Perceptive and virtuosic ... The images across this collection are memorable ... These visceral, incandescent stories treat us to Garner’s companionable brilliance.
Garner’s writing is salutary; if you’re heartsick or world-weary, you’ll feel better after a few pages of it ... So it was surprising to drop into Stories and find myself confronted with a different Garner: coarser, colder, and dismayingly hemmed in by the short form ... Closer to outlines or character sketches than to fully fledged pieces of short fiction ... Those written in the first person are typically far more successful than those written in the third ... The 'I' restores a thrilling specificity lost elsewhere in Stories. Our faith in her candor is renewed. Insight, wisdom, her sharp wit—all seem wrestled out of long experience, hard-won rather than engineered.
Spare and often enigmatic ... Without doubt, Garner is a versatile, skilled writer, with a sure command of voice and a style that can’t be pigeonholed ... Chameleon-like ... Anyone who appreciates intelligent, well-crafted prose will find much to enjoy in this collection. Those who prefer more conventional storytelling will have to look elsewhere.
Marvelous ... In each poignant entry, a different protagonist grapples with their place in the world ... These stories ignite new ways of seeing the world.
Without the strong central narrative voice of Garner’s novels, the raw, autofictional quality for which she’s known is not as prominent ... Her prose, as always, is honest, energetic, spare, and precise. Though Garner’s voice is always worth hearing, this collection might not be the best place for new readers to begin.
