This review is going to sound a bit strange, but here we go!

I like Richard Ford and he writes a great story. Ford takes those every day moments and makes them even more powerful. He heigthens that passing comment that a co-worker might have made or something your mother said that you can just get your head around? His realism is powerful, because it doesn't just imitate the everyday; it reflects it back onto us and shows us how powerful our own emotions can be.

That being said, I have to admit that I can't take very much Richard Ford stories in one sitting. He returns to the emptiness of the Great Plains over and over again and the inner reflections can just get a bit much at the time. I like realism, but with a touch of the weird or interesting. I would argue that George Saunders, for example, is quite the realistic writer as he shows our human condition in all its uglineess and beauty with just a touch of the strange. This is a problem I have with short story collections. Unless I really like the author and/or their motif or the stories are quite varied, I get tired soon. I didn't like that I was slogging through the end of this collection. I always prefer picking up anthologies of short stories (think high-school/college textbooks) than single author ones, unless, I really dig the author. Peace!

RELEASE NOTES:

Left it in the school supply section on top of some folders! Peace!