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The Miniature Wife
The Miniature Wife: and Other Stories | Manuel Gonzales
10 posts | 13 read | 13 to read
In the tradition of George Saunders and Aimee Bender, an exuberantly imagined debut that chronicles an ordinary world marked by unusual phenomena. The eighteen stories of Manuel Gonzaless exhilarating first book render the fantastic commonplace and the ordinary extraordinary, in prose that thrums with energy and shimmers with beauty. In The Artists Voice we meet one of the worlds foremost composers, a man who speaks through his ears. A hijacked plane circles a city for twenty years in Pilot, Copilot, Writer. Sound can kill in The Sounds of Early Morning. And, in the title story, a man is at war with the wife he accidentally shrank. For these characters, the phenomenal isnt necessarily specialbut its often dangerous. In slightly fantastical settings, Gonzales illustrates very real guilt over small and large marital missteps, the intense desire for the reinvention of self, and the powerful urges we feel to defend and provide for the people we love. With wit and insight, these stories subvert our expectations and challenge us to look at our surroundings with fresh eyes. Brilliantly conceived, strikingly original, and told with the narrative instinct of a born storyteller, The Miniature Wife is an unforgettable debut.
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gracemom
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Pickpick

A bit melancholy. A lot grizzly and dark. Definitely worth reading.

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alisonrose
Mehso-so

Man, these stories are fucking weird but they're well-written enough that it's mostly okay. Like most short story collections, it's a little uneven - all the really short "meritorious life" ones felt random and unnecessary. Most of the others were fun though - loved the title story, as well as Pilot, Co-pilot, Writer ... even though as someone with the most extreme terror of flying it kinda freaked me out, haha. 3/5 ⭐️

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alisonrose
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I loved his novel, The Regional Office is Under Attack! (exclamation point is part of the title 😜) so I'm eager to see if his short stories will grab me too. #nowreading

Lacythebookworm I liked Regional Office! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this 👍 6y
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rachelsbrittain
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I thought the first half of this collection was pretty slow, but I've really liked several of the stories in the second half so far, including this one

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rachelsbrittain
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They didn't have the book I actually went there hoping to check out and the librarian I talked to was in a bit of a mood, but I'm still pretty pleased with my library haul 😊

Kaye Uh oh. Do you have one of those librarians too ? Ours finally retired but boy was she in the wrong line of work ! Not a people person. ☹️ 6y
rachelsbrittain @kaye Well I hadn't met her before, so she may've just been having one of those days. Most of the librarians I've met at my library are really pleasant so I was just surprised. Glad to hear your unpleasant librarian retired though! 6y
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Christine89
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Was reading The Door which is great but getting pretty intense. I think it is time to sprinkle in some short stories. #24in48

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Jadams89
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I love coming home to new books!!! But now what do I read first????? #readerproblems #ihaveaproblem #butiloveit #allthebooksmademedoit

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teebe
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So that's #UnreliableNarrators #InAGalaxyFarFarAway and #SupernaturalMysteries across the top and the ebook on my phone is a short story collection (tagged) by a #MexicanAmericanWriter #maybookflowers

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GuiltyFeat
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Pickpick

I picked this up cheaply second hand because I've been waiting to buy The Regional Office is Under Attack! for the longest time. They sent me an uncorrected proof which I hate, but the stories are pretty good. I get the sense that the success of George Saunders has given loads of people licence to publish crazy shorts where weird shit occurs, but there's a genuine voice here and I'm still really looking forward to the novel.

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carolinachapa
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Seems like Mondays and Tuesdays have now become my weekend. Today I'm delving into this collection of short stories in hopes that I'll get inspired to do some writing of my own today. Work has been so demanding that I've been in a reading and writing slump for what seems like a very long time. Today, however, I'm sitting down and reading and relaxing. That's it. 👋🏼