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We've Already Gone This Far
We've Already Gone This Far: Stories | Patrick Dacey
13 posts | 6 read | 27 to read
A heartfelt, vital collection; the debut of an exciting new talent already hailed as one of George Saunders' "favorite young American writers" In Patrick Dacey's stunning debut, we meet longtime neighbors and friends--citizens of working-class Wequaquet--right when the ground beneath their feet has shifted in ways they don't yet understand. Here, after more than a decade of boom and bust, love and pride are closely twinned and dangerously deployed: a lonely woman attacks a memorial to a neighbor's veteran son; a dissatisfied housewife goes overboard with cosmetic surgery on national television; a young father walks away from one of the few jobs left in town, a soldier writes home to a mother who is becoming increasingly unhinged. We've Already Gone This Far takes us to a town like many towns in America, a place where people are searching for what is now an almost out-of-reach version of the American Dream Story by story, Dacey draws us into the secret lives of recognizable strangers and reminds us that life's strange intensity and occasional magic is all around us, especially in the everyday. With a skewering insight and real warmth of spirit, Dacey delivers that rare and wonderful thing in American fiction: a deeply-felt, deeply-imagined book about where we've been and how far we have to go.
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review
csimmer23
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Mehso-so

Eh... It was ok, nothing that interesting or funny, just stories about menial things

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csimmer23
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Dewey's Reading Challenge prompt for today is #new. Just got these books at a great bookstore in Denver, The Tattered Cover #30daysofreadathon

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MrBook
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#TBRtemptation post 5! If George Saunders approves, then this must be good 😊👍🏻. Another book set in the fictional Mass. town of Wequaquet. This collection of short stories looks at its residents. A lonely woman attacks a memorial to a neighbor's veteran son; a dissatisfied housewife goes overboard with cosmetic surgery on national tv; a young father walks away from a job; a soldier writes to his unhinged mother. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

51 likes2 stack adds
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Megabooks
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Pickpick

4⭐️ Better than average interconnected short story collection, but not as good as The Wonder Garden, which has a similar construction.

This book follows the residents of a small town on Cape Cod as they navigate everyday situations during the recession. Dacey doesn't do as well as TWG at naturally bringing the characters into each other's lives. I'd still recommend the collection though.

kspenmoll Thx- anything Cape Cod! 7y
Suet624 I must have eaten something funky 😂😂😂 7y
Megabooks @Suet624 it has some really funny moments! 7y
78 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Megabooks
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Part of the reason I'm wearing PJ parts during the #pantlessreadathon is that I don't want to get that personal with #Henry 😂😂😝 Especially when he's on a licking his paws binge! Still loving my beautiful book bubbie #booksleeve from Etsy! I saw a girl on Twitter with the exact same one. 💖🌸

Gezemice I have not heard of the pantlessreadathon but I am pantless all right! Well, I am wearing a dress, lol, and reading, so that must count? 7y
Megabooks @Gezemice Yes! As long as you're comfortable. It started from a post by @MicheleinPhilly yesterday, and some of us are using the hashtag when we're reading in comfortable clothes this weekend. Just fun and casual! 7y
kiminreverse That book sleeve is gorgeous! What is the Etsy shop called? 7y
Megabooks @kiminreverse book bubbie https://www.etsy.com/shop/bookbubbie/ they run on the small side though. That's a large one and it will only fit undersized hardbacks and trade paperbacks. I still love it though! ❤️❤️ 7y
98 likes4 comments
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Megabooks
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Goal for this weekend's #pantlessreadathon is 3 books. This one, How I Became a North Korean 🇰🇵, and The Guineveres. Tonight feels like a short story night because IMO, there's never a bad time for those! 👖🚫 📚

Megabooks @AceOnRoam I'm excited! It sounds great. And I have an autographed copy!!! 7y
AceOnRoam Ohh, that's fabulous @Booksandcooks a keeper for sure. 7y
107 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Notafraidofwords

Verdict: I liked it. I liked it a lot. There were a few stories where I feel he tried to do too much and it failed. However, I'm so happy I read it. My problem with short stories is that I want to dive further. It feels like it's never enough. Anyone else feel that way?

BookishFeminist Yep, all the time. They always leave me wanting more. 8y
BestOfFates Completely agree! It's the rare short story where it ends and I'm left with complete satisfaction! 8y
Notafraidofwords @BestOfFates @BookishFeminist Same here. I think I used to like them more when I was in college and I wanted a quick read at night, but as I grow older I just want to dive in head first. 8y
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LinaLovesLit I recently read a really good short story, but it seemed like the author rushed at the end. It was like they were in a hurt to tie everything together and finish up. It was a little disappointing, because most of the book had a wonderful pace... so much potential! 8y
Notafraidofwords @Attila yes, that's what I feel about the ending of this collection. Some stories had more potential than others. And it makes the book as a whole so-so. 8y
LaurenMagoo All the time! If a short story is good, I get so invested in the characters that I want to know more, I'm never satisfied 8y
Notafraidofwords @LaurenMagoo exactly. The only way I don't feel like that is if I'm only reading one a night before bed. Usually then, I'm satisfied. 8y
LaurenMagoo @Notafraidofwords Yes that works well before bed, so you don't stay up all night glued to a novel. I also really like short stories that are linked, so I feel like I'm in the same world, with the same characters. 8y
Notafraidofwords @LaurenMagoo yes, I love those. These were linked by a setting and time which I think is super cool! 8y
15 likes9 comments
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Notafraidofwords
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"...I became invisible and so further penetrated the fantastical and unexplainable worlds that hung in my brain..."

Notafraidofwords This book is poetry. 8y
BookishFeminist I love Dacey's voice in this so much. He flips so easily between sarcasm & deep emotion. So beautiful! 8y
Notafraidofwords @BookishFeminist Yes, exactly. The language goes from funny to utter sadness. The best part is that you don't feel cheated, it flows properly. 8y
20 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Notafraidofwords
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Behind all the witty, ironic and funny moments in this book, there is deep and utter despair and isolation.

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Notafraidofwords
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I might be out of my book slump. Thanks @BookishFeminist ! I'm loving these interconnected stories. "He was in love...nothing hurt so bad..."

BookishFeminist You're welcome! I'm glad you're liking this- I really enjoyed it :) 8y
Notafraidofwords @BookishFeminist so far, I'm loving it. 8y
15 likes2 stack adds2 comments
review
BookishFeminist
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Pickpick

Great collection of interconnected stories that take place in a fictional Massachusetts town. Dacey is a talented writer that tells compelling, witty stories about everyday life & makes his characters humanly flawed. Real & relatable in a way that shows how we're all connected & deserve empathy.

34 likes11 stack adds
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BookishFeminist
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Patrick Dacey tellin' it like it is. We've all been here. If only poor Donna knew, she'd probably want some burn ointment instead of coffee. 🙊

LinaLovesLit Love it! 😆 8y
20 likes1 comment
review
Jana
Mehso-so

I liked this book of short stories. They're well written with just enough real, sad, happy, and weird to keep you engaged. I really liked how so many of the stories and characters were connected. Gave more of that inside sneak peak into a hurting town.