Welcome to Litsy!

Not good. I have a signed hardback copy of this one and I really wanted to like it. I couldn‘t get into it so I tried it on #audio since Cynthia Nixon is one of the narrators but still no. A couple of the essays feature characters that are so misogynistic it was hard to even finish. Eugenides has fallen a couple of pegs for me with this book. At least it is off my #TBR #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks #marvellousmarch @Andrew65

#doublespin
Welp, I guess I am glad I‘ve read this book, although I am overwhelmingly ambivalent about it. I loved Middlesex but I haven‘t read anything else by him until now. There were moments when the writing snuck up on me.
I felt something deeply but it was usually anxiety or shame. (Whether the writing is responsible for this, I cannot know.) That‘s all of April #bookspin read just in time.
Thank you @TheAromaofBooks for organizing it!

Making my way through #doublespin book for April...I am not yet sure how I feel about this collection of short stories. I got distracted by the last slice of Flaugnarde I made earlier this week with fresh blueberries. (I like to make the traditional version with cherries with pits but my roommate doesn‘t like having to eat around the pits and, besides, it‘s too early for cherries.) @TheAromaofBooks

Up next! #amreading

So many of Eugenides themes appear throughout these short stories: loneliness, the desire for transcendence, solipsism, the paradoxes of human relationships. He‘s a very subtle writer, and I loved reading these stories. However, the last one (“Fresh Complaint”) just felt a bit tone deaf in this #metoo climate. It showed a teenage girl “seducing” an older English professor to accuse him of rape to save herself from an arranged marriage.

Morning coffee (first cup of many) and my current read.

One of my favorite, go-to authors. Hope he does it again; I haven‘t heard much about this, however.

I hate the cover. Hopefully the story is much better.

Meh. So apparently the short story isn‘t Eugenides‘s medium. Flat characters, static plots. A few mildly interesting tales here, but mostly forgettable vignettes. I absolutely adore Middlesex, and The Marriage Plot was solid, so this was a disappointment. No offense taken, though. All forgiven.

“Dementia isn‘t a nice word. It sounds violent, invasive, like having a demon scooping out pieces of your brain, which, in fact, is just what it is.” - I‘m on the first story, hope I can finish this one from the library. It‘s been so busy, I ran out of time with my last two library books and had to put myself back on the wait list. 😩

Squeeeeeeeeee!!! @Jas16 Its so amazing!! Thank you thank you thank you thank you! So many books I wanted and tagged book is autographed!!! 😍😍😍😍😍😍 and the hot cocoa and the mug and the journals and the gorgeous bookmark!!! And the tote from San Francisco! Squeeeeeeeeee!! I'm so happy! Now to decide which to read first while I sip cocoa in my new mug 😁😁😁🎉🎉🎉🎉🎄🎄🎄🎄🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎁🎄🎄🎄🎉🎉❤️❤️❤️❤️

While the first few stories in this collection were a bit iffy, overall this is a pick. I‘m always impressed with the way he can make such disparate characters all seem so real, and the situations they face both familiar and unsettling. While I think I prefer his novels over this short story collection, this is still a great read.

This collection of short stories is really uneven so far.

I found this today when I got home from my trip! Thank you, @Liberty !!! ❤️❤️❤️

These short stories grew on me as I read them. They were very readable, very easy to just start the next one. I liked them as I was reading them, but I keep forgetting now. Good, but did not stick in my mind.

#texasbookfestival #bookhaul day 2! Another great day of literature fun 😄

What a slow burn and VERY dark collection! Every story packs a unique punch; so much so, I would put Fresh Complaint down after each story and read entire books in-between.

This collection was mostly good but I'm more excited for another novel from Eugenides- that's where he really shines.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was pretty good! I enjoyed all of the short stories. Reading this was kind of strange for me. I needed motivation to pick it up each time but it drew me instantly each time and I couldn‘t put it down. I read it in two separate days. I really enjoyed it though some of the story backgrounds I didn‘t know much about. However, that didn‘t take away from the book.

Jeffery Eugenides collection of short stories is the perfect cozy read for a rainy, cold Sunday

#TBRtemptation post 4! Recently released. The first collection of short stories from the Pulitzer Prize-winner. This collection presents characters in the midst of personal and national crises. We meet: a failed poet-cum-embezzler, a parental clavichordist, a young traveler searching for enlightenment, a sexually confused college freshman who meets a stranger on a train, and more. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

GIVEAWAY TIME #4: Next up: the new story collection from Jeffrey Eugenides and a collection of essays for Joni Mitchell fans! To win, make a new post about a story collection you love, use the hashtag #GIVEAWAYSTORIES, and tag me in the photo. Do this by 9pm EST today (October 28), and I'll randomly select one winner. (Open to everyone.) Good luck! ❤️🤘🏻📚

Woo!

Good morning! I‘m setting up my outdoor reading situation for the day. We‘re having a heatwave of sorts, so it‘s off the couch and back to the porch rocker. I did very well last weekend during the ‘thon, so I went to the bookstore and I thought, you know, why not? #bookhaul #CantStopWontStop

I felt that the stories were pretty long, and while socially inclusive, the prose was pretty intellectually exclusive if you don‘t have knowledge about certain topics. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Trying to finish this today!

This story collection, a greatest hits over the last 30 years, depicts its characters in states of urgency. Eugenides uses these stories to cut to the heart of the human condition. An excellent collection of stories outside of the last one, which covers some questionable content.

Eugenides is a notoriously slow writer, and these short stories are so perfectly crafted and contemplative that it‘s easy to imagine the author spending hours on single sentences. While not as engaging as his novels, I found this collection lovely and impeccably written. And it‘s definitely not a spooky book, but I‘m decorating for Halloween and couldn‘t resist some spooky flair in the photo!

I‘m back and feeling better! I will admit Mr. Eugenides has a lot to do with it! He‘s one of my favorites and this collection has been great so far. 😊 I missed you all and I‘m glad to be back on Litsy. Thanks to all of you for your support during my hard time.

Got to meet one of my favorite authors today. He did not disappoint.

Loved this collection! I only skipped one story, just because it was too freaky. In spoiler tag.

Two of the stories were new for this collection. The remainder have been published but mainly in the 90s, so even if you watch for him, you may not remember these.

4.5⭐️ #CheerwineAndABook

Now, I‘m getting reading for the Charlotte Litsy meetup!! 🎉🎉🎉

#libraryhaul

Up next

Pretty underwhelming. This is a collection of stories written over nearly 30 years and it shows. The best story in the collection is “Air Mail”, the worst is probably “Fresh Complaint”. In between, just a batch stories about aging, ego and sexual customs, middle aged guys trying to make it, and a chlavicordist trying to outrun the debt collectors. I didn‘t particularly care for any of the characters or plots. Eugenidies‘s novels are better.

Have been waiting years for this! Yeah, yah, yay!

📷: with jacket/without jacket

Has anyone posted about the gorgeous under cover on Fresh Complaint yet? Love it! I‘ve read the first story, and it‘s good, too. Going to spend some time on Litsy now though. 💜💜💜

Super cool! Front row, and I got to ask a question! The Greenlight Bookstore is also making a podcast of this talk too if you're interested in hearing him speak! #onehourofculture #jeffreyeugenides #freshcomplaint #greenlightbookstore

Getting ready to see Jeffrey Eugenides (my favorite author!!) speak about his new book Fresh Complaint!!! #brooklyn #brooklynbookgirl #dreams

My #Octobermostanticipated: short stories by Jeffrey Eugenides. Love his work, and have come around to short stories in the past few years. #uncannyoctober #litsyreads @RealLifeReading #FreshComplaint

This is what happens when I am left unsupervised with Sharpies. ☺️

I truly love this man's writing. Ticket purchased and am counting the days till I can hear him speak. So. Damn. Excited.

Well, hello there. 💙

What would I do without you, Amazon Prime?

Pre-ordering books, forgetting about them and then the surprise of their arrival, is what unadulterated joy looks like.