The best of [Coover's] stories are now collected in Going for a Beer ... When Coover’s stories don’t work, which is about half the time even here, they’re dreadful ... But when they work, oh my ... The sensation is that of being in an astounding if disturbing movie, in which you are the only human with a ticket ... A handful of Coover stories is probably enough for me. A slimmer volume than this one might be a portable classic.
Robert Coover’s new collection of short stories, Going for a Beer, is a mixtape of variations and a fugue on time from a postmodern master. The prismatic repertoire of nearly six decades, it comprises something old, something new, something borrowed and something dark and blue ... That range, from primal myth to science fiction, is representative. In Coover’s fictional universe, familiar tales and conventional genres are made new, tinged with shuddering wonder and titillating humor.
These have been, for over 40 years, some of the most remarkable stories written in this country ... He is both astounding and fun to read at the same time. A hell of a trick.
Early stories energetically skewer American social mores; by the middle of this more than half-century retrospective, the work can be somewhat less accessible ... but Coover’s playful sense of humor is ever-present ... Coover can still work at the top of his game.
This collection celebrates Coover’s virtuosity as a short story writer; its 30 selected stories are playfully experimental, restlessly innovative, and a total joy to read ... A career-topping marvel, this collection finds meaning in the wildness of the cultural subconscious.
At the heart of many of the 30 stories collected here are what might be thought of as fractured fairy tales ... What was once daring may now seem a little tame, but Coover’s influence endures, and this collection provides good evidence for why that should be so.
