Ben Loory is a master of his craft, although his craft is somewhat undefinable. The stories here, ranging from a mere page long to a whopping ten at most, are a collection of the terrific, the fantastic, the horrific, and the mundane, assembling themselves into a truly addictive collection of modern-day fairy tales. Loory has an imagination that must be the size of the Atlantic Ocean that proves a delight to explore. Though brief, these stories pack punch, leaving me with a tingling spine and a sense of adventure and an indescribable inability to stop reading.
Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day is a delight, though I am finding now that it is hard to explain why, exactly. In many ways, that is the charm of this collection--its refusal to fit into any one genre, to mold to any one set of expectations. If you find yourself with an afternoon to spare, suffice it to say that Loory will make it worth your while.
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Thoughts from other bookworms:
Estella's Revenge
Book Banter
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Many thanks to Penguin for providing a digital galley of this book for review via NetGalley.
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Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day | Ben Loory | Penguin | 9780143119500 | $15.00 Trade Paper | 224 pages | July 2011 | Buy from an independent bookstore near you
Sounds like a great recommendation. I love reading fairy tales. I especially love reading modern takes on fairty tales and nursery rhymes and things like that. Ill look out for this one
ReplyDeleteRead this from NetGalley as well and agree with your analogy....Pringles for sure.
ReplyDeleteI read a great review of this at another blog, then read one of Loory's stories ("The TV"?) online. I'm still not sure what to make of the story - it's hard to collect my thoughts on it or even decide whether I really LIKED the story or not. I'm in love with this collection's cover, though...so I'll have to read it.
ReplyDeleteThis one is most definitely hard to pin down and explain. I'm glad you liked it, and I am most envious of Loory's imagination. :)
ReplyDeleteI borrowed this from work a couple of weeks ago and decided not to buy it. I know exactly what you mean about it being like a can of Pringles...I kept dipping in...but actually, I didn't finish and I was able to put it down. Chalk it up to digestive issues, say. :) I loved the imagination, I loved the fairy tale-ish tone...but in the end I felt full before I was satisfied.
ReplyDeleteNo wait, that didn't come out right. I was forcing that metaphor. :0 All I really meant to say was I was unsatisfied. His writing left me with nothing, really. That's just personal, of course.
ReplyDeleteReally liked the Pringles simile! This has been on my wishlist since I saw it on Los Angeles Review of Books blog- I'm kind of glad there aren't the words to describe his stories, they sound like the type you should read without too much background knowledge.
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