." You know, the soup that has everybody donating an ingredient or two (along with a stone). How does the soup turn out?

Jane Smiley develops a cast of memorable characters in Moo. Who can forget the passions of Chairman X, Earl Butz' appetite, the glorious righteousness of Professor Gift, or the actions of Mrs. Walker in running Moo U.? Learn that The New York Times is "the mouthpiece of Satan" (p. 329), according to some students.

What I found most delightful was that Smiley did her research into Costa Rican cloud forests, and economic theory, and organic horticulture, and hogs. The individual characters had their areas of expertise, and Smiley let this expertise shine through. Then these prima donnas, these eccentrics, collapse into the gravity field of the story.

The eruptions, conniptions, and competition in academic life is closer to this that many readers will know.

Spooky.

Thank goodness for the Mrs. Walkers to keep everything running.

A comic novel of academe populated with characters from every strata of university life (townies to scholars, young to old, capitalists extremists to radicals). Each memorable, some hilariously so, but none more memorable than a giant white porker depicted with as much persona as any human. Rich imagery, societal commentary, conflict. You can feel the midwest in the seasons as well as the in the variety of attitudes . . . a very fun read

Any novel that breaks the cliche rule as early as this one does, "satire" or not, desperately needs a rewrite. A random gust of wind from a randomly open window just happens to blow a key piece of paper behind the radiator, and "that was what started it all?" Really? What's next? Someone gets hit on the head and develops amnesia? Two antagonistic characters get handcuffed together? I made those up, but they wouldn't have been out of place in this thin, shallow, Three's Company episode of a book.

It's hard to believe that Smiley has spent any time at all around real academics. Her ideas of subtlety and humor are what a freshman creative writing major might come up with. She has confused complexity with simply introducing and moving around gobs of characters, none of whom are very interesting and who frequently sound like one another.

[SPOILERS]
Everything ends happily when a bunch of people get married. This could have been handled in the best tongue-in-cheek tradition of a Shakespeare comedy, but instead Smiley really seems to present this ending straightforwardly. Also, Earl the hog is a symbol of decadent capitalist consumerism, and I guess the moral of the story is that decadent capitalist consumerism will have a heart attack if it runs too fast. Har har har.

If this is representative of the kind of writing that won her a Pulitzer, then it seems I've missed my calling.

I should note for the sake of a helpful review that I'm a bit biased in favor of this book, as I work on a higher-education campus. But Smiley so perfectly captures the sorts of personalities, frustrations, and deep-seated urge to gossip inherent to the workplace that I think anyone who's ever wondered who's running the place, or why they want to punch the vice president, would really appreciate the wink and nod variety of humor in this book. It is admittedly just a little longer than its arc, but it definitely has a beginning, middle and end. Give it a chance!

I picked up this book because lately I've seen a lot of references to Smiley as one of the foremost writers of her generation. I really don't get it. I found this book tedious, confusing, and frankly just boring. It had the scale, sweep and ironically detached tone of a Tom Wolfe novel, but, unlike Wolfe's books, the story never gained momentum. I dutifully stayed with it for almost three-quarters of the way through, but in the end I just couldn't finish it. There is no denying that Smiley writes beautiful sentences, but that was not enough to keep the pages turning.

I love the detail, the lists, the twists and turns and the point of view of a 1860's woman. Jane's Smiley's characters are alive, brought back to life it seemed from an authentic place and time in America's history. Not didactic but fully engaging and pulsing with rich dialogue and period vocabulary. I longed to try on my own tongue.

Very enjoyable story about one fiercely independent women's journey set in perilous 1850s Kansas Territory , can't help being drawn in by the engaging eloquent narrative of Lidie Newton.

I really enjoyed this book; I was completely ignorant of the pre-civil war goings-on that were described in it. I became completely absorbed in Liddie's story and didn't feel that the book dragged at all. I hated to finish it, and it is by far my favorite Smiley novel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. To me, it didn't drag at all, in fact I found it brisk. Every detail seemed relevant, and just the type of thing a person like Lidie would actually write about. I have to chuckle at the reviewers who say Smiley is too wordy and descriptive in this book. As a reader of Charles Dickens, I found that this book positively clips along by comparison. I wouldn't change a word of it (nor of Dickens). Thank you, Jane, for writing an historical novel that brings the pre-Civil War era to such warm and rich life.

I purchased the abridged version on tape (5 hours) and found it to be quite enjoyable. The listener is treated to a ground level view of the politics of slavery in the 1850s and how violence based on the 'goose question' (code for the slavery issue) swept through households, towns and eventually the entire Kansas Territory.

Smiley's characters are not simple cardboard cutouts - some of the pro-slavery people are quite nice, some of the anti-slavery people are quite insane (she mentions 'Old Brown' and his atrocities and his actions cause some dissent in Liddie Newton's household).

Many readers have complained of the plodding pace. Although my version was abridged, there were still some plodding moments. However, the superb reading by Mare Winningham spared the listener from most of those moments. She is able to express so much emotion and humor with her voice that I found myself forgetting that Mare Winningham is a modern actress. She sounds like she is an older woman telling of her sad, profound trip through a bit of American history.

I give Mare Winningham a grade of A+.

The overall book gets a grade of A-.

I will be keeping this one for my history classroom as a recommended listening for any students with learning disabilities in reading who would be interested in hearing a quality story for my historical fiction project.

I listen to the audiobook. The story is a great for mixed adult male/female audience as it identifies with work, buying a house, not too romantic, but inticing with its high stakes property investment. Joe is in ordinary guy who is humble but grew up by white collar people and has a modest real estate job. Good Faith tells the story of the eventual whirlwind of Joe's life after he comes into contact with Marcus Burns. Marcus Burns with his air of know-it-all attitude takes Joe on ride of persuasion. The pursuit of money, pride, 1980s arrogance and confidence of real estate development intersect in this great book.

The reader is quickly informed that one of the most important characters, Sally, has died years before the story began. The absence of Sally in the lives of Joey, Gordon, and Felicity causes them to act and react in ways that the reader is certain would not have happened, if only Sally was there to lead them all. While the telling of the end of the financial activity is wrapped up somewhat quickly, this tells the reader that the financial activity is less important to the overall life and happiness of the characters than the personal interactions. And, though they haven't earned the right to be so, the characters end up happy in a way that surprises the reader. Kudos to Jane Smiley for writing a book in which the characters can be so flawed, yet provoke such feelings of protectiveness in the reader.

I just finished reading Jane Smiley's novel Good Faith, and found it to be an interesting read on many levels.

I have read other of Smiley's books, and she fills each of them with meticulous detail that helps the reader create a vivid world for her characters to inhabit. The last book of hers I read, Horse Sense, was a very detailed look at horse racing framed by the relationships of people -- as well as the horses -- involved in the sport. This time, Smiley painstakingly recreates the world of late seventies early eighties real estate in the Northeast. I was really just a wee child during that time in history, but I could appreciate that setting as one for a story of real estate, money, wealth, sex, greed, adultery, deceit... and some other stuff.

Good Faith did not turn out to be the novel I thought it was when I picked it up at a used bookstore. The cover depicts two pairs of feet, a man in black pants and shoes and a woman barefoot in a white dress. The picture, juxtaposed with the title, suggests a novel about marriage and fidelity, but the book is about so much more. What I like about this book is that the title suits the book in many ways, and the idea of good faith becomes a metaphor or analogy that can be applied to various elements of the story.

The lives of the characters that populate Good Faith are intertwining representations of faith. One part of the story does deal with fidelity and the faith of marriage and even the act of faith that is love. The plot centers on the faith that so many people had circa 1980-82 in the booming real estate market, and the amazing, risky, and downright dirty financial and social activity generated by this faith in the almighty dollar. This is also a story of faith of friendship, faith in oneself, and deep religious faith. Ultimately I think the story is one of having faith that everything will turn out OK in the end, despite life's ups and downs.

I enjoyed this book although it was a long read. I am a fast reader and, although I enjoyed the complex characterization and the amount of detail Smiley puts into describing houses and people and conversations, there was a point where I wanted the story to hurry up. I guess this is the suspense smiley wanted, though, because I did feel like I was inhabiting a world she created. It was a bit more boring than suspenseful at some points, but I found the end satisfying. I liked Horse Sense, more, however, because of the subject matter and would recommend that for a first time Smiley reader.

I really did not like this book. I was going to say I hated it but actually the writing wasn't bad and I liked some parts but it went on way too long and it was pretty predictable. I read it through just because I was sure the ending would not be what I expected - but it was. What a disappointment.

I'm impressed by Smiley's versatility, but this isn't one of her best. Having only a teen's memory of the 1980s, I read this mostly for the descriptions of the money-flows-like-water atmosphere (which reminded me a lot of Silicon Valley in the late 1990s, a setting that I experienced firsthand). Her main character, Joe (Joey to his friends), is a genial guide to the era. And I was curious to see what would happen to him, though it was pretty clear from the beginning that he was playing with fire and should have stuck to being a successful small-town real estate agent.

But I agree with other reviewers that the midsection of the book goes nowhere fast, supporting characters are not developed as fully as they could have been (I would have especially liked to know more about "the Davids"), and the ending is abrupt. Smiley may have thought it would be too pat to reveal Marcus Burns's motivation, but I would have found it a lot more satisfying to have an answer, as opposed to several pages of ruminating from Joey about how unsatifying it is not to have an answer.

Worth the time to be reminded of an American mindset that seems to hit us every decade or so, but you're not going to spend much time thinking about the characters after you finish the book.

Jane Smiley sold a racehorse broodmare at California's premier auction house for thoroughbred racehorses. She did not "dump" the mare at an auction where she could have gone to slaughter.

Selling horses is a normal part of owning horses, especially racehorses. Auctions are the primary method of selling racing bloodstock. Writing a book about one's experiences owning racehorses does not obligate Smiley to keep every horse she has ever owned forever. People are actually suggesting that it would have been better to kill the mare than send through the ring at Barretts???!!!!

These reviews are absurd, and these reviewers need to get a life.

The first book I have read of Smiley's, I was not impressed. It felt disjointed, awkward, and rather silly at times. She humanizes her horses to the point where it feels absurd. I fell in love with her horses, but I was less impressed with the author.
After reading the book, I learned that Waterwheel, one of the horses featured in the book, was dumped at auction (Barrett's January mixed sale) lame and pregnant, and sold for the near rock bottom price of $1000. After bringing her owner in so much money through this book, she couldn't afford to keep her retired? Sorry, but I refuse to buy books written by a hypocrite, and I will never read a Smiley book ever again.

My understanding is that the horse Waterwheel was sold at auction by Jane Smiley for $1000 and was lame and in foal, not a happy caring ending provided by Ms. Smiley This makes Jane Smiley appear to not be all she claims to be in terms of providing quality care for this horse and makes me strongly question her use of this horse to sell books and then rid herself of her in a very uncaring way. Many healthy horses sold at auction, especially for this little money, can begin a downward spiral and are at high risk of eventually going to slaughter in Canada or Mexico. I suggest Ms. Smiley address this issue. I would love to know where Waterwheel is and hope she is well and beloved somewhere in a forever home.

For dumping your racehorse at an auction because she wasn't good enough for you.

I read the book a few years ago. I wasn't terrible, but a little too touchy-feely for me (and I'm the type of person who spoils her horses), but rest assured I will never buy another book from an author that "disposes" of any unwanted horse at an auction. What does she think will happen to a broken down mare (she'll never be sound enough for work) that has a record of 2 unplaced starts and less than 5k in earnings? To Ms. Smiley: Show a bit of responsibility and either keep the mare or euthanize her. Use some of that book money. Don't risk her ending up at the killers.

Why did Smiley not end the book with a chapter describing how she dumped her beloved Waterwheel, pregnant and broken-down, at an auction where she could have easily been purchased for slaughter? Unfortunately, this is where many ex-racehorses end up, brutally slaughtered. Smiley is no different than the unfeeling horse owners she vilifys in her books as she apparently could not be bothered to provide for a mare she gushed about in her book. She made money off her mare and then cruelly disposed of her horse.

Alice, an orderly librarian, is drawn into a murder mystery when her friend, a temperamental musician named Craig shot dead in his apartment. Their group of friends, who came to New York City together to make a life for themselves and for two, hit it big in the music business are in turns suspicious and supportive of their companions. A detective begins to examine the case, probing further and further into their lives, and it begins to seem to Alice that one of her friends may be the murderer. Smiley excels at describing intimate details of every day life and has an ear for dialogue. The result is a book more leisurely than your average murder mystery, but still worth reading. Indeed the murder seemed to be more tacked on to the story, then having been the hub around which it revolved.

I wouldn't rate this as highly as some of her other books but it did make a more than adequate companion on an transatlantic flight!

One comment must be made about the review by "SC" of November 5, 2004. It's fine, SC, if you don't agree with Smiley's opinion piece/political analysis of the red state/blue state divide **PUBLISHED IN SLATE.com, NOT THIS BOOK!** but criticizing THIS book for a political opinion published elsewhere is ridiculous. It is completely inappropriate of SC to leave this sort of negative and completely irrelevant comment about Smiley's OTHER WRITINGS when SC is supposed to be reviewing THIS BOOK!

For example, In my opinion (and in my dad's, as well!) William F. Buckley has contemptible political opinions. Nevertheless, my dad loved his books and would never mix his dislike of Buckley's politics with his criticism or praise of Buckley's fiction. SC's review has no place here - it is contrary to the intent of the rating program.

Back to the book itself - definitely take it on a long trip. It's more like a Nora Roberts book than a Smiley one but there are times when Nora Roberts is just what the doctor ordered. This book was great company in the wee hours over the North Atlantic - I'd definitely recommend it.

I really enjoyed Moo, so I went to the library looking for another Jane Smiley novel. I can't remember why I chose Duplicate Keys over the rest of the selections. I really loved the first half of the novel, up until the mystery aspect really gets going. I enjoyed the characterizations, particlarly of the timid Alice. I thought Smiley created a realistic portrait of a formerly tight-knight group of college buddies who are having trouble transitioning to adulthood. Alice and the two murdered characters seem to have the most difficulty. I think the novel shows Alice's realization that she needs to get on with her life, stop dreaming about the way it was and start thinking about her present and future. That is the aspect of the novel that I enjoyed. What I didn't enjoy was the thinly veiled mystery, which frankly I just couldn't buy. Smiley seemed determined to plough through the murder mystery even though the story would have sufficed just fine if the murderer wasn't one of the cast of characters. The depiction of the friend's shock and sadness was enough to carry the story without the tension of a forced mystery.

Jane Smiley writes about families and relationships, not murder mysteries, so it's a feather in her cap for versatility that she acquits herself more than decently on this atypical novel of hers. The murders have already taken place before we begin, so the rest of the novel has us backtracking through a minefield of relationships that once bound the friends together. Quite clearly, the network has collapsed beneath the growing rot that nobody seemed to care to notice until the inevitable happened. The friendship, if you could call it that, was undermined by a combination of sexual betrayal, professional jealousies and other dependencies and left to find its own bloody equilibrium. The narrator Alice Ellis' voice isn't an unequivocal one. It's hard to nail her personality down or even decide whether she's likeable or not. She's bitter, insecure, vulnerable, defiant and bitchy all at the same time. But then again, we are reminded that Smiley is always more interested in the people than the plot and so it shouldn't be too surprising that we get an edgy character for a heroine and some excellent characterisation to boot.

Some readers have complained about the identity of the murderer being predictable. I don't. If there's an awkward and unsatisfactory element in the story, it's in the romantic subplot. Henry may be the secret lover who lives across the street but he doesn't belong. He should have been saved for Smiley's next book about Alice. Smiley may have set out to write a different novel but she couldn't help but leave large traces of her familiar genre behind. Still, "Duplicate Keys" is a hugely enjoyable novel. Recommended.

I've read numerous books lately where there just doesn't seem to be any editing happening. No matter the illustrious past works of an author, someone should view these unnecessarily long-winded books before they reach the public. Or maybe they figure we want our money's worth, so they'll just leave in all those extraneous words.
The story could have been more suspenseful. It just dragged on and on. The main character Alice was the most changeable I've encountered in memory. I never could get a fix on her. One minute she was docile and wimpy, the next assertive and bitchy. Finding your murdered friends might well disconcert a person, but, come on, would their basic nature change every few paragraphs? Life's just too short to spend reading a 300+ page novel when I've seen better made-for-TV movies on Lifetime.

Anna Robison and her three daughters: artistic Helen, practical Claire and the youngest, tomboyish Susanna, plus her granddaughter Claire love to reminisce about their past. They
gather in Anna's house, where their father Ike is dying. Anna, who refuses to consider a live-in nurse, must tend Ike herself. As she goes about her every day tasks of preparing food and doing housework, she recalls her often rocky marriage and motherhood. Smiley has a keen eye for detail for these
homely tasks and the day-to-day aspects of dealing with an invalid shine through keenly.

Jane Smiley is at her literary best when dealing with intergenerational family issues. Three daughters and a granddaughter gather at their parent's home, concerned with Ike Robison's declining health, solicitous of their mother, Anna. After 36 seminal hours, we find that the daughters could not be more different, yet complementary in ways only close families recognize.

Each of the daughters view their parents from a personal perspective, especially their mother, Anna, projecting their own disillusionment onto her. Meanwhile Anna, mostly silent, muses about the grown daughters who surround her, wondering how they all came to live so close, gather so readily like a flock of restless birds, when she had meant to teach them to fly. Two daughters already widowed, one divorced, the women have all outlived the men, save Ike, and have lost their balance.

When granddaughter Christine comes home to visit, as well, she brings her own distractions. Twenty-three and newly married, Christine is full of the natural exhuberance of youth. The three daughters shift their attention back and forth, from Ike's worsening health to Christine's surprising announcement.

Occasionally a small voice from upstairs calls to Anna, "Mother! Mother!". Ike wishes only his wife to tend to his few needs. Moving between the two realities, Anna finds time for reflection upon her fifty-some years of marriage. In Anna's ruminations, there is a quiet revelation of her life through the years, as a young girl, as a married woman, years spent washing, cooking, cleaning. Years of service given without a thought to feelings or needs, or to the vagaries of married love. Looking back, her memories are as sharp as thorns and as sweet as new-shelled peas.

The power of the family dynamic seems at first to rest with the daughters, each pushing for her own resolution. They form temporary alliances, based on sibling rivalry, change perspective, shift yet again. Anna finds them engaged in their own busy pursuits; even the granddaughter falls into a deep afternoon slumber. Ultimately, it is Anna who holds our focus in this well crafted novel, her thoughts, her dreams. Never mundane or banal, the dialog is as sharp as the plot.

In the midst of life's uncertainties, one has always been sure of a mother's love. It's one of life's givens, or is it? The startling perspective of the aging, female narrator in this superbly written novel is certain to give you new insights on the dynamics of family relationships, particularly the intricacies of mother-daughter and sibling relationships. Like a rich and original tapestry, the novel weaves the past, present and future of its characters into a beautiful blend of sadness and joy, always affirming the value of life, but life that is never predictable or obvious. Reading At Paradise Gate reminds us that while the gate may be in view, our feet remain firmly planted on earth

Jane Smiley managed to write a novel with unlikable characters that i enjoyed. That takes some skill!

The older you get, the more assertive you become, the more you know what to say or how to behave yourself in a tough situation. Right? Not really, if one is to look at Anna. She is just as insecure at 72 as she was in her youth. If one is to hope for invaluable wisdom as a payoff for lack of energy, strength, health, looks, etc., we are all screwed. This was my secret hope, and i am now very disappointed. Anna has been feeling weak as long as she can remember, first with her mother, then with her husband and his family, now with her daughters and even her granddaughter. What i find most pathetic is her inability to resolve her resentments towards her husband when she should have. She did not deal with whatever he did to her at its right time, and now that he is sick and almost an invalid is not the time to bring things up, yet Anna can't help herself. As a character, she infuriates me. If you don't do the right thing at the right time (in this case, deal with your husband), then let it go. Don't store it up and let it fester for decades. The rest of the family is sad and well portrayed. Ike is a sick man angry at the world for whatever obscure reason. Helen is pretentious. Claire is envious. Susanna is on the same path Anna is right now. Christine is the perfect example of why marriage and reproduction should not be allowed for anyone under 30. What's with her sense of entitlement and arrogance? At one point, her own mother calls her a 'dope'. Well put!

My two objections are Dolores, who is referred to time and time again and is never developed as a character (by comparison, Abel is very well described and understood), and Christine's final decision. It doesn't make sense, after spending half the book defending her arguments to now change her mind so quickly.

In this novel, which takes place in 36 hours, we get to know a family with generational problems and character problems. The imperfections of these characters make them real, and although none of them is lovable, they form a beautiful book. The detail and thoroughness that Jane Smiley goes through is remarkable.

It's rare that I finish a book and conclude that the author is a person I probably wouldn't like very much, but that's exactly what I experienced with "At Paradise Gate." When the characters in this humorless tale speak, they utter paragraphs at a time -- long, weighty diatribes of the sort that no one actually says (but which novelists apparently like to write). The narrator drops some real gems, too, like this one: "Unsorted images crowded Anna's mind ... herself at her best, alone, looking, smelling, hearing, all her thoughts concentrated on the quality of light or air." Now, what could this possibly mean? To me, it means "no more books by Jane Smiley."

On the upside, the story offers good, solid three-dimensional characters. Unfortunately, they're not exactly likable, and their views on marriage and family are so dated as to be at times offensive, at times unintentionally funny. But not funny enough to justify picking up this foul fossil of a novel.

I loved this collection so much, that I loaned it out to a friend who never gave it back, and have thought of The Angel Esmeralda and Hand Jive so much that I had to buy it again. The Jennifer Cornell story is quite affecting also.

Short story fans, beware. Jane Smiley has assembled one of the oddest collections of stories ever between two covers. Obviously the original magazines already committed to these authors and stories by publishing them, but for Smiley to call them "best" is unsettling. I thought the first story, Daniel Orozco's "Orientation" (Seattle Review), was the best piece in the book--a knockout tour de force. I also really liked Ellie Gilchrist's "The Stucco House" (Atlantic) and Max Garland's "Chiromancy" (New England Review). Some were near misses for me that some of my students liked (I taught the book in Creative Writing): Kincaid's, Davies', Braverman's. I was shocked to see not one but two creepy stories about grotesquely injured legs allowed to go untended (by Polansky and Dobyns), and Thon's "First, Body" (on a hospital worker who gets trapped under a dead body) is the first story in a BASS anthology I gave a "O" to on a scale of one to ten-- sickening to read. Cozine's very sad tale of a young man's masturbatory personality disorder split my class--some felt it neatly caught gen-x malaise, but one "even hated the paper it was printed on." Well-known writers like Jones, DeLillo, Williams and Jen are not at their best in their contributions here. And why the Atlantic published the farfetched TV-style slick suspense tale "The Artist" (by Falco) is beyond me. I have already found some stories on the 100 title short list at the end I like much better than most of the ones selected. But read the book for yourself and make up your own mind. One thing's for sure: according to these writers, at least, American families are in very deep trouble

My review of this collection is completely biased because of the fact that I appear as a character in one of the short stories. The story is "Hand Jive" by Andrew Cozine and he mentions me by name with the claim that he and I were the smartest students in school. He also goes on to criticize the superhero I created in third grade, for having "too many powers." Unfortunately, my review is tempered by the fact that he incorrectly remembered my superhero's name as "Boy" when I of course know that the real nom de plume was "Comet Boy". As a participant in what is actually an autobiographical story by the author, it is sad to read about the all the personal quirks that tormented Andrew during his life. I'm happy to report that he has turned into a normal, well-adjusted adult (or at least so he seems.)